Back in June, Orbitz launched “Price Assurance,” by which customers would get refunds if other customers bought the same itinerary for a lower price. I reviewed it, with skepticism, when it was rolled out.
Here’s what I wrote when it was rolled out:
Unlike Yapta, which tracks fare drops and alerts you when the published price goes down, Orbitz will automatically send you a check IF AND ONLY IF another Orbitz customer purchases the same ticket you booked, and they do it for less money. If the price just goes down, but no one buys that ticket on Orbitz, you’re out of luck. No refund.
So when would you be more likely to win in the refund lottery? It would need to be a frequently purchased itinerary, so I’d be expecting it on major business routes like Washington-Chicago, San Francisco-New York, etc. Trying to get a price drop refund on that Bozeman, Montana to Fayetteville, North Carolina itinerary? Good luck with that.
So were my hunches right, or wrong? I asked Orbitz what the numbers really look like. Here’s an update from their reps:
Orbitz has mailed refund checks to travelers on over 2,400 routes since June 2008. This information is based on flights purchased on Orbitz.com in instances where a customer has purchased an airline ticket, and a subsequent Orbitz customer purchases a ticket on the same flight at a lower price, automatically generating a refund.
Subsequently, Orbitz provided a spreadsheet with the top ten refunded routes from ten cities. (The document was labeled “top 20,” but there are 70 routes mentioned.)
As I predicted, the majority of routes are indeed major business routes between American cities. There are some quirky outliers, though. Atlanta to Liberia, Costa Rica; Chicago to Guadalajara, Mexico; Miami to Barranquilla, Colombia; New York to Paris. The major business routes remain king, though.
Have any of you bought a ticket on Orbitz and gotten a refund afterward? If so, hit the comments.
[UPDATE: In a followup, Orbitz has provided the top 20 routes that have generated refunds. The list of 70 routes originally posted represents the top ten refund routes for those particular departure cities. I'm appending the top 20 list as well. Thanks to Orbitz for sharing the data!]
See the complete list, as provided by Orbitz, below the jump…
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Top 20 Destinations |
|
| 2 | Origin | Destination |
| 3 | Atlanta | JFK |
| 4 | Atlanta | LIR |
| 5 | Atlanta | FLL |
| 6 | Atlanta | PHX |
| 7 | Atlanta | LGA |
| 8 | Atlanta | MSP |
| 9 | Atlanta | BWI |
| 10 | Atlanta | ORD |
| 11 | Atlanta | DTW |
| 12 | Atlanta | LAS |
| 13 | Boston | ORD |
| 14 | Boston | MCO |
| 15 | Boston | ATL |
| 16 | Boston | CLT |
| 17 | Boston | FLL |
| 18 | Boston | LAX |
| 19 | Boston | PIT |
| 20 | Boston | SFO |
| 21 | Boston | DEN |
| 22 | Boston | SJU |
| 23 | Chicago | LAS |
| 24 | Chicago | RSW |
| 25 | Chicago | LGA |
| 26 | Chicago | BOS |
| 27 | Chicago | CUN |
| 28 | Chicago | DEN |
| 29 | Chicago | FLL |
| 30 | Chicago | GDL |
| 31 | Chicago | MIA |
| 32 | Chicago | EWR |
| 33 | L.A | JFK |
| 34 | L.A | DTW |
| 35 | L.A | SFO |
| 36 | L.A | SJD |
| 37 | L.A | SEA |
| 38 | L.A | PVR |
| 39 | L.A | CUN |
| 40 | L.A | ORD |
| 41 | L.A | IAD |
| 42 | L.A | MCO |
| 43 | Miami | PHL |
| 44 | Miami | LGA |
| 45 | Miami | GUA |
| 46 | Miami | BAQ |
| 47 | Miami | DEN |
| 48 | Miami | ORD |
| 49 | Miami | JFK |
| 50 | Miami | BWI |
| 51 | Miami | EWR |
| 52 | Miami | ATL |
| 53 | New York | LHR |
| 54 | New York | LAX |
| 55 | New York | SFO |
| 56 | New York | LAS |
| 57 | New York | MSP |
| 58 | New York | SEA |
| 59 | New York | ORD |
| 60 | New York | CDG |
| 61 | New York | PHX |
| 62 | New York | SJU |
| 63 | Washington DC | LAX |
| 64 | Washington DC | SFO |
| 65 | Washington DC | SAN |
| 66 | Washington DC | SJU |
| 67 | Washington DC | MCO |
| 68 | Washington DC | LIM |
| 69 | Washington DC | CUN |
| 70 | Washington DC | STL |
| 71 | Washington DC | BOS |
| 72 | Washington DC | JFK |
Top 20
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Top 20 Destinations |
|
| 2 | Origin | Destination |
| 3 | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK) |
London Heathrow (LHR) |
| 4 | Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) |
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK) |
| 5 | Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) |
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK) |
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) |
| 7 | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK) |
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) |
| 8 | San Francisco International Airport (SFO) |
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK) |
| 9 | Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) |
San Jose Del Cabo Airport, Mexico (SJD) |
10 |
LaGuardia International Airport, New York (LGA) |
Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) |
| 11 | General Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee (MKE) |
Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) |
| 12 | Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) |
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) |
| 13 | Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) |
Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) |
| 14 | Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) |
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK) |
| 15 | Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) |
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) |
| 16 | Logan International Airport, Boston (BOS) |
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) |
| 17 | Guadalajara Miguel Hidalgo Airport, Mexico (GDL) |
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) |
| 18 | Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) |
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) |
| 19 | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York (JFK) |
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) |
| 20 | Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) |
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) |
| 21 | Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) |
Orlando International Airport (MCO) |
| 22 | Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) |
Cancun International Airport (CUN) |
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October 17th, 2008 at 4:47 am
A friend of mine, Jeff, got a successful refund.
