CheapTickets.com: Anyone used the 110% Guarantee?

[DDSeeker]

I'm considering booking and making a claim. Is cheaptickets.com as honest with their guarantee as Hotwire? I'd appreciate any input from people with experience.

[thereuare]

Is the base fare cheaper (not just after fees, taxes, processing fees, etc)... there are a LOT of extra layers to airline tickets.

Also note we're an affiliate of CHEAPTICKETS.

I know they're a legitimate company, but i would likely only do it to save significant money and not just a couple of dollars.

[edyvr]

Be sure to read all the restrictions on cheaptickets.com before you do it.

A few things you should be beware of:

- applies to only fares available to the general public; deeply discounted consolidator/wholesaler/group/student/senior tickets are excluded (of course include Priceline, Hotwire)

- the total price at cheaptickets.com might be more expensive, but the base fare might be the same since they add some service charge

- make sure the fare on the other website is actually bookable, not just displayed (sometimes people will enter their credit card details and when the other website tries to book, it comes back with an unavailable message)

- generally I think cheaptickets.com compares the fare for the same booking class, not for different booking class (i.e. after you book your ticket say in full Y class on American, and subsequently American opens up a few cheap seats at N class, you won't qualify since cheaptickets.com book you at the lowest available fare at the time you book)

Too many restrictions and I won't risk it to save a few bucks.

[DDSeeker]

OK, I came to some of the same conclusions y'all did regarding the 110% guarantee. The big revelation came when I sat down to do the arithmetic of what I'd be saving. As thereuare implies, even in a pretty good scenario, it is likely to only be a couple bucks. Therefore, as a general rule, I agree with the previous posters that the risk/return profile of making a claim on cheaptickets isn't worth it.

However, I do have new information for the board. I was targeting a hotel in College Station, Texas. I chose an unidentified "Off the Record" easyclicktravel hotel: HOTEL

I now may report this as the LaQuinta, College Station. This is the same hotel I was targeting through cheaptickets. It turns out that buying it through easytravel was cheaper than making a claim (and assuming I won) through cheaptickets.

Also, although I feel like a seasoned BB'er, I was surprised to learn that cheaptickets is a sponsor. Of course I'm pleased to throw a few nickels your way when I make an on-line reservation, but I wasn't aware of that. I'll remember next time. Is BB an affiliate of easyclicktravel, too?

[thereuare]

Also, although I feel like a seasoned BB'er, I was surprised to learn that cheaptickets is a sponsor. Of course I'm pleased to throw a few nickels your way when I make an on-line reservation, but I wasn't aware of that. I'll remember next time. Is BB an affiliate of easyclicktravel, too?

While i'm glad you have raised this issue, i'm somewhat discouraged by it as well...

If a frequent user such as yourself is not aware of sites that we are affiliated with, i can only imagine a 'newbie' is even more in the dark. While Cheaptickets doesn't get much mention on the board, EasyClickTravel certainly does... so i naturally just assumed that everyone would know that they were an affiliate.

If there was any doubt, there is always our SUPPORT PAGE for which there is a "Travel Links to Help Support BetterBidding" link on every page on the board (and an alphabetical listing HERE). If everyone would take less than 3 minutes to look at this support page and familairize themselves with the list of companies which help support this board then the links there would be used a lot more often.

We have made a decision to not inundate this board with advertising as i don't like it in my own web surfing so i wouldn't want to subject the users here to something i myself do not like. Unfortunately while this decision makes for a better experience on the board, it also causes under utilization of the links that are found there (much to my frustration).

Traffic is up, membership is up, referals are up, positive feedback is up, time it takes to manage the board is up... but so is the frequency we have seen users book without our links because "Oh, i didn't know" :)

So an open question (for which i'd prefer replies via PM or email).... how can we make affiliate links and those of our prefered providers more prominent so that they get used more frequently.