Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

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STEVE G
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Re: Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

Post by STEVE G »

Homer wrote:
STEVE G wrote: ... would be a herculean task compared with using an online agent.
I didn't think this needed explaining. Use online services to find a flight, then compare their price to purchasing directly from the airline.
You can do that but the difference is normally so trivial that it's easier just to hit the 'buy' button on the online site. The last time I tried booking with an airline direct, one of the middle Eastern ones, I ended up on the clunkiest website imaginable, I gave up and paid five euros more to ebookers and had the ticket in seconds.
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Re: Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

Post by nil »

It seems strange but you can sometimes get cheaper tickets if you phone the airlines rather than using the website. My wife found this out when the website was not working properly and she phoned them and got a better deal and I subsequently also read this somewhere. It's a bit of a pain though to have to speak all your details rather than type them in.
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Re: Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

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aragon wrote:
Dannie Boy wrote:"The Etihad Airways Best Price Promise* is our way of guaranteeing that you won’t find a lower price on any third-party website for the same Etihad booking you have paid for on http://www.etihadairways.com. And if you do, we’ll refund you the difference."
I'm flying Etihad to Perth, WA next week, I booked directly with them through their website and the cost was better than that quoted by numerous online booking agents :thumb:

Admittedly it wasn't the cheapest option out there, but then I didn't fancy the cheaper options, which involved rather less reliable airlines going via all points east :tsk:
Ethiad on their website do not fly direct from BKK to PERTH.
Can you let me know how you did it please.
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Re: Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

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STEVE G wrote:You can do that but the difference is normally so trivial that it's easier just to hit the 'buy' button on the online site.
In a thread about the drawbacks of doing so? Interesting.
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Re: Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

Post by aragon »

splitlid wrote:Ethiad on their website do not fly direct from BKK to PERTH.
Can you let me know how you did it please.
Sorry splitlid, but I'm not flying from BKK, I'm flying from the Middle East.
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STEVE G
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Re: Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

Post by STEVE G »

Homer wrote:
STEVE G wrote:You can do that but the difference is normally so trivial that it's easier just to hit the 'buy' button on the online site.
In a thread about the drawbacks of doing so? Interesting.
I don't know if this is the same in other countries but I always use a UK issued credit card to buy anything online as under the law there, the issuing bank become the supplier of whatever you've bought and are liable to refund any deficit.
Personally I've never had a problem with online agents and I fly a lot, with most airlines you can check the booking online with your reference number wherever you've bought it from.
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Re: Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

Post by Homer »

STEVE G wrote:... I always use a UK issued credit card to buy anything online as under the law there, the issuing bank become the supplier of whatever you've bought and are liable to refund any deficit.
So you're in an airport, can't get on the flight, the airline says it's the booking agent's fault, and the agent says it's the airlines fault. You've got no worries because you'll get a refund. I'd rather have the flight.
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STEVE G
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Re: Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

Post by STEVE G »

Homer wrote: So you're in an airport, can't get on the flight, the airline says it's the booking agent's fault, and the agent says it's the airlines fault. You've got no worries because you'll get a refund. I'd rather have the flight.
Personally, that hasn't been my experience of online agents, I've never had a problem. Maligning a whole industry because of one person's bad experience is like saying don't buy a car because I bought a Citroen and it was rubbish.
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Re: Warning to those using online booking agents for flights.

Post by Homer »

STEVE G wrote:Maligning a whole industry because of one person's bad experience is like saying don't buy a car because I bought a Citroen and it was rubbish.
Way to go! You reduced others decisions based on a personal assessment of risk v reward to a black and white decision with a preposterous example.
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