Contact Travelocity Corporate
Travelocity is an online travel agency for personal and business use. It is a subsidiary of Expedia as of January 2015. Revenues for 2014 were reported as US 94 billion.
If you have a problem with your travel arrangements through Travelocity, you may call 1-855-201-7800. You may contact corporate headquarters at 3150 Sabre Drive. Southlake, Texas 76092. The corporate office phone number is 682-605-1000. You may look online for the best customer support.
Travelocity was founded by Terry Jones and originally owned by Sabre Corporation, Inc. The Roaming Gnome continues to be a popular trademark of Travelocity. Social media presence may be found on , , YouTube and Instragram.
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Top Travelocity Complaints
Browse more than 79 reviews submitted so far
My in ear headphones wont hold a charge
The only reason the rating is 1 star is because I can’t make the rating go to zero. Booked a room then had an emergency called to cancel the room and was assured it would be taken care of. Turns out NONE OF THE CSRs did anything they promised and I am stuck NEVER USE TRAVELOCITY; TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE.
Hours trying to contact them. Called tons of numbers. Replied to text message. Emailed hotel and even hotel does not have a number for them. Book direct, changing plans will be a lot easier.
I tried to purchase the hotel insurance for 18. I was unable to do this on line or with a customer service representative. I justed booked the hotel and was given the option for hotel insurance. When I tried to access this, I received a prompt telling me it timed out. I just booked it! Very disappointed and will never use your site again.
I work out of town for a living. I booked a flight to go home for the weekend and see my family. I had to work instead, called Travelocity and changed my flight to Father’s Day weekend, I thought I paid the 280.00 for the change of ticketing,received confirmation email for changes from Travelocity. jump forward to Father’s Day weekend arrive at airport and United tells me I have no ticket. I call Travelocity they find all my information but say United did not confirm, I have been on a call for over an hour trying to sort this out, does not look good. so I am looking to be out my original ticket cost plus not sure if they have already charged me the change fee or not and will not get to see my children or father on Father’s Day, Thanks and they just hung up after all this time on the phone
I rented a car at Fox Rental Car at the Parlermo Airport on your site. I brought the printed price contract from Travelocity to the desk at the Palermo Airport, but the woman at the desk at Palermo did not honor the price, she charged me 30 a day for insurance when I’d contracted through the site to pay 11 a day. When I expressed that it was a violation of the agreement and disrespectful, she essentially told me to go away, and that she wouldn’t rent me a car at all. I’d been enroute about 24 hours and had my son with me and needed to get on the road, and wanted the car so acceded to her coercion, but I’m hoping you can refund me the difference she charged, or at the very least, not allow that site sell to your clients ever again. Please advise. You can reach me by text while on my trip at 1(323)202-5645 Thank you. Stephanie Hubbard
Had to cancel trip in January, had paid for trip insurance, so took credit from Travelocity for American Airlines. Understood they’d rebook me in the future and refund me the 200 rebooking free per seat. I have been trying to rebook for four days and get different responses but none complete. Now they tell me their system is down. I truly believe they are trying to not have to reimburse me for the insurance (total of 400). I need to rebook this now or I’ll lose my lodging and can’t get anyone to help. Was told they needed to do this themselves. And although I’ve asked for where I could send my receipt (if I do the rebooking thru their site), they literally (three different reps) ignore the question. I need something done. If I lose my money, I will file legal action (there are many lawyers in my family so will be worth the time). The arrogance is ridiculous.
My girlfriend and I planned a trip from Birmingham AL to Myrtle Beach, SC to utilize a time share for a reunion. Our proposed date was July 26Aug.26. So we booked flights through Travelosity. I asked to have her same itinerary. Then we were informed, due to no fault of our own, that it would not be available for that period, but would be available from Aug 2 to August 9.
