Many of the hotel booking services we reviewed also let you book flights and cars at the same time. Orbitz.com makes that process easy and gives you many options to customize your choices. You can also buy cruises and tickets for local attractions. With all of the options, Orbitz is our choice for the booking service to find the best package deals.
By booking your hotel, flight and car together, you’ll often be able to save more than you would if you booked each individually. When you start putting together your package through Orbitz, you’ll start by selecting which combination of hotel, flight and car you need. If a hotel is included, you’ll pick that first.
Orbitz has a search system very similar to that offered by Expedia and Travelocity. You can filter and sort by price, location and amenities offered. If you’re looking for a hotel as part of a package, you can search for the biggest package discount, though the prices for these are often high, since they reflect a discount and not the lowest base price.
Once you’ve found your hotel, you’ll move on to selecting your flight. You’ll find that many of the prices are low; in fact, choosing some flights may result in your total package price decreasing. One thing to note: Booking a flight through Orbitz or another service doesn’t cover baggage fees or other fees you might have to pay at the airport.
Booking a rental car is simple, you can filter by car make and model and sort by price or discount. Rental cars are one of the most heavily discounted pieces of your travel bundle, and can be quite affordable especially if you’re not picky about the type of car you get.
In addition to booking hotels, flights and cars you can also get tickets to cruises and local attractions. This is another easy way to plan your trip ahead of time, especially if you’re going somewhere with popular attractions and want to lock down tickets ahead of time. Be aware, though, there’s no way to set up alerts before you book to tell you if the price goes down.
Orbits had one of the most expansive searches we saw. It provided us with the most results of any of the sites we used. While you’re probably not going to wade through over 1,000 different results, you can use the various filters and sorting options to narrow down the options and make your choice.
You can sort by price, distance from downtown and the best deal available. Since hotel booking sites have deals that expire quickly, you can find good prices and get them as soon as you see them. Orbitz has a variety of filter to help you narrow the results to only those that include certain amenities or fall within a certain price range or are located in a certain neighborhood or by certain destinations.
In addition to booking hotels, flights and cars you can also get tickets to cruises and local attractions. This is another easy way to plan your trip ahead of time, especially if you’re going somewhere with popular attractions and want to lock down tickets ahead of time.
Orbitz also offers a quality rewards program. You’ll earn a percentage back from each purchase. Orbitz calls these Orbucks and they can be used to pay for hotel bookings you make through Orbitz. The amount of Orbucks you earn on each purchase varies, and Orbitz often offers promotions that can double or triple the amount you earn.
There’s three tiers to Orbitz’s rewards program. Silver Status is the basic level and offers you access to member prices and the option to earn Orbucks as well any airline frequent flier miles you are eligible for. Gold Status requires you to stay 4 or more nights a year and gives you access to a member’s only customer service line and benefits like free wi-fi or breakfast at participating hotels. Platinum Status is eligible if you stay 12 or more nights a year and it gives you the benefits of the lower tiers as well as Orbucks for checked backs and free upgrades at participating hotels.
There are restrictions on how many Orbucks you can earn at each tier. Silver can only earn $50 a year, Gold $10 while Platinum can earn a maximum of $400 each year.
Orbitz is one of the best services for bundling your flights, hotels and cars together. It’s easy to make your choices and you’ll often be able to find deals that can give you significant savings. Orbitz also has a quality rewards program the offers more benefits if you’re a frequent traveler.
