Better Airfares Online ? Or From A Travel Agent ....

[JimmyTheMook]

Last few flights I've gotten better deals online that when pricing via actual travel agents.

Is this the case with other folks as well ?

[abhaya]

It depends. Some airlines like Nok or Air Asia are not handled by private agents. Generally speaking online companies are cheaper but often not by much. I have a couple of Travel Agents I have been using for years so if the difference in price is only a few $ I prefer to use an agent, because if I have question or need to make a change they usually have a quick answer instead of being put on call waiting for 20 minutes to an hour since and get a service rep that can barely speak English. I like the human touch of dealing with a person I know.

[yermanee]

Like Abhaya says it depends.

Some airlines do not give commissions to travel agents anymore, others do.

I always check all the online prices for a particular flight I'm interested in and then go to my travel agent.

If they can beat or match it or just a few baht more I also prefer the personalized service that a good travel agent can give.

Yermanee

[Darrel]

I like online purchases by credit card for the protection this offers, with an eticket delivered by email. I never use cheap airlines for long flights so that question doesn't apply.

I do a general check in the price comparison websites for the best prices/flight schedules and availability over the month, then I check the comparison sites again for the particular date/airline/flight I have chosen, and the airlines themselves to see if they are selling at the same price (or better).

On the very rare occasions when I have had to change a ticket this has been done easily by email, and once they even waived (or forgot to charge) the GBP100 penalty that I should have paid according to the ticket code.

[craigt3365]

I travel quite a bit and rarely get a better deal via an agent. The exception is "bucket" shops that do consolidator tickets for specific routes. LIke LAX -> BKK. But many times, you don't get FF miles with these tickets. And there can be lots of restrictions on these tickets also.

I did a lot of research on this 2 years ago. Contacting as many agents in Thailand as I could. Not one had a better deal than I could get online...and in many cases, the best deal (or similar to online search engines) was with the airlines direct.

I prefer to deal with the airlines direct. That way, if you miss a connection, in, say, Beijing (like I did 2 years ago), they will reroute you quickly (even on other airlines) and you don't have to get in touch with an agent in another country to deal with it. I had problems like this one time with Expedia and it was horrible. Nice to be able to deal with the airlines agent onsite at whatever airport you happen to be at.

[DumbFalang]

Can anyone name a couple of travel agents they trust in Bangkok? Ones that they have used over a period of years without problems?

Etihad have a deal for youths under 26 that I want to take advantage of for my two daughters flying to the UK in March, but the Etihad web site does not mention it anywhere. One travel agent said they could get the discount for me, but I'd like to try a couple more if possible.