Despite the fact that they decided to set up an account for me, they set it up in the wrong name and the incorrect email address. Called them to change that first. Said it would be done in 36-48 hours. It was not. No email confirmation because they set up the account wrong. I didn’t want a refund, I just wanted to move the trip back a week. Travelocity informed me that Delta could do that but they could not. Called Delta and they said they had plenty of seats available for the revised date and Travelocity could make the change; totally contradicting Travelocity. The custormer service rep failed to tell me on the phone that I couldn’t alter the flight date. You don’t get that until you see the fine print on the itinerary, and by that time, you are screwed. Then they say in a policy statement that they understand that changes happen in life and they understand it and a fee may be charged by the airline and passed on to me. Delta said they would not charge a fee in this case.
It’s not that Travelocity couldn’t make the change; they just didn’t want to do it. The only response they had was for me to rebook an additional flight at 488. When asked if they could apply the 466 that I already paid to this rebooking, they flatly just said no. They had no explanation why they couldn’t do it, other than they just wanted to keep the 466 and piss me off.
I am writing this letter with respect to my recent travel from 29 May – 1 June 2019, booked with Homewood Suites Dolphin Mall through Travelocity.
I must state that I am totally disappointed upon reaching Homewood Suites at 2:50 pm after a long day of travel, to hear that my booking was cancelled, although I took the option to pay prior my the hotel stay.
The receptionist informed me that I should call Travelocity directly which I did and was also informed that my booking was cancelled. I spoke to four persons namely Lisa( cannot remember the other names) and had to be holding on for more than 15 minutes on each call. I waited for at least 5 hours sitting in a lobby area with my family of 3 to be checked into my hotel room which I would have already paid for and unable to so.
I was charged 100.00 US dollars on my phone for Roaming as Travelocity called my phone about 6 times and I had to be adding credit to receive these calls, to confirm my booking and payment information.
Please investigate this matter as I did not cancel booking and Homewood Suites said they won’t cancel unless informed by you. I would like to be reimbursed for my PHONE CHARGES and for my FRIST NIGHT STAY, as I was deprived of 5 hours from entering the hotel room that was previously paid for as Travelocity only confirmed this payment at around 8:pm and by that time I had to let my family sleep on the chair awaiting your confirmation call and missing out on all evening activities I had previously planned with my family.
This was a horrible experience for my family and I and I am not willing to pay for an evening that I was deprived off.
Booked a flight to Denver 6 months before flight. Tried 4 times to get a seat assignment or pay to get assignment because I needed to make sure I got there on this flight. Checked in exactly 24hour prior to the flight and got the second worse seat on the plane. You get to check in 5th position once everyone has boarded. Same thing happened on the return, except I got the worse seat on the plane. The last row, no recliner and was bumped 47 times by the line of passengers going to the bathroom and the United Staff. When you book Travelocity expect the worse seat possible. First and last time to book a discounted fare on the Airline. Weill never ever use them again!
I made roundtrip reservations for me and four of my sisters to fly from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Detroit, Mi on May 31, 2019. As I consulted with my sisters to verify exact names that would be used as ID, there was a popup indicating that time was expiring. After hurriedly submitting the required information and payment, I realized that there was a mistake. Therefore, I called the number listed for assistance. I was transferred several times to people that spoke little English. After more than 15 minutes trying to explain, I decided to cancel those reservations and start a new one. This time I submitted the information accurately. Shortly afterward, I received a confirmation number, itinerary number and ticket numbers for the five of us. At 2:00 am, I was troubled about whether the first set of reservations had been canceled. I logged on to my account at Travelocity and discovered that I had been assigned TWO different confirmation numbers (one for the first set that should have been canceled) and TWO different sets of tickets. Not only was I confirmed for both sets, but was charged for both sets of reservations. Therefore, I canceled the first set of reservations again. The screen indicated that the cancellation had been processed because I was still within the 24 hour block. The screen indicated that the second set of reservations had been processed and confirmed. I was relieved. Later that day, on May 2nd I logged onto the website again to verify that all information was still accurate. It was. Today, is Tuesday, May 21, 2019. Here I sit looking at my bank statement in disbelief! Not only was I charged for 10 tickets (only 5 passengers), but all 10 tickets had been refunded (20 line items on my bank statement)! That’s when I realized that ALL of my reservations had been canceled. When I called for clarification, I was transferred from one non-English speaker to another. I decided to call Delta directly. When I called Delta, I was told that the fare had almost doubled and there was no recourse. I would have to pay today’s fare or cancel the trip. Travelocity, I have used your service many times before, however, from this unpleasant experience onward, I will handle business directly with the airlines or businesses. (Yes, I realize that quality service requires quality pay.) Thank you and so long, Travelocity!
