i wouldn't either

I had a similar problem with lastminute.com. I saw a holiday to Las Vegas on there for £499, but when I tried to book two tickets the price shot up to over £900. I tried various dates, but nothing came up with the promised £499.

When I phoned them they agreed that the holiday was 'no longer available', and changed their site accordingly.

This was fair of them, but it still annoyed me that I had got my hopes up, and wasted a lot of time on line trying to book something that didn't exist.

I think online travel agents often advertise prices that don't exist just to get you to visit their site. I think this is illegal, and I wish that someone would crack down on them using this ploy.

Expedia and others do a lot of harm to the travel industry with practices that you have described.
This is a growing phenomenon.
The best advice i can give you is develop a relationship with a travel agent you trust and pay them for their services.
Just like an accountant who knows all the tax rules at tax time that will legally save you more money than you paid for the accountants service,
the same is done by a good travel agent.
Travel agents can get any legitimate deal on the web or even better.
Also most countires have Travel Compensation funds that protect you in th event of a travel supplier failure.
This coverage does not extend to any web bookings.
Buyer beware, use th eweb for research and then visit a travel agent.
Have fun travelling.

I've never had a problem with Expedia. I've booked 5 or 6 flights with them, and everything was fine. I did have that problem with a thing called SideStep. It supposedly checks all the different sites and returns the best of the best. I personally thought the thing was a nuisance, since it would pop up anytime I visited any airfare site. Ultimately, I uninstalled SideStep. But Expedia thus far has been ok for me.

Well that's really a bummer but did you really expect to get that price. They clearly state their policies in their terms and conditions and never give you an official confirmation until your cerdit card is charged.

Computers are great but can you really expect every system to work without simple flaws. At least you didn't find out about the price increase after you agreed to buy the ticket.

I think Expedia has done a great job selling travel through their website. They may not be able to offer the lowest prices or the service of an experieced agent but their technology allows them to give their customers real time quotes and plenty of information. Most people don't mind paying more for that.

I'm a travel agent and have had mistake fares honored by my suppliers in the past. If the seats are not CONFIRMED at that price then you really have nothing to complain about.

I agree to search around and suggest you visit my website at www.travelant.com to get a quote. Competiton is what brings the price down.