How to painlessly book a complicated itinerary online
Mar 28, 2015, 6:54 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: partly Euroland, partly Mountain Time
Programs: BA something, LH something, HHonors something, Sixt something
Posts: 256
How to painlessly book a complicated itinerary online
I'm not a fan of booking travel via telephone, I'd much rather do this online. I, like many here, tend to turn simple round-trip travel into multi-city marathons (it's all about the Avios, baby), which often precludes me from using sites like ba.com.
Here's how I just booked a trip (8 flights, 7 different cities, 4 classes of travel, 3 airlines) online.
After spending a few days playing around on ITA-matrix, I emailed my desired itinerary (with fare buckets) it to cooktravel.net. Within a day, they responded with the matrix-quoted price in dollars, minus a $35 discount. I asked for the itinerary to be held (with confirmed seats) until I could call in and complete the purchase. The transaction was done after a polite and professional 85-second phone call; the e-ticket arrived in under an hour.
The point here is not the insignificant savings (under 2%), rather that it was much easier than calling BA and asking for particular fare buckets on specific flights. The phone call was unnecessary, as the purchase could have been completed via email, but I don't share my CC information that way.
There are probably alternatives to what I did. If you know of one, please share it below.
Note: I have nothing to do with cooktravel.net, other than being a satisfied customer.
Here's how I just booked a trip (8 flights, 7 different cities, 4 classes of travel, 3 airlines) online.
After spending a few days playing around on ITA-matrix, I emailed my desired itinerary (with fare buckets) it to cooktravel.net. Within a day, they responded with the matrix-quoted price in dollars, minus a $35 discount. I asked for the itinerary to be held (with confirmed seats) until I could call in and complete the purchase. The transaction was done after a polite and professional 85-second phone call; the e-ticket arrived in under an hour.
The point here is not the insignificant savings (under 2%), rather that it was much easier than calling BA and asking for particular fare buckets on specific flights. The phone call was unnecessary, as the purchase could have been completed via email, but I don't share my CC information that way.
There are probably alternatives to what I did. If you know of one, please share it below.
Note: I have nothing to do with cooktravel.net, other than being a satisfied customer.
Mar 28, 2015, 10:14 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: partly Euroland, partly Mountain Time
Programs: BA something, LH something, HHonors something, Sixt something
Posts: 256
I assume it was a public fare since I was able to find it using the matrix tool, albeit creatively. Here's a bit more information:
Fare bases:
TLXEPEU
QA14ZNI3
IR28AP
Fare buckets: A,I,J,S,T,Y
TICKET IS NONREFUNDABLE/NONTRANSFERABLE/NONREROUTABLE
Fare bases:
TLXEPEU
QA14ZNI3
IR28AP
Fare buckets: A,I,J,S,T,Y
TICKET IS NONREFUNDABLE/NONTRANSFERABLE/NONREROUTABLE
Mar 28, 2015, 11:48 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
Let us know if the TPs/Avios post correctly ^
Mar 28, 2015, 2:12 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: partly Euroland, partly Mountain Time
Programs: BA something, LH something, HHonors something, Sixt something
Posts: 256
Mar 28, 2015, 2:59 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
My complex itineraries are often set up on BA by an excellent FlyerTalker.