I was charged 172.53 for car rental Hertz at EWR airport 5/17/19-5/19/19 on 4/30/19. The reservation was made on 4/28/19 and cancelled on 5/11/19. I was only refunded 122.53, a difference of 50. Please refund the remaining 50 asap and advise.
Booked a room with Travelocity and upgraded my package 70 more for 4 adult free breakfast as stated on itenuary to find out at hotel that I only get 40 dollars towards 2 adult breakfast. Travelocity will not correct it and will not refund my 70. I spoke to a travel agency rep and requested it be escalated to upper management who in turn told me they were the highest management level which I know is false. Do not book with Travelocity because it is full of mis leading promises.
They can’t solve my problem so they keep transferring me around and to expedia I’ve been on the phone for the past 5 hours.
I will NEVER book through Travelocity again. I had what turned out to be the absolute worst experience. The customer service dept seems like that are very helpful and easy to work with but if you have any issues with your room or charges it all changes into something worse than a nightmare. I got charged from the hotel and travelocity and my account went into the negative and had so many charges on charges it was a mess. I spent a total of almost 6 hrs on hold and arguing with several customer service agents of which i could not understand and they sure didnt understand what i was explaining. Tomorrow will be 1 week and i still have not been refunded what i am owed. The only part i will add any positive to is when i finally was transferred to corp. Headquarters and spoke to a manager named Ariana. Speaking with her was the only good thing i will say about that company. However i have to call them again as i have to call again because i have have a deposit to my acct from travelocity for a fraction of what i am to be refunded. NOT HAPPY. WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE
I was informed my flight from Jackson to Hilton Head has been cancelled and I have been on the phone for an hour trying to get this resolved. and now it is over an hour also, on looking at the flight you charged me coming back from Hilton Head to Jackson your charge was 891.00 and Delta would have charged only 434.oo on their website why? your charge for a round trip was 1900.00 delta would have charged 900.00 round trip. I thought the purpose of your agency was to get the CHEAPEST bookings for your clients not the most expensive I have learned not to use Travelocity in the future Sarah Hamilton skhami@comcast.net 6019274514
Travelocity did not provide the taped conversations of September 20, 2018, despite many requests. 2. Travelocity has not refunded the ticket monies spent up to September 20, 2018, despite their promise to do so. 3. Travelocity misspelled my name on the ticket to fly overseas with Emirates Airline and forced me to buy a new ticket promising a full refund on all monies spent previously. Travelocity misspelled my name on the ticket. 4. I was forced to purchase a new ticket to travel and Travelocity charged me a separate fee for a name change on the old ticket despite their claim that the misspelled name in the old ticket could not be corrected. 5. Travelocity alleges they are not responsible for any refunds; Emirate Airline is responsible. Emirates allege Travelocity is responsible. As a third party, they process all tickets with Emirates, a foreign based airline. 3. Travelocity, on three separate transactions, gave the personal information of three accounts to a foreign corporation without my knowledge and authorization. The taped conversation on September 20, 2018, will prove each claim I make above. The attached complaint has been filed with the BBB- TRAVELOCITY KEEPS IGNORING ALL OF THE POINTS I HAVE MADE SO FAR. In August of 2018, I purchased a ticket through Travelocity to fly to Greece on October of 2018 for 640.01. In the middle of September, I changed my ticket to fly earlier due to a family emergency. Travelocity charged me an additional 761.70 for the change of the ticket. That brought my ticket price to total of 1,401.71. The day before my travel on September 20, 2018, I printed a copy of a ticket to put it in my passport. My flight with Emirates was for September 21, 2018 before midnight. I discovered that my name was misspelled on the ticket (more than 24 hours from the departure of my flight). I called Emirates airline to find out if