Cheaptickets.com: Does This Service Live up to Its Name?
Written: Apr 26 '01 (Updated May 16 '05)
The Bottom Line
Cheaptickets.com is a good travel service, but I recommend checking prices at other sites first, before you make a purchase.
|
| Full Review |
Cheaptickets.com is a popular on- line web service that offers discounted prices on travel. This service has been around for about 15 years. It began as a vacation travel company that dealt with customers via telephone. It expanded to the world- wide web, in the 1990’s.
What Does This Service Have to Offer?:
Cheaptickets.com, like its name suggests, is primarily used by people looking for cheap prices on airfare. This feature is the most popular, but the site also offers hotel reservations, cruise information, and rental car reservations. All of these reservations can be made on- line, with the exception of the cruise service. To make a reservation for a cruise, you have to call a toll- free number.
How Does This Work?:
To begin your search, you need to setup an account. This service will not allow you to conduct a search for a flight, or rental car, until you setup your registration with the site. You can search for hotels without registering, but if you decide to make a reservation, then you must establish an account first.
Registration is free and simple, with only a few questions to answer. One of these questions, which is optional to answer, is the airport that you use most frequently. If you answer this question, then each time you logon to make a flight reservation, your chosen airport will already be filled in, as the departure airport.
For flight searches, Cheaptickets.com gives you two options: Express Search or Power Search. If you use the Express Search, you will be shown a list of flight schedules based on the date criteria that you entered, with the lowest cost flight listed first. If you select the Power Search option, this web service will search for the dates you asked for, plus other dates that are close to your selected dates that offer even lower prices. Most of these cheaper fares have special rules and restrictions that apply, and there is a place to click, to view the restrictions. With each flight price, it shows you the breakdown of base price, government taxes and fees, and the bottom line total price. Tickets take about 5 days to be delivered.
Hotel reservations can also be made in this site. It will show you a list of hotels in the area that you requested, (in no particular order) along with the location; a breakdown of prices for each day that you intend to stay; a map, if you need one; information on the hotel (amenities, special options, etc); and a quality rating, from one to five stars. One thing to note is that the quoted price does not include taxes and fees. In order to see the bottom- line total cost, you have to fill out the reservation information and then click an icon, to continue.
Car rental reservations work in a similar way to the hotel reservations. The weakest area of this service is the cruise reservations. If you select a cruise line, it will display a list of possible options and the minimum price, but it doesn’t give any more information. You have to call a toll- free number, and speak directly with a travel agent, to reserve a cruise.
Customer Service:
I have never had to use the customer service myself, but I know that they have a section with common questions/answers. And if you can’t find the answer to your question, you can call the toll- free service line for help, or send an e-mail.
Final Thoughts:
Cheaptickets.com is a pretty good service and the site is fairly simple and easy to navigate. I don’t appreciate the fact that you have to establish an account, before you can even search for a flight. The site should at least let you browse the flight options, and decide what you want, before you are required to set up an account. Also, I noticed that the vacation destinations are limited, in this site. Cities like Acapulco, Mexico, and Athens, Greece, are not even available to make a hotel reservation.
Prices in this site are good, but not necessarily the cheapest on the market. They are, however, pretty competitive. I have checked many other flight reservation sites, and Cheaptickets.com is usually within about $20 of the lowest- priced fares that the web has to offer.
Overall, this is a good service and I recommend adding it to your list of favorites, if you travel frequently. It’s appearance is a little bland, but it does offer some good deals on travel, and that’s what matters the most.
Be Sure to Click the Links Below to Read More Reviews on Other Popular Travel Web Sites:
American Express Travel
Cheapairlines.com
Travelnow.com
Cheaptravel.com
Hotel Discount.com
Bestfares.com
Hotwire.com
America’s Vacation Center
Expedia.com Flights
Expedia.com Hotels
Expedia.com Cruises
Travelocity.com Flights
Travelocity.com Hotels
Priceline.com Flights
Priceline.com Hotels
Vacations To Go
Flycheap.com
Vacationspot.com
LowestFare.com
Mytravelco.com
Placestostay.com
Orbitz.com
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.