[Speakoutpierre]

I tried to book a flight from Las Vegas to Okland for less than $80 with Orbitz, Cheapticket and similar sites. What I wanted was to enjoy that trip (I love to be in airplanes for hours) which had a stop in New York and even skip a night/hotel. The flight was leaving at 10:30 p.m. and ending in Okland around noon.

FOR MANY DAYS, I tried many times to book that advertised flight. Always, it says that it was no longer available for the initial fee but was actually available for over $325.

I contacted Orbitz and similar sites to tell them to stop advertising that trip. They did nothing!
I frequently contacted Bluejet to tell them to stop advertising that trip at around $80.They did nothing!

FRAUDULENT ADVERTISING FOR OVER ONE WEEK = JETBLUE.

It gave me an idea of the honesty of that airliner falsely advertising some trips.

[Corbel]

jetblue, only sells a number of seats for that $80 fare. they cant sell all seats at that price, they wouldn't make any money. is it frustrating, yes, i have tried with spirit for the $.01 sale, by the time i got there, the cost was already $120 one way

[Speakoutpierre]

Why to keep that flight for $80 for over one week in Orbitz & similar sites.

I bought that specific trip over 100 times (plus 2 others) in 5 or 6 days ... always hoping that One site in One particular moment might have that flight available for the price advertised. When the new price is showed (over $325), the Purchase button is there. I did select it by error some 3 days ago with Orbitz. I have been right away charged for it. I called Orbitz to cancel it ... and I have been lucky as they accepted my cancellation. But after 3 days, after my mistake, after telling them that the fee was wrongly advertise, Orbitz still attempt to lure us with the $80 fee.

[Silent Bob]

question: are you upset with Jet Blue or Orbitz?? Which website originally posted the price?

[Speakoutpierre]

Which one to blame first?

JetBlue letting a false advertising being seen in many sites as Orbitz even if they know for many days that the offer isn't there

..or..
Orbitz and similar sites clearly knowing that some of the flights from JetBlue aren't available for many days?

My best answer Bob is that both are guilty, strongly guilty of false advertising as both actually know about it.

The posted price isn't on Jetblue's site but is authorized by that company.

But, JetBlue should be the one to ask at Orbitz and similar sites to adjust their listing with the reality. Being so, JetBlue is the first one to blame. I travel for about 5-6 long distance trips a year. JetBlue wasn't and will never be one of my airliners.

[ChrisH]

Airline only sell a certain number of seats at a specific price. They may have only had just a few seats for sale at $80. Once those few seats have been purchased, the price goes up.

Keep in mind that Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, and all of the other "cheap ticket" websites, are third party companies. They are not owned, and operated by the airlines. If Orbitz was advertising something, or didn't take an advertisement down, in time, then that is on Orbitz, not JetBlue.

[Speakoutpierre]

Thank you Chris has possibly being an informed devil advocate.

Even if the third party companies don't belong to BlueJet, it seems that they are frequently communicating together. The same flights NONE-AVAILABLE are priced differently from one day to another and even some of them are not available in some days then they reappear later.

Why the price and the available flights would change daily without having a communication with BlueJet. Being so, BlueJet should have informed the third party companies that the flights aren't available for over one week.

I have to remind an important fact here: we got the information that the flights aren't available for $80 ... ONLY ... after we are push the last button to make the reservation ... NOT when we select the flights.

[ChrisH]

The prices change, because Orbitz, etc., have a database that searches these airline's fares. It is not because they communicate with JetBlue, and the other airlines, daily, to update fares. I am sure that they have some kind of agreement with the airlines to do this, but that doesn't mean the airlines are responsible for advertisements, and other problems that arise with these low fare websites. They are third party companies, just like a travel agent, and in fact, the airlines aren't even responsible for problems with reservations, that were reserved, using these websites. Reading all of the "small print" and terms of service information on these "low fare" websites, will tell you all of that. Did you know that seat assignments are not even guaranteed, when you purchase through these low fare websites, for example. --- there is always a catch when it comes to finding the cheapest possible tickets. It is better to purchase the tickets directly from the airline, itself, even if it means paying a little more.

I certainly do not know the situation fully, but I would be willing to guarantee that JetBlue/Orbitz, sold several tickets that day for the advertised $80, but since only a select few of seats were sold at that price, the price had gone up, by the time you tried to purchase one.

I agree that the advertisement should have been pulled off of the website, as soon as they sold out, and that part you may want to take up with Orbitz, and JetBlue. But I doubt JetBlue keeps constant tabs on what Orbitz, and these other websites are doing, and advertising, on a daily basis.

[Speakoutpierre]

Originally Posted by ChrisH

I certainly do not know the situation fully, but I would be willing to guarantee that JetBlue/Orbitz, sold several tickets that day for the advertised $80, but since only a select few of seats were sold at that price, the price had gone up, by the time you tried to purchase one.

Everyday, about 10 times a day for about 5 days I tried to buy one of the 3 trips advertised for around $80 (~50 purchases/day). I don't count among those several tickets sold at $80. Now, I can't anymore continue to attempt to buy one of them as I risk to be charged if .. if .. if it was available for that rare moment. I mean that I bought another flight.

I would like to buy that flight even for $20 more but it never have been advertise inside JetBlue.com. JetBlue often replied and said that those flights might not be available at the moment that I attempted to get them. To that I would bet that they just weren't available. So! I am talking of a fraudulent advertising. For the least, the message "not anymore available" should be seen before we select the "purchase" button. I am computer programmer and I can't imagine a so stupid sequence "of logic" ... still being there (see previous sentence).