I could fly with a misspelled name in my ticket by presenting my passport, driver’s license, credit card, etc. Emirates airline advised me that I could not fly overseas with an incorrectly spelled ticket that did not match my passport. I was told to call Travelocity and instruct them to correct my ticket. I then called Travelocity and asked Travelocity to correct my ticket per Emirates advice. I was told by Travelocity that a correction cannot be made to my ticket; I needed to buy a new ticket. For a number of hours we kept arguing about the price of the new ticket in addition to the monies I already had spent. My point was that I did not misspell the name in the ticket; Travelocity misspelled my name in their system and Travelocity should correct the name at no expense to me. Travelocity promised to refund all the monies I had already spent but I had to travel the following day with a new ticket at a much higher price than the original ticket. I pointed to them that the going price with other airlines at that time was under 700. At the end I had to pay the price I was asked and flew out of the US the following night before midnight. The entire telephone conversation was taped. I have asked Travelocity repeatedly for a copy of the taped conversations the months that followed. When I returned to the US, I made a number of calls to Travelocity: (1) I found out that Travelocity did not keep its promise, and no money was refunded into my account; (2) When I received my credit card bill, I saw that Travelocity had charged my credit card a fee for a name correction on the original ticket; (3) In addition, Travelocity had charged me for the new ticket. A chain of events followed that ended up with this complaint filed with BBB. I dealt with Travelocity at all times: when I purchased my ticket, when I changed the ticket and when I was forced to buy a new ticket, when it was not my fault. My personal information and bank/credit card information was provided only to Travelocity. My ticket was purchased with Travelocity. Travelocity did not inform me at any time that they are only a calling service that my information was going to be sent to Emirates, a foreign government airline. I never authorized Travelocity to share or sent my personal and confidential information with Emirates. Had I trusted a foreign government airline with my personal and confidential information, I could have called them directly to book a flight. Travelocity has not answered any key points I have made in my complaint so far. Some of the points Travelocity makes on their behalf follow: 1. “At no time was the spelling of her name changed from the original ticket Stauroula Pappasoulis). But Travelocity overlooked the new ticket which is charged in Papassoulis credit card and the name in the new ticket is spelled: Stavroula Papassoulis, the correct way. 2. “… on September 21, 2018, Papassoulis contacted … for assistance correcting her name…) However, when you look in the credit card statement you already have in the file it shows that the new ticket had already been purchased the day before, And the change of the name fee in the old misspelled ticket shows as “Stauroula Pappasoulis” 3. “… name corrections are not allowed on same day travel … But that was not a same day travel, a fee to change the misspelled name was already charged to Papassoulis credit card the day before the travel and the new ticket was purchased the day before the travel. 4. Who is responsible for the misspelled name…? Travelocity gives no answer to that. Emirates has already told Papassoulis that Emirates is not responsible for what Travelocity did or did not do, but Travelocity alleges there are not the party responsible and despite Emirates email Travelocity continuous to blame Emirates, While Papassoulis alleges I only dealt with Travelocity not Emirates. Once more, if Travelocity has given my personal and confidential information to Emirates, they did it without my knowledge and without my permission, that is wrong and punishable by the law. I need to know, what did they do and why? I also need a copy of our telephone conversations on September 20, 2018, the day before the travel.
I purchased a bundle package through Travelocity for a flight from Toronto ON Canada to Indianapolis Indiana with a hotel room at the Extended Stay America Castleton, Indiana on N Shadeland Ave. which was located right beside the building where the course was being held.
