This is me.

Nightmare on E-Street

Sometimes booking travel online can make travelers wish they'd stayed home

Let me add my voice to the many many many others about how booking through Travelocity is a BAD BAD BAD idea.

Back in August I went to book flights for my family to travel to Kansas in December for Wes' graduation. I selected flights that most closely fit our schedules and went ahead and purchased. All was hunky dory.

Except a few weeks later I got that dreaded "Your itinerary has changed" email. Apparently Midwest Airlines had changed its schedule and Travelocity, in its infinite wisdom, had booked us a connecting flight with only a 35 minute layover. Sensing that this was going to be a problem, I called Travelocity right away to make a change. I was informed that since my "connection time was still valid" there would be no changing things. Since I knew that if our flight got in late and we missed our connecting flight the airline would probably just rebook us, I asked about what the later options were. I was informed there would be a few flights later in the day. Ok, not happy, but I'll deal.

Fast forward to last night. Another glorious "Your Itinerary has changed" email. Only this time we have FIVE MINUTES to make our connecting flight. Time to call Travelocity again... they told me that the connection time was still valid and that to change the trip I would have to pay $130 per person. Further, the next flight is a mere 7 hours later. So I asked them to cancel the connecting flight all together and credit me for the difference. (We can get a rental car!) Nope - this will also cost $130 per person and we won't get any of the money credited back. You're kidding right? What kind of service is this?? This isn't me changing my mind - this is an impossible flight!

So I decide to call the airlines. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! They immediately transfer me to the schedule change desk. The guy looks at my reservation and says "oh no, your first connection won't work at all!" I repeat what the Travelocity people have told me and he says "HAHA yeah we don't have very much luck working with them on these kinds of situations." The man rebooks my departing flight so I will definitely make my connection. At no charge. Apologizes for the problems and wishes me a nice day. How hard was that? Apparently very. I think I'll be flying Midwest from now on. And banishing Travelocity from my list of options.