<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FlyerGoldII:
My sister and her family will want to go to Delhi, from YVR, on a consolidator fare - this winter. Of course, they would prefer to go on an airline with the best amenities, in the economy cabin. I know that Singapore Airlines offers PTV in economy class (I do not know if Cathay Pacific offers this amenity and/ir whether it flies to India, from Hong Kong).
There are (East) Indian travel agents in Vancouver that offer consolidator fares to India (I am not sure if they offer good fares on the above mentioned 2 airlines); I am wondering whether a Chinese travel agent may offer a better fare, esp via one of the 2 airlines mentioned above.</font>
Consolidators are also ethnic specific. You would generally get the best deals to India through East Indian travel agencies because of their higher sales vloumes to these places. Chinese agents may/may not have fares at all onward to India/Middle East from HK. They would be able to get some fares but not all. Similarly, travel agencies will call Japanese Consolidators specialising in getting best fares to Japan, and Korean consolidators for Korea.
Some fares are very specific as well. Although really discriminatory, airlines do it all the time in that fares are sold only if they hold 'certain' racial groups. They're not advertised, so they are sold through agencies where there is a common ethnicity.
Similarly, you wouldn't really go to a Japanese consolidator when you want fares to Israel now, do you?
[This message has been edited by Guy Betsy (edited 06-07-2003).]