I left Toronto via Air Canada at 2:00 on January 2nd, and booked into the Extended Stay America when I arrived.
I did NOT sleep at all the evenings of January 2nd and 3rd because of extreme noise in the unit above and in the halls.
I called down to the front desk, went down in person in the middle of the night explaining I would like to move rooms.
The front desk management WOULD NOT ACCOMMODATE MY REQUEST EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD VACANCIES IN OTHER ROOMS.
They said because this was booked through travelocity we are unable to change the room.
I was unable to sleep at all for two evenings. This led to exhaustion when I tried to concentrate on my osteopathic course.
When I discussed my situation with other guests in the lobby, one remarked of course you can’t sleep, there is a crack/cocaine user and dealer who operates out of the room above you. He has unsavory people coming and going constantly day and night. I’m surprised they gave you the room underneath him.
Immediately, upon hearing this, I felt very unsafe and took an uber to the Marriott Hotel in Carmel, an area I am more familiar with and know is safe.
I am asking for an immediate refund of 5 days of hotel stay at the Extended Stay America Castleton for
no sleep in my room because of constant coming and going and loud noise above my room. front desk refused to ask that the noise be calmed and also refused to relocate me to another room.
having to relocate to the Marriott to get a quiet room which caused extra expense to me since I would have to Uber from the Marriott to my class which was taking place in a building beside the Extended Stay America Castleton.
Having to miss part of my class to attempt to get a resolution from Travelocity when I phoned them on January 4th. The people at Travelocity did NOT come up with a resolution.
I DO NOT WANT TO post my very bad experience on my company website (I own a Pilates Studio), Instagram or business blog accounts with large followings. I do not want to post on sites that accept complaints about companies not responding to customer complaints.
I expect a full refund for the hotel stay portion of this trip as soon as possible.
Please contact me immediately at 416-704-4511 or dimitra.jessica@me.com.
Solar Power Bank Not Charging (Causes Solutions)
Are you an outdoor enthusiast who relies on a solar power bank for your adventures? Maybe you have a power bank as a reliable backup for emergencies? Either way, discovering that your solar power bank isn’t charging can be a frustrating experience. In this post, we discuss five possible reasons behind solar power bank charging issues and provide practical solutions to help you troubleshoot and fix each problem. By following these tips, you can ensure that your solar power bank is always ready to charge your devices, no matter where you are or what situation you’re facing.
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Reasons your solar power bank is not charging
There are many reasons why your solar power bank might not be charging. Here are the five most common ones:
The battery has reached the end of its life
Unfortunately, no battery lasts forever. It’s inevitable that it’ll reach the end of its lifespan after performing a certain number of cycles. If you’ve had your solar power bank for some time, your battery might have lost its ability to hold a charge.
You’re not using it properly
Although technically, you use your solar power bank while it’s charging (in an emergency, for instance), this practice isn’t recommended. Doing so frequently may result in your solar power bank not charging or charging erratically. When you do this, the power banks’ battery is in line (or in series) with the gadget. The result is a higher power draw which leads to excessive heating that can damage your battery.
Your solar panel isn’t getting enough sunlight
A common misconception is that the solar panel in your solar power bank can generate electricity on a hot day, even when placed in the shade. That is not true — solar panels require direct sunlight to work effectively. Additionally, solar power banks require a minimum amount of luminous flux per area unit (also called lux). If they don’t receive the minimum amount of lux, they won’t start charging via solar. The following image showing the charging instructions of a standard solar power bank serves as an example. Notice that it requires a minimum of 25,000 LUX sunlight to charge via solar.
Wrong or broken charger/power cable
If you’re trying to charge your solar power bank using a USB charger and it isn’t charging, the issue might not be your power bank. It could instead be the charger or the cable. Make sure you’re using the correct charger, one that delivers the proper voltage and current (as required by your solar power bank). If it still doesn’t work, the charger (or just its power cable) could be broken.
