Where Do You Book Your Flights?

[Olmate]

15 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

 

Yes, 40,000 baht.

 

 

You are sad and boring, move along, not joining in with your childish argument any more.

Oh.dummy spit Joe, longhauler who likes to onite athome! figures. lol. Heres afinal farewell gesture from me joeyboy...." readit" 

[Captain Monday]

Always directly on the relevant Airline used website portal, and sign up for their membership programme it is always free.

 

Mindboggling why one would use third party sites.

 

[The Fugitive]

28 minutes ago, Captain Monday said:

Always directly on the relevant Airline used website portal, and sign up for their membership programme it is always free.

 

Mindboggling why one would use third party sites.

Down to price. Agents offer discounts off hotel bookings when you book flights with them in the same transaction. Also, the other day I priced up an air fare using Skyscanner. The cheapest result was to book direct with airline. This I tried but the fare was unavailable. The new fare had risen by 20,000 baht. I then selected the next lowest price listed which was, of course, via an agent. That fare was still available for almost 20,000 less.

[Captain Monday]

17 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Down to price. Agents offer discounts off hotel bookings when you book flights with them in the same transaction. Also, the other day I priced up an air fare using Skyscanner. The cheapest result was to book direct with airline. This I tried but the fare was unavailable. The new fare had risen by 20,000 baht. I then selected the next lowest price listed which was, of course, via an agent. That fare was still available for almost 20,000 less.

That’s fair. I mostly travel by airline staff standby listings.

When I do buy revenue tickets more worried about ticket changes refund policies, and oversell situations than price 

 

[MangoKorat]

On 9/4/2024 at 2:35 AM, Captain Monday said:

Mindboggling why one would use third party sites.

What's mindboggling to me is why anyone would pay £100's more on some occasions by booking direct.  Believe me, I always check and if the price is close, of course I book direct but you can usually do that on the comparison site in any case. You certainly can on Travelsupermarket.

[Ralf001]

HR at work use a agent, not sure who.

[London Lowf]

On 9/3/2024 at 11:11 AM, MangoKorat said:

Over the years I've learned that its usually the same agents that operate that way - so I avoid them. I won't name full names on this but UK members will probably recognise one with 'Guru' in their name - they are the worst I've seen for this.

 

Why? Worried about the Thai "defamation" laws?

 

I booked a ticket through a Skyscanner link to an agent - Carlton Leisure in the UK - and the flight was cancelled due to Covid. They wanted £150 to arrange my refund and pointed me to their T&Cs. Totally illegal practice under UK consumer law and I eventually got a full refund by credit card charge-back.

 

A lot of UK agents use this scam - they must have made millions during Covid!

 

As a result of this experience I still research flights/times on Skyscanner but only ever book direct with the airline. I reckon it costs me an extra 5% but I'm more than happy to pay the extra to avoid the scum.

[FarangRimPing]

I use Google Flights, which displays many flight options depending on your criteria.

 

I then pick one of the flights. It then displays the different prices for that exact flight from different sources. Sometimes, the flights are cheapest if they are direct from the airline; other times, they are not. Google Flights allows you to then choose the source of your ticket.

 

For example, I recently decided on a particular round trip flight from Bangkok to Boston. Qatar Airways, based on price and total trip duration. The cheapest source for that exact trip was American Airlines, so I booked with them. I saved $2,000 ($1,000 per ticket x 2 tickets) by booking that trip through AA rather than Qatar directly! (I verified by going through the Qatar website and then canceling at the last stage.)

[Tim K]

Used Trip.com (Singapore company) for my Kuala and Phnom Penh visa runs recently, they even have auto-check-in for free.
AirAsia even in their own app "Move" charges more! wtf?

And you can pay in USD or any currency, I pay in USD or THB with my travel card from Krunghtai or Krungsri. banks take no commission on these travel cards and no conversion as you pay directly in USD | MYR | SGD whatever.

NokAir also charges more on their own website than trip.

 

[Olmate]

14 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

HR at work use a agent, not sure who.

A wholesaler, not  normally accessible by us lot! 

