Book now amid online fee fight

— -- A skirmish between major online travel agencies will mean savings for consumers — at least for now.

On Tuesday, Travelocity suspended its booking fees ($7 for domestic and $11 for international flights), after a similar move by Expedia last week. Both are waiving fees for bookings made through May.

Orbitz has declined to follow suit, touting its Price Assurance policy instituted in July 2008, which guarantees automatic refunds of $5 to $250 if a subsequent customer books the exact itinerary at a lower fare. Orbitz spokesman Brian Hoyt says the company has mailed "thousands" of refunds monthly but declined to reveal a dollar amount.

Travelocity on Tuesday announced a similar refund guarantee good on package deals only (air and hotel) for refunds of $10 to $500 if another customer books the exact trip at a lower price.

And finally, Priceline on Thursday launched its own automatic Pricedrop Protection for airline tickets and vacation packages on both published-price and name-your-own-price bookings. Automatic refunds of up to $300 on air tickets and up to $600 on vacation packages are guaranteed. Priceline dropped its booking fees for published-price airline tickets in 2007 but retains a fee for published-price hotel rooms (included in the hotel price).