Excessive battery drainage
We recommend that you recharge your solar power bank before you drain it completely. If you drain your power bank completely, it’ll require more energy to get going again instead of charging it from a 50% state of charge. As a result, if you deplete your solar power bank entirely, it might take even longer to charge with solar, or in a worst-case scenario, it might not charge at all. Related reading: How To Use A Solar Power Bank – A Helpful Guide
How do I know if my solar power bank is charging?
Charge your power bank properly. Doing this ensures that it provides you with power when you need it.
Led indicators
Most Solar Power Banks on the market have four tiny LED indicators that flash progressively when charging. Although they may vary in size and color, you can quickly identify them on your Solar Power Bank. Advanced models display different LED colors to indicate the charging source. After reading the User Manual from a few different Solar Power Bank models, we’ve noticed that for most models:
- Blue LED: Indicates USB port charging
- Green LED: Indicates solar charging
Furthermore, the LEDs indicate the state of charge when the solar power bank isn’t charging (and the LEDs aren’t flashing). In this case, the lights represent:
- 1 LED on = 25% state of charge
- 2 LEDs on = 50% state of charge
- 3 LEDs on = 75% state of charge
- 4 LEDs on = 95%-100% state of charge
Logically, when fully charged, your solar power bank should have its 4 LED Indicators active. As it discharges, the indicators gradually turn off.
Because of the variety of models, you might find yourself with a device that indicates charging differently than the way we described.
For this reason, we strongly advise that you read your device’s user manual. There, you’ll find all the information you need, specific to your solar power bank model.
Ways to fix a solar power bank that won’t charge
If your solar power bank isn’t charging, don’t panic! Here are a few things you can try to get it up and running again:
Add extra solar panels
If you’re trying to charge your power bank with solar energy after draining it completely, it may not charge at all.
Why? The surface area of your power bank’s solar panel might be too small to generate enough electricity to get the redox reactions in the battery going.
In this case, adding extra solar panels might fix the problem. You can attach/connect small solar panels to your solar power bank (if it supports this addition) – you can easily find them online.
This will increase the solar input of your power bank until it recharges to at least 50%. After this point, the electricity generated by your main solar panel (without the extra ones) will probably be enough to continue charging your power bank.
Try charging it with electricity from a wall outlet
As mentioned above, your power bank might be too drained to start recharging only with the small energy input the solar panel provides. If this happens, don’t give up on your solar power bank just yet. Pumping up some juice from a wall outlet might bring it back to life.
Place it in direct sunlight for an extended period
Solar Power Banks can take over 50 hours to recharge using solar energy. Considering how many hours of sunlight are in a day, it could take an entire week to recharge your solar power bank.
For this reason, it may seem like it isn’t charging, when in reality, it’s just taking a long time.
To maximize sunlight absorption and overall efficiency, one way of speeding up this process is to place your solar power bank in direct sunlight for an extended period.
Check for any loose connections
A more elaborate way to fix your solar power bank requires some skills. If you have previous experience repairing electronics, you could try opening your solar power bank to check for any fraying or loose connections.
For instance, your solar power bank might not be charging because the wire that connects the solar panel to the circuit board is loose.
In this case, using a soldering iron to solder the loose wire will fix the broken.
Check if the battery is dead
This one also requires exposing the inner pieces of your solar power bank.
Depending on the battery’s chemistry (and its nominal voltage), you can tell if it’s dead by using a voltmeter to check its voltage.
If you conclude that it’s dead, the only way to fix your solar power bank would be to replace the battery. This procedure might not be cost-effective, so do your research before buying a replacement battery.
Here’s a little tip: You can also use the voltmeter to measure the output voltage of the solar panel. Maybe the battery is fine, but the solar panel isn’t generating any electricity.
If you’ve exhausted all your options, and cannot find a way to fix your solar power bank, it’s time to invest in a new one.
