Should You Always Book Flights Directly?
Is It Always Wiser To Book Flights Directly?
It is sometimes daunting to book flights due to the increase in the number of online travel agencies and meta-search sites. What is preferable—to purchase plane tickets directly from the airlines or with the help of some of the online ticketing services? Even those who decide to advocate for one side can give good reasons for doing so. Below is a breakdown of some of the most important benefits and drawbacks of booking through brand hotel websites and third-party websites to assist you in making a wise decision.
Price Another precondition that is crucial for the majority of tourists, especially when choosing a flight, is the price. Airlines argue that the option of using airline websites provides the cheapest prices as no other charges are added on top. Nevertheless, online travel agencies argue that they can use their purchasing power to obtain lower fares that can easily outcompete the prices published on the airline site.
That brings up the question of which method is the best for finding the best offers?
However, the fact is that it can also be different. It is widely agreed that one should look at both the airline's website and third-party websites when shopping for a flight. Using aggregator sites such as Kayak, you can easily browse through and get an idea of the fare from a variety of sites within a short period. This could be attributed to the fact that there are so many varying elements in airfare that it is hard to fix one channel as always being cheaper than the other. It is better to be flexible and invest some time in search; it will be much more effective in the end.
Simplicity While it is true that there is an extra layer of third parties when using the services of an airline through an online travel agency, one cannot deny that booking directly with an airline does reduce this issue. This can help disentangle things if there are changes or problems or any of that later on, or just in general. When you book directly with the airline, some documents show that the contract is between you and the airline only. It also introduces a third party, which may cause more issues if considered.
Yes, it has become common to find online travel agencies with active teams of customer care executives available to assist travelers before, during, and after the trip today. But this befits the simplicity angle of booking direct, which, while sounding logical in theory, means that major OTAs are not incompetent to handle your booking changes and problems.
Ancillaries and Extras This is one area where airlines are often advantaged over these third-party sites: "excess products and special offers. There are a few things to remember when making a direct booking on the airline website or application, where different services are offered as ancillary services such as seat preference, over-boarding privileges, checked baggage allowance, catering, and many others. Airlines would like customers to buy these services from them and can limit what other parties offer in the market.
Further, some perks are offered directly by the airline to those who book directly from the website, especially if enrolled in the loyalty programs, which such third-party sites are prohibited from displaying. Thus, if you failed to enter your frequent flyer number when making an Orbitz reservation, the probability of receiving a points reward or other types of airline promotions later is less. Business people and those who often travel would probably get more value doing this because of this reason alone.
But even third parties like Expedia do offer private offers once in a while where the ticket prices are even lower than that of airlines but come with a pre-booked hotel or a car rental. It is however important to note that there can be some cases on either extreme, which once again emphasizes the fact that some level of flight search comparison is useful.
Ease of Booking In earlier periods, one reason for direct booking with airlines was that it seemed less complex and less confusing than using an agency website. Bearing in mind that the homepages were custom designed to the networks, routes, and systems of the airlines in question. OTAs had to build wider systems for aggregating supplies of inventories from hundreds of distinct airlines.
In recent times, the experience that a user has when booking through an airline or a third-party channel is almost similar. Significant resource investments have been made in optimizing OTA platform designs to enhance utility and adaptability. Functional elements such as seat selection, travel packages, and apps contribute to competent booking processes. Even meta-search engines insist that their comparative interfaces make comparing flights easier for the traveler.
When booking simple, point-to-point flights on domestic airline carriers, the differences between using a travel agent and using other types of booking tools are virtually non-existent today. Thus, global connection route planning on intricate airline affiliation networks may still possibly prefer sites knowledgeable about those systems meanwhile. Therefore, this factor depends on the specifics of a trip.
Customer Service This is never fun—having to figure out why a flight was delayed or canceled, why you were rebooked, and what to do next. However, does that mean that working directly with the airline or going to a third party offers better customer service in such scenarios? As it has been noted earlier, doing away with the middleman leads reasonably to the notion of simpler resolutions booking directly. Though this has its merits, it is based on the assumption that the airline has excellent customer service, which is a rarity.
Still, some travelers admit that they get sound interactions when issues with online travel agencies emerge. Some web services, such as Expedia, control huge booking volumes that act as leverage to twist and turn airlines' policies to the clients™ sides whenever they feel like it. They must have reasonable service quality standards due to their consumer orientation. Of course, the special competencies are different across agencies in a similar manner as they are with airlines.
In cases where the complex flight is booked with flights from different airlines, working with an OTA that is capable of dealing with problems that arise between the carriers could be useful. They may have more experience in integrating changes between separate systems that confuse, as they are dealing directly with the airlines in such instances.
Once more, the quality and capabilities of third-party customer service and airline vendors differ from one another. It is completely unfair to expect that one can get stranded alone without support, whether through an online booking service or directly with the airline. This is because it is advised to contact reputable companies and check travel guard options and policies before finalizing the bookings to minimize risks.
In conclusion, there are several important aspects a traveler has to consider when comparing direct flights and those booked through an OTA. That tends to indicate that there is no standard rule saying one channel has to be the best at all times due to the constant change in fares and functions across numerous airlines and booking sites. This has been seen to work well most of the time for the elers, by not fully eliminating policies, by keeping open for whatever channel would give the best opportunity of an optimal saving trip, and more.
This article gives a rather clear and comprehensive comparison of the benefits and drawbacks of directly purchasing air tickets versus using the services of intermediaries. This provides aspects such as price, number of services, add-ons, ease of usage and customer care as some of the criteria when comparing channels. It is all about educating the readers and not influencing them to prefer one side, i.e., reservations of flights, when there are better options out there.