Originally Posted by
annbs
I have found a BOS-IST trip in BE on both Expedia and Orbitz priced ca. $800 less than on the Delta website. I checked with a Delta agent by telephone, but she could not bring up the lower price. My question: is there any downside to buying the ticket through Expedia (or Orbitz)?
Thanks for your help.
Downsides could be that Frequent Flyer miles may not be given and there will be more restrictions like change fees.
Since this is a business class ticket to an international flight and since Expedia, Priceline, and others are known online consolidators, this is indeed a consolidator or specially negotiated fare.
These fares usually open up if there are a lot of unsold seats and the airline is looking to fill the plane.
Airlines will not discount on full planes, it only happens when there are enough empty seats and the plane is less than full.
If you see these fares and understand the restrictions, they are very good.
Sometimes you can pay full coach class and get upgraded to Business class as well which comes out to cheaper than getting a discounted business class ticket.
But feel free to purchase from Expedia. I remember booking a ticket for someone else on it and they shipped out the ticket promptly via Fedex and the price also was much cheaper.
Obviously different firms will have different pricing on these discount fares depending on how hard you shop, but Expedia is a firm with a well established reputation.
Above poster is incorrect on saying it is not a consolidator fare and they only sell published fares.
If one booking engine sells a seat for $800 cheaper than Delta, unless it is a system pricing error, it is a specially negotiated or consolidator fare. This will occur the most often on international business class tickets which this is which will see these significant savings.
There is also the Y-up fare which is first class at walk up coach fare prices which airlines offer as well. I couldn't think of the name till now.
Go ahead and book on Expedia. It will cost a little more than the cheaper firms, but it is very easy to book through them especially if you think the deal is very good. Expedia is owned by Microsoft so it is a rock solid company.
Check whether mileage is given and how or not and fare change fees and baggage fees and make sure the price including all taxes is right. If it meets your needs, it will be an excellent deal.
I would like to say also: KLM has different fare rules so if one bought via KLM directly on some routes they give a different percentage of miles that accrue on different fare codes than buying directly through Delta.