This video from Bushcraft Zone discusses the top solar power banks you’ll find on the market:
Travelocity Travel Phone (Beyond E-Tech K250) review: Travelocity Travel Phone (Beyond E-Tech K250)
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he’s planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
Travelocity Travel Phone (Beyond E-Tech K250)
The Good
The Travelocity Travel Phone has two SIM card slots and user-friendly navigation controls. Call quality is acceptable.
The Bad
The Travelocity Travel Phone’s media features and speakerphone are unimpressive. The keypad is cramped and it has a single charger/headset jack.
The Bottom Line
The Travelocity Travel Phone isn’t original, but it’s a usable dual-SIM-card phone. Just don’t expect much beyond making calls.
Editors’ note: At the time of this writing, the FCC has not certified the Travelocity Travel Phone. Also, the design of the final product might vary slightly.
The dual-SIM-card phone is hardly a new concept, but only in the past year have these phones become widely available in the United States. You can’t get them with a carrierand we doubt that would ever happenthough unlocked models like the Duet D888. D8. and the W002 are available from Houston-based importer Beyond E-Tech.
The company’ latest handset, the Travelocity Travel Phone, doesn’t assume the Duet name, but it might as well. The ability to use two SIM card slots is the only highlight on an otherwise uninspiring handset. Call quality is fine, but like the W002, the Travel Phone is a complete rip-off of an existing handset. And we’re miffed why the manufacturer misstates the camera resolution on the phone’s exterior. The Travelocity Phone, aka the Beyond E-Tech K250, is fairly priced at 179 unlocked. It comes with a SIM with both U.K. and U.S. numbers and airtime for each.
Design As we said in our review of the Duet W002, emulating and building on another’s successes is one thing, but it’s quite another to offer no ideas of your own. Indeed, the Travel Phone resembles a combination of a few Sony Ericsson Walkman models, most notably the W995a. The Travel Phone’s slider design, curved ends, and navigation array are all familiar touches, though it doesn’t look quite as polished as the Sony Ericsson device. The handset even has a Walkman-like logo behind the battery cover. Really, what’s the point?
The black-and-silver Travel Phone measures 4.37 inches long by 1.96 inches wide by 0.66 inch deep and weighs 0.35 ounce. Though it’s almost the same size as the W995a, it feels somewhat wispier in the hand. On the upside, the slider mechanism is relatively sturdy, and the Travel Phone’s trim profile is great for, well, traveling.
The Travel Phone’s 2.8-inch display is bigger than the W995a’s, but it has a lower resolution with support for just 65,000 colors (the Sony Ericsson phone offers 16.7 million hues). Colors and graphics are presentable, though hardly eye-popping. Click through to the main menu, however, and you’ll see that main menu icons are pure Sony Ericsson. Even without the accompanying animations, the similarities are just as striking as they were between the Duet W002 and the iPhone. Customization options are limited to the wallpaper, display brightness, and backlighting time.
The navigation array is relatively user-friendly thanks to the spacious layout and raised keys. You’ll find a four-way toggle (it doubles as a shortcut to four user-defined features), a central OK button, two soft keys, a talk button for each SIM card, and a shortcut to the useless TV feature (more on that later). The flush keypad buttons are cramped and they have a rather cheap feel. We didn’t have any serious issues when dialing or texting, but it’s certainly not the most comfortable keypad around. Also, the numbers and letters on the backlit keys are tiny.
We don’t like that the Mini-USB port on the Travel Phone’s top end accommodates both the charger/syncing cable and the wired headset. Not only does that limit you from using your own headset without an adapter, but also you can use only one peripheral at a time. The dedicated power control is nearby, and the volume control and a camera shutter rest on the right side. On the Travel Phone’s back side are the camera lens, flash, and speaker; the memory card slot is located inconveniently behind the battery.
Calling features The Travel Phone’s included SIM card comes with 29 in calling credit for the U.K. number with the option to add more. It also has a U.S. number on the same SIM with 2 hours of calling credit. The U.K. number is convenient when traveling in Western Europe, but you can buy a prepaid SIM with a local number for other countries. And, of course, you can keep your U.S. SIM card in the phone the whole time for receiving calls to your regular home number.