[brianthainess]

On 9/3/2024 at 6:33 AM, mdr224 said:

Directly with the airline only. These middlemen websites provide no support when things go wrong

Depends on the Middleman, I used an English guy (his Thai wife) who runs a 'Internet shop' They found a cheaper flight for me from an agent here, to the UK, with up to 3 return date changes in 3 months,  Indian Airline while in the UK I needed to change the return date, when I contacted the airline they needed the 'Ticket Number' which didn't show on any of my paperwork, I sent an SMS to his shop and they found the ticket number, from the agent they used, and sent it to me...

[MangoKorat]

Just to back up what I said about fare differentials. I have never found the airlines prices to be the same but if they are within £30, I book direct. I regularly find that the airlines are £100 - £150 more.

 

This is a screen shot taken tonight on Travelsupermarket's site.  The cheapest agent is £843 whilst Etihad is £921.  Yes, I followed the agent's deal through and yes, its bookable at the price stated. I also checked on Etihad's site and the price is correct.

 

 

[georgegeorgia]

Lucky I paid more this time and booked DIRECTLY with Philippines Airlines rather than through Skyscanner or a third party website 

 

I went to change my flight date and it was flight difference price only and easier than using a third party website 

Always book directly with the airline that's all I ask of you please 

[bubblegum]

Use the google flight add-on, compare and book the one you like. Also ad legroom extension.

[treetops]

1 hour ago, MangoKorat said:

This is a screen shot taken tonight on Travelsupermarket's site.  The cheapest agent is £843 whilst Etihad is £921.  Yes, I followed the agent's deal through and yes, its bookable at the price stated. I also checked on Etihad's site and the price is correct.

 

Apparently the company offering the cheap prices in your example (EaseMyTrip) will call you the next day after you book and pay and ask for more money - their bookings and prices aren't live/real time.  Do you want to buy from a shonky Indian company with dubious practices?

 

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/easemytrip.com?sort=recency

 

[Chivas]

On 9/3/2024 at 12:33 AM, mdr224 said:

Directly with the airline only. These middlemen websites provide no support when things go wrong

 

Completely wrong as I have said more than a few times

My preferred agent Travel Trolley bends over backwards to assist me if I have the slightest issue

 

As for getting help when I booked direct from Eva Etihad or as recently as last March China Eastern the less said the better, Never ever book direct if only for the reason 98% of the time it will be more expensive anyway

 

Twice this current year alone TT contacted me within 45 minutes by Email answering my queries

 

Book with agent and you also have a two pronged attack by getting hold of both agent and the airline

 

And no another utter internet myth that if you book with an agent the airline wont deal with you...utter utter bollacks

[cjinchiangrai]

33 minutes ago, Chivas said:

 

Completely wrong as I have said more than a few times

My preferred agent Travel Trolley bends over backwards to assist me if I have the slightest issue

 

As for getting help when I booked direct from Eva Etihad or as recently as last March China Eastern the less said the better, Never ever book direct if only for the reason 98% of the time it will be more expensive anyway

 

Twice this current year alone TT contacted me within 45 minutes by Email answering my queries

 

Book with agent and you also have a two pronged attack by getting hold of both agent and the airline

 

And no another utter internet myth that if you book with an agent the airline wont deal with you...utter utter bollacks

Just tried Travel Trolley on a flight from Bangkok to Chennai. They only came back with Air India through Mumbai fir 11 hours, even though IndiGo, Air Asia and Thai Air fly that route directly. I have no use for a booking agent that does not look at Thai Air. They are done.

[G_Money]

I’ll search Kayak just to get a ballpark figure on pricing but always book directly with the airline.

 

Makes it much easier if a change is needed and can book my seats selection immediately.

[cjinchiangrai]

2 minutes ago, G_Money said:

I’ll search Kayak just to get a ballpark figure on pricing but always book directly with the airline.

 

Makes it much easier if a change is needed and can book my seats selection immediately.

Yep, and agents have trouble booking add-ons like baggage and meals. I save the agents for hotels.

