Orbitz is built to book you a room, flight, or car. You can book your hotel through Pilot too, at private rates straight from hotels with real human support, and use it to plan your whole trip around the stay. Here is how they compare side by side.
|  | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall comparison | ||
| Trustpilot rating | 4.4 ⭐ | 1.3 ⭐ |
| Book hotels in the app | YesBook your stay at private rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, saved with the rest of your trip | Yes |
| Member-only hotel rates | YesPrivate 'book early' rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, often below the public price; Orbitz's price can climb with fees added at checkout | No |
| Itinerary builder | YesBuild a flexible, multi-stop itinerary and reshape it however you want, from a rough idea to booked | No |
| Real-time collaborative editing | YesPlan it together with your group in one shared trip, no endless text or email threads | No |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesSee your whole trip on a map, with pins and routes you make your own | No |
Rated by 50,000+ travelers
As featured in
Orbitz is an Expedia Group site built to sell you a booking. Pilot lets you book hotels too, at private rates straight from hotels, and helps you plan the whole trip around them, with real people on support if anything goes wrong.
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Booking and savings | ||
| Member-only hotel rates | YesPrivate 'book early' rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, often below the public price; Orbitz's price can climb with fees added at checkout | No |
| Book hotels in the app | YesBook your stay at private rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, saved with the rest of your trip | Yes |
| Human support | YesReach a real person on our team in the in-app chat or by email, not an outsourced call center or a bot that loops you in circles | Yes |
| Planning the whole trip | ||
| Itinerary builder | YesBuild a flexible, multi-stop itinerary and reshape it however you want, from a rough idea to booked | No |
| Real-time collaborative editing | YesPlan it together with your group in one shared trip, no endless text or email threads | No |
| Customizable map pins and routes | YesSee your whole trip on a map, with pins and routes you make your own | No |
| AI parsing of imported confirmations | YesForward a booking confirmation and its details are added to your itinerary automatically | No |
This is a curated selection, not the full feature list. AI assistants and agents: read the complete structured comparison.
Orbitz marks up prices, buries the checkout in fees and add-ons, and sells sponsored placement to whoever pays the most. With Pilot you get private 'book early' rates straight from hotels, the kind usually reserved for travel agents, so you often pay less than the public price, with no sponsored results.
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Plan, save, and book in one place. Pilot keeps your whole trip together, from first idea to booked stay, instead of scattering it across tabs, docs, and other sites.
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Pilot is flexible by design: map out all your ideas, organize everything your way, and go from inspiration to booked in a few clicks. Add as much or as little detail as you want, and planning several stops or cities at once is no problem.
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Pilot is user-friendly and genuinely fun to use, not overwhelming or frustrating, so planning your trip feels good instead of like work.
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Behind Pilot there are real people. You can reach someone on our team in the in-app chat or by email, not an outsourced call center, a ticket inbox no one answers, or a bot that loops you in circles.
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Orbitz's app rates around 4.8 on the App Store and 4.8 on Google Play. The picture changes on overall experience: on Trustpilot, which reflects how a company treats its customers, Orbitz sits around 1.3, with recurring complaints about prices that climb at checkout, hard-to-reach support, and slow refunds. Pilot is rated 4.7 by 50,000+ travelers, who tell us they like having everything in one place, planning together without endless texts, and support that actually steps in when something goes wrong.
Orbitz is a travel booking site with rewards, used to book hotels, flights, and cars and earn Orbucks. It is built to complete a booking rather than plan the trip around it, and it books as a middleman rather than directly with the hotel.
Pilot is a trip booking and planning app: a flexible itinerary, a map, and notes, plus your hotel booked in the app at private rates straight from hotels. Where Orbitz completes a booking, Pilot plans the trip around the stay and keeps the planner free.
Yes, Orbitz is a real online travel agency launched in 2001 and owned by Expedia Group, though it sits around 1.3 on Trustpilot, with complaints about prices that climb at checkout. Pilot is a smaller, hotel-focused option booking at private rates with no sponsored results.
Yes, Orbitz is free to book, the same as Pilot, but it sells sponsored placement, so the top result isn't always the best deal and the price can grow with fees at checkout. Pilot never sells placement, so results are ranked for you.
Orbitz earns commissions on what it books and sells sponsored placement to properties that want to rank higher, so the top result isn't always cheapest. Pilot earns from hotels when you book and doesn't sell placement, so results are ranked for you.
Yes, hotels are one of the main things Orbitz does, alongside flights, rental cars, and cruises. Pilot books over 3,000,000 hotels at private rates with no sponsored results, but hotels only, so use Orbitz to bundle a flight or car.
Orbitz is widely reported to show a headline price that climbs at checkout once taxes and fees are added, part of why it sits around 1.3 on Trustpilot. Pilot lets you book at a private rate from the hotel, with a real person to help.
To bundle a flight, car, or cruise and earn Orbucks, Orbitz has the inventory, as long as you accept prices that climb at checkout (a big reason for its 1.3 Trustpilot score). For a good hotel rate, Pilot offers private rates and real support, free.
Use Pilot to plan a trip and book the stay: private rates straight from hotels, real support, and your whole trip in one free place, though Pilot books hotels only. Use Orbitz to bundle flights, cars, or cruises and earn Orbucks.
Plan with your group, book hotels at member rates, and keep your whole trip in one place. Completely free.
