If Orbitz (travel website) knew what was going on and actually thought like a real person who’s going online trying to find the best deal they can in this tough economy then they would copy Bing Travel (go to bing.com and then click on travel.) Bing allows you to do a “flexible search”. Not just any flexible search, a fantastic flexible search. This is a outstanding way to save money on any trip you plan on taking in the future. Why? Because you can compare dates. It’s that simple. Changing your travel plans by even just one day can save you hundreds.

So, if you search deep enough into Orbitz’s website, yes, you may find their ‘flexible search’. Not that good is it? No. Nothing compared with Bing. One good thing I will say about Orbitz is their customer service. I don’t think many people care about their ‘Price Guarantee’, we all expect our prices will stay the same. So, along with the subject of their customer service….. As I was on Orbitz’s site the other day a prompt came up on my screen with a lady asking me if she can help me. “Sure”, I said, knowing she wouldn’t be able to. I asked her if they had flexible search on vacation packages. She really didn’t know how to answer and told me I can go to ‘flights’ and then go to flexible search and make my selection. I said I’d already been there and it’s of no help for what I’m looking for. She didn’t understand that when most of us travel we need more than a flexible flight date. We need it all. And this is my suggestion to Orbitz: Take a moment and look at what Bing has done with their flexible search. Give us more options. Allow flexible search for vacation packages. Allow multiple city flexible search. And for our sake of time, speed up your website.