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The 6 best online travel agencies of 2013

April 4, 2013

In this year’s best online travel agency category, it was yet another close vote. Travelocity and Kayak were tied until almost the last minute. But then Travelocity pulled ahead with just seconds left in the voting — almost a photo finish.

Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline round out the list, followed by Hotwire.

I didn’t distinguish between so-called “opaque” sites like Priceline and Hotwire and the “full-service” agencies. The list is a useful guide for anyone considering making a travel purchase online.

Here are the top online travel agencies of 2013 according to the readers of this site.
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I’ve heard your comments and here’s what I’ve done

April 3, 2013

Wow, what a week it’s been!

First, a little good news: After an internal site redesign, which optimized some databases and cleared out a few errant scripts, we’re moving full steam ahead. On Tuesday, we had record traffic for a non-viral story day, reaching 20,000 readers.

Thanks to all of you for making that possible, and to my webmaster, Steven Glover, for helping right the ship.

Now we’re turning to fixing the comments, both in terms of the way they display and what’s in them. I asked you to vote on which commenting system you wanted to use, and a majority favored staying with Disqus.
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7 comments

Which comments system should we use?

April 2, 2013

Yesterday we opened up a discussion about the rules of engagement, and our moderation team is carefully weighing your feedback. It’s been very helpful, and we’ve already made some changes based on the initial comments.

Several readers have suggested that the biggest problem with the discussion is Disqus, which I currently use to manage the comments. They don’t like the last “upgrade” (Disqus 2012) and say they can’t always access the comments.

Some readers believe Livefyre, another cloud-based commenting system, would be better. Others say we should revert to the native WordPress commenting system.

I’m open to change. So I thought we should put it to a vote.
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26 comments

“I was so touched I almost cried”

April 1, 2013

LuAnn Ezeonu’s son is a United States Marine deployed in Afghanistan. A year ago, before he left the country, he bought a laptop computer and an iPod from the Apple Store at the Flatiron Crossing Mall in Broomfield, Colo.

By the time he returned to the States, his electronics were in bad shape. Which is where today’s story of unbelievable customer service picks up: with Ezeonu’s son bringing the dented equipment back to Apple after his deployment.

“He returned from his first deployment with a computer and iPod that were dusty, sandy, beat up and the disk drive in the computer wasn’t working,” she remembers. “We took it to this same Apple store.”
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16 comments

Changing the rules of engagement (for the better, let’s hope)

April 1, 2013

It’s been an interesting few months for this site. Late last year we introduced a crew of volunteer moderators and a few simple rules of engagement.

But like everything else, both the rules and the roles played by the moderators evolved.

Today, I’m proposing to clarify some of the rules of engagement and to more clearly define what the moderators do.

Until now, we’ve had a very succinct comment policy and no real definition of moderator duties.
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26 comments

Whatever happened to mercy?

April 1, 2013

Mercy.

It’s not a word you hear very often in business. It’s something Tami Alloway desperately needed when she contacted Priceline recently to cancel a nonrefundable reservation at the Hawthorn Suites in Charleston.

Alloway, a nurse from Kansas City, had every intention of honoring the reservation when she made it last summer. But then something happened.

“Totally unexpectedly, my sister’s children were removed from their home and taken into state custody,” she told me. “I was awarded foster care for all three of them and they have been with me since then.”

Her sister’s kids will be with her until the end of the school year. Which brings us to that hotel reservation in South Carolina. In order to find the best price, Alloway clicked on Priceline.com, a site with great rates but super-strict refundability rules.
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122 comments

Please vote for your favorite online travel agency

March 28, 2013

Online travel agencies have been called everything from web-based “vending machines” to travel agency killers. Like ‘em or not, they’re a part of the travel ecosystem — and they’re not all created equally.

This week, I’m resuming my Elliott’s List feature by asking you to vote on your favorite online travel agency. Which site offers the best service, prices and stands behind its products? In other words, which one do you turn to when you need to go somewhere?

Thank you for voting. Here are the results.