- David.
March 17th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
[...] that they provide value-added with their price guarantee, but since that service is of relatively limited value, I wouldn’t pay a premium for it (though maybe it’s worth the $6.99+ gamble for someone [...]
March 20th, 2009 at 5:36 am
[...] I’ve expressed before, I don’t think that a price guarantee that relies on another customer booking exactly the [...]
April 7th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
[...] that the combination of the newly-deleted fees and the Price Assurance program (analyzed here and here) makes them the online agency of choice. Assuming that the fares are the same at, say, Orbitz and [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
OK guys this is my story on Orbitz Price Assurance……so I bought 2 r/t fares through Orbitz for 708 from SFO to Geneva on Apr/30 and two weeks later the same fare, same departure, same arrival, same everything is now 677…..i emailed Orbitz requesting the credit for the difference (for 2 tickets is about $60) and their response was
———————————————————————————————————–
Dear Orbitz Customer,
Thank you for contacting Orbitz.
I understand you would like to claim price guarantee for you flight reservation.
Airfares change throughout the day, based on demand for the flight and the airlines’ right to change them at any time.
We monitor these changes closely and make every effort to keep our fare displays as current as possible. At the time of your fare search and when you bought your ticket, our display showed the lowest fare available for purchase for the time and dates you requested.
If you should find a lower fare after purchasing a non-refundable ticket, we will not be able to issue a credit for the difference in price. If you wish to take advantage of a lower price you see on the website, you may cancel the ticket and re-book. You will be subject to the refundability policy associated with your current ticket and may be charged any fees listed in that policy.
Sincerely,
Peter Emanuel
OrbitzTLC Team
———————————————————————————————————–
So basically, they lie, mislead and do not stand behind their promise just so they can make a sale. BEWARE!!!!!!
May 26th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Orbitz changed my itinerary every time that it went down in price. I am willing to join any class-action suits being prepared against them. Please contact me at: philipperv@yahoo.com. Thank you.
October 7th, 2009 at 11:31 am
We bought tickets through Orbitz, and the prices dropped by almost half on our exact tickets(everything matching). After waiting until only a few weeks before the departure after months had passed without any refund(flight was ORD to FRA roundtrip), we found out that since we were two travelers on one itinerary, to get a refund, another person would have to buy a two ticket matching itinerary. This was very unexpected, and not anywhere in the fine print. We too would like to join any class action law suit for such a misleading policy that wasted our money.(we never got a refund)
February 8th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
[...] – Check in the mail: Orbitz refunds airfare price drops, but is it worthwhile? – Orbitz Price Assurance re-examined: Real savings or gimmick? Categorized in: Orbitz No [...]
October 11th, 2011 at 5:53 pm
I’m about to discover this myself. My R/T flight is coming up in a month. I paid $1,022 and today the same itinerary dropped to $905, which means that if a soul booked the same cheaper flight, I would actually get over $100 in refund! Isn’t that sweet??? Well, they can kiss my ass! First, I would have no way to find out if somebody booked the same exact flight as I did and second, what are the chances that somebody would book those same exact flights??!!! This promotion is not really what it sounds like. Instead, try to think of it as a marketing strategy to lure you in. Well, I’m off for a month vacation and with or without the stupid refund, I will enjoy my ass. Screw Orbitz for giving false impression to people! I still would’ve paid more for other airlines and I’m not going to stress out for $100! I will share my experience if and when I get that refund.
PS. When I booked this flight, I knew about the price assurance thing, but I always believe that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. No such thing as free lunch folks and let’s all learn how to live with that whether we like it or not.
January 5th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Kris P., well put….very good points made. You have no way of knowing, only Orbitz does. Further, if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is. It sounds like a big lie to me. “ziko” above shows the message s/he got back from Orbitz where they were shameless enough to actually renege. It’s absurd because they basically, in a very wordy way, say nothing other than “you’re screwed; prices fluctuate, deal with it”.