[still kicking]

On 9/3/2024 at 5:58 PM, spidermike007 said:

I always book direct with the airlines. Not only is the price usually the same, but it is far easier to change a ticket. 

Not always, Qantas charge you a whooping 177 AUD to change your ticket.

[Patong2021]

Some of you are both right and wrong. 😁  OTAs are now a quasi monopoly.

Booking.com also owns; priceline, agoda, kayak, cheapflights.com and momondo.com

Expedia Group also owns; Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotwire, ebookers and cheaptickets

Last Minute Group  also owns; Bravofly, jetcost, volagratis, and Rumbo

eDreams also owns Liligo, Go Voyages,  and Opodo

Trip.com also owns Skyscanner

 

They all  use one of three distribution systems; Amadeus, Sabre, or Travelport (which combines Apollo, Galileo, and Worldspan).

 

The end result is what you would expect. 

 

Yes, it is wise to book  through the airline because you will be better taken care of  if there is a problem. Unfortunately this isn't the most appropriate when you need to build an itinerary. It is no secret that transiting some cities can reduce the cost of airfare.  For example, traveling from USA/Canada to BKK is almost always less costly if you transit  ICN or TYO, but you can only marry some segments  by using the OTAs like Expedia and others.  Airlines try to sell their own code shares on these flights and they are typically priced higher than the actual carrier's flights. The OTAs will offer multiple options since they are  relying on a software like Sabre which builds the  itinerary.

[Chivas]

2 hours ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Just tried Travel Trolley on a flight from Bangkok to Chennai. They only came back with Air India through Mumbai fir 11 hours, even though IndiGo, Air Asia and Thai Air fly that route directly. I have no use for a booking agent that does not look at Thai Air. They are done.

 

I'll arrange for the Directors to be shot at dawn................🚀

[cjinchiangrai]

8 minutes ago, Chivas said:

 

I'll arrange for the Directors to be shot at dawn................🚀

Great idea! Seriously though, Thai Air is a pretty major carrier flying from Thailand. If they are not included, then the site is not much use for Thai residents.

[georgegeorgia]

4 hours ago, still kicking said:

Not always, Qantas charge you a whooping 177 AUD to change your ticket.

Plus ...add on the flight price difference,I just paid an extra $588 to change it by ONE week!

They said there is a different price 

 

[spidermike007]

9 hours ago, still kicking said:

Not always, Qantas charge you a whooping 177 AUD to change your ticket.

Yes, of course it depends on the class of fare. How much would that same ticket change cost through a third party, for the same fare class? 

[CANSIAM]

Direct with the Airline

[MangoKorat]

On 9/11/2024 at 9:49 PM, georgegeorgia said:

Lucky I paid more this time and booked DIRECTLY with Philippines Airlines rather than through Skyscanner or a third party website 

 

I went to change my flight date and it was flight difference price only and easier than using a third party website 

Always book directly with the airline that's all I ask of you please 

Why?  I've been using a mixture of agents/airlines for 22 years, never really had a problem and I rarely need to change my dates.  What I have saved over the years far outweighs any potential problems.

 

What really annoys me though, is if the airlines can offer agents discount prices, why not offer the same to their frequent flyer members? Its not difficult for an airlines to identify those people.

[MangoKorat]

On 9/13/2024 at 3:36 PM, Chivas said:

My preferred agent Travel Trolley bends over backwards to assist me if I have the slightest issue

Agreed, I used to use Travel Trolley or their sister company, Southall Travel quite a lot but in recent years they have not been so competitive. Always helpful though and open 24 hours.

[kickstart]

I book direct, last time I was in the UK I had to change my flight date back, did it all online, and it did not cost me anything, you would not get that with an agent.

[MangoKorat]

On 9/11/2024 at 10:54 PM, treetops said:

Apparently the company offering the cheap prices in your example (EaseMyTrip) will call you the next day after you book and pay and ask for more money - their bookings and prices aren't live/real time.  Do you want to buy from a shonky Indian company with dubious practices?

Never used that agent but I have used many others and I always check them out on Trustpilot. Never had a problem.  The agents I've used have all issued e-tickets within minutes.