Orbitz.com

thechatking

My wife and I are heading to New Zealand later in the year. The cheapest flights I can find are bought from orbitz.com, which is a US-based broker. Is there anything I should be aware of when booking tickets from a foreign website?

Sam_Bee

Yes, you won't have any protection should anything go wrong (bankruptcy), probably no access to customer services, and no bonding.

But I thought they are quite big, so not aware that you should have any problems.
Buyer beware and all that...

alchemista

Orbitz is fine to book through. They are one of the leading US sites.

thechatking

If I were to book tickets in dollars, would I be charged for a foreign transaction? (i.e. is it time to whip out the Nationwide card?)

It does concern me if anything goes wrong, but the tickets would actually be with Air New Zealand, so I'm not sure how that works. Would I phone the broker or the airline?

Voyager2002

thechatking wrote: »

If I were to book tickets in dollars, would I be charged for a foreign transaction? (i.e. is it time to whip out the Nationwide card?)

It does concern me if anything goes wrong, but the tickets would actually be with Air New Zealand, so I'm not sure how that works. Would I phone the broker or the airline?

Yes, you should certainly use the Nationwide card unless you fancy paying a fee for foreign currency. In any case, Orbitz may refuse a booking from a credit card not registered in the USA: in that case you just change your billing address with them (Nationwide) in order to buy the tickets.

And if anything were to go wrong, you would have redress against Nationwide (so long as you use a credit card rather than a debit card).

Baz_2

Voyager2002 wrote: »

in that case you just change your billing address with them (Nationwide) in order to buy the tickets.

Seems on face value to be a bit of a dodgy practice? What just pick a US address at random?

thechatking

Are Visa Debit cards not covered these days? The difference between Orbitz and booking direct from Air NZ is about £40 each. For the sake of £80, I may just go for the easy option.

Orbitz accept UK credit cards, by the way.