Travelocity‘s service provider, Cellular Abroad, charges between 90 cents and 3 per minute for outgoing calls. You get free incoming calls for up to 83 countriesthe list ranges from the France to Turkmenistanbut in other nations you’ll pay for both incoming and outgoing communication. See Travelocity’s Web site for a rate calculator and more details.
On the whole, Travelocity’s rates are fair, but we don’t like that there’s a surcharge for calling other cell phones (25 cents per minute) and for incoming calls to the provided U.S. number (also 25 cents per minute). Incoming text messages are free, but outgoing texts are 60 cents each. Travelocity offers a voice mail account attached to the U.K. numberyou’ll pay to check your messagesand will keep your account valid as long as you add calling credit every 12 months.
Other features The Travel Phone’s phones book holds just 300 contacts, with room in each entry for four phone numbers, a company name, an e-mail address, and a birthday. That’s not a lot of room to save your friends’ digits, but you save an additional 250 names on each SIM card. The phone book interface is also very Sony Ericsson, particularly the menu tabs at the top of the display. Caller groups are available and you can pair contacts with a photo or video and one of 15 64-chord polyphonic ringtones.
Basic features include text and multimedia messaging, unit and currency converters, a stopwatch, a world clock, an alarm clock, a file manager, a to-do list, a calendar, USB mass storage, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and a calculator. And as befits a Beyond E-tech device, you also get a few offbeat applications like BMI and menstrual calculators and something called an E-Buddy (we have no idea). And if that wasn’t enough, the Chat and E-Book Reader apps were equally baffling.
The camera is labeled as being 8-megapixel, but the available resolutions don’t go above standard VGA (640×480 pixels). Why do they basically lie to us? Well, as Cellular Abroad puts it, it gave the camera a lower resolution because it wanted to make the phone cheaper. Fair enough, but the company could have at least taken the 8-megapixel label off the phone’s rear cover. Perhaps that will happen in the phone’s final form. You get a broad selection of editing options and a bright flash (it doubles as a flashlight), but photo quality is just average. The Travel Phone also records video with options like a night mode and color effects. You don’t get a microSD card in the box, but the handset will fit cards up to 2GB.
Like the Duet models, the Travel Phone offers a bizarre Phone TV app. Even if you raise the extendable antenna and set the country choice to America you’ll get only snow. To get working channels you’ll need to find analog TV broadcasts; those may be available in other countries, but good luck finding them in the United States. Other media options include an FM radio, a voice recorder, and a simple music player. Don’t expect too much.
We were surprised to find a shake control feature on the Travel Phone. Among other things, you can use it to accept an incoming call and change the wallpaper and music track. It’s a nice touch and it works well. The Travel Phone also has an accelerometer that works in select applications, like the photo gallery. Gamers can play four Java titles: Kungfu Chicken, The Mummy, Horror Island, and Super Beat Star. Surprisingly, the only Travelocity content on the phone is a choice of wallpapers featuring the Web site’s ubiquitous gnome.
Performance We tested the quad-Band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) Travel Phone in San Francisco using ATT service. Call quality was quite satisfying. Conversations were clear, the signal was strong, and we had enough volume. At times the audio had a bit of vibration, but it was barely noticeable. Making calls from either SIM card is easy; just dial the number and press either Talk button to get started. To accept a call, just press your desired Talk button when the phone rings.
On their end, callers said we sounded fine. They could tell that we were using a cell phone, but they had few complaints. Only a couple people mentioned that we sounded a tad breathy. Just keep in mind that call quality will vary by carrier and network. Speakerphone calls aren’t quite as sharp; the sound was distorted at all volume levels. We could have a conversation, but the conditions weren’t ideal.
The Travel Phone has a rated battery life 10 hours talk time and 5.4 days standby time.