[stromsfriend]

THis article caught my eye because I have used Orbitz.com to book some flights before and it troubles me that Expedia and Travelocity would have such access to the White House to try to stamp out competition

I know there's no way that Bush will let these two well funded (Expedia was just sold to USA Networks by Microsoft - TVLY is owned by SABRE which has had a virtual monopoly on airline reservation systems for 20 yrs) companies that handle 70% of online travel sales try to go over the regulating agencies and shut down a company simply because it offers a better biz model.

both Expedia and Travelocity have exclusive marketing agreements with the big boys: MSN, Yahoo and AOL. An both are established brands.

Over the past year Orbitz has been cleared by the DOT twice and the DOJ once!

Long live free commerce and competition!

[mattdono]

While you may be right, if I see another one of the D@MN pop-ups, I am going to have to hurt someone.

[A Vast RightWing Conspirator]

I find Travelocity the better of the 3 by far at this time.

Expedia is always more expensive, usually way more expensive. As for Orbitz, I did try to use them, more than once, and I could not find what I was looking for. I guess I should try them more often.

[SteamshipTime]

it troubles me that Expedia and Travelocity would have such access to the White House to try to stamp out competition

Have you been under a rock for the past 50 years? The U.S. has been a fascist economy for quite some time now. All large companies now have D.C. offices and at least three D.C. "law firms" on their payroll. Once the latest round of reactionary legislation gets signed, the back-scratching, palm-greasing, kickbacks, favors and bribes, er, I mean, campaign contributions, will really kick into high gear.

[SteamshipTime]

Long live gun-toting women with torn bodices!

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

I've looked at Orbitz (as well as travelcity, priceline, etc.) too, and found that I could generally get a significantly better deal by going directly to the airlines via the internet.  In my mind, they were all talk and no walk.

[ifhult45]

Travelocity and Expedia are just angry because prior to Orbitz they enjoyed splitting their own monopoly. Its ridiculous--I don't know who even cares about it besides them anyways? All the average consumer (including me, for that matter) cares about when they're shopping for things is the cheapest price. I used to get it from Expedia, then I learned about Orbitz and I switched. I got lower prices and less hastle. The other companies are just bitter. Maybe if they put as much effort into their service as they did going after their competition, people wouldn't turn to their competition.

[lysistrata_SF]

This just seems so ridiculous to me. Orbitz and it's business model have been reviewed 3 times and every time it is found to be acceptable. What are these guys trying to prove? Anyway, as far as I am concerned the business that gives consumers the best rate is the business that gets my dollar. I've used all three of those big travel sites before. They can really vary on who has the best deal but I've bought from Orbitz the most often.

[monday]

Did you read the whole article? The problem as I see it is that Orbitz is owned by the Airlines. If they can undercut Travelocity and Expedia and drive them out of business then as an online monopoly owned by the airlines, the airlines could collude to sell tickets at any price they agree on online. It would certainly no longer be competitive.