I already booked all my 4 next flights this year from West Canada to N.Y.C., Las Vegas, Orlando and Maui. So! JetBlue don't appear on those tickets.

* Flights not really available *

Sept. 23: LAS to OAK: 6-95, 200-99, 6-91 (Orbitz: $91 (today))

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by Speakoutpierre

I tried to book a flight from Las Vegas to Okland for less than $80 with Orbitz, Cheapticket and similar sites. What I wanted was to enjoy that trip (I love to be in airplanes for hours) which had a stop in New York and even skip a night/hotel. The flight was leaving at 10:30 p.m. and ending in Okland around noon.

FOR MANY DAYS, I tried many times to book that advertised flight. Always, it says that it was no longer available for the initial fee but was actually available for over $325.

I contacted Orbitz and similar sites to tell them to stop advertising that trip. They did nothing!
I frequently contacted Bluejet to tell them to stop advertising that trip at around $80.They did nothing!

I'm not sure what possessed me to read this thread, but I was just in the JetBlue (or as the OP put it, BlueJet) forum and happened to see it. Y'all missed an important fact in the OPs original statement. He was obviously trying to book a trip on JetBlue from Oakland to Las Vegas via New Yprk JFK.

I went to JetBlue.com and all of their discount fares from OAK to LAS route through LGB (Long Beach) and I suspect that the fare this guy was looking for didn't allow routing through New York as an option.

So I guess my main point for posting on this tired old thread is education. There are many elements to airline fares. Advance purchase and minimun stay are just the tip of the iceberg. Then you have to contend with "limited availability" which in reality means there may be half a dozen or so seats (or less) allocated to that advertised fare on each flight.

Finally there are routing restrictions. If an airline advertises a fare from pI know that Delta and Conoint A to B even though one must make an intermediate stop it doesn't mean the fare is valid to stop at any of that airline's hubs. I know that Continental and Delta often have killer deals from Phoenix to various cities. It does not mean that I can always connect through Newark or Atlanta to maximize the miles on that trip. Often the fare is only good if I connect through Houston or Salt Lake City.

If you try to piece together such a trip on a site like Orbitz or Tracelocity it may initially display that the fare is good using connections in out of the way cities but when it checks the fare rules that the airline publishes it will return a higher price for that itinerary. You noticed that the OP never said he was offered the discount price when trying to book the trip from OAK-JFK-LAS on JetBlue.com. That's why. The airline's own website will not offer connections at the lower price which are outside of it's own fare rules.

[jimworcs]

Why anyone would want to travel from Vegas to Oakland via New York to save a night in a hotel is beyond me... the risk of being stranded in NY with no luggage is too great and the idea of sitting in a narrow seat trying to get some sleep.. bonkers!

ChrisH's advice that

It is better to purchase the tickets directly from the airline, itself, even if it means paying a little more.

may apply to US airlines, but in these days if you are with a UK airline this is not good advice. Tickets purchased through third party websites and travel agents are ATOL and often ABTA insured. In Europe airlines are allowed to go bankrupt rather than being government protected like in the US. If the airline goes bankrupt you are provided with flights home under ATOL or ABTA. If you buy the ticket directly from the airline, there is no insurance cover, as the people who bought tickets on Zoom and Excel Airways discovered to their cost.

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

Why anyone would want to travel from Vegas to Oakland via New York to save a night in a hotel is beyond me... the risk of being stranded in NY with no luggage is too great and the idea of sitting in a narrow seat trying to get some sleep.. bonkers!

The easy answer to that is...miles! The more miles one accumulates the closer one is to a free trip. If the cost of a flight from California to Vegas via NYC is the same as one which is less out of the wat some will take the longer route for the extra miles.

Tickets purchased through third party websites and travel agents are ATOL and often ABTA insured. In Europe airlines are allowed to go bankrupt rather than being government protected like in the US. If the airline goes bankrupt you are provided with flights home under ATOL or ABTA. If you buy the ticket directly from the airline, there is no insurance cover, as the people who bought tickets on Zoom and Excel Airways discovered to their cost.

In most cases if the tickets were purchase on a credit (not debit) card then the credit card company usually provides insurance should the airline cease operations.

[jimworcs]

In most cases if the tickets were purchase on a credit (not debit) card then the credit card company usually provides insurance should the airline cease operations.

Not in the UK. Some premium Credit Cards which you have to pay an annual fee for provide "free" insurance. All other credit cards must reimburse the purchase cost for any service bought on credit under the Consumer Credit Act, but there is no insurance to get you home. When Zoom recently went belly up, there were hundreds of passengers stranded in the US and Canada who were unable to get home. The cost of one way tickets back to the UK suddenly went through the roof as the other airlines sought to exploit their misery. The credit card companies would reimburse the old ticket only when they had made an application which took months. The British Embassy in New York and Toronto had to provide a number of people with emergency loans to pay the gouging prices charged by other airlines to get them home.
Those who had bought tickets via a third party tour operator or ABTA on the other hand were repatriated free by the Civil Aviation Authority, who had to charter planes specifically to get them home, rather than pay the excessive fares quoted by the mainstream airlines.

A similar scenario played out with hundreds stranded in Florida by the collapse of Excel. In that case you had the bizarre situation in which people who bought a "discounted" holiday through a third party were protected, and those who paid full price directly to the airline for the same flight and holiday were not.