Thanks for the reply, irishguy28. Risks I considered are: Inability to select seats, high luggage fees, and yes, having something happen where EI denies boarding for some obscure reason. At least when the airline issues the ticket directly, you are perfectly clear about fare basis, change fees and the like. Also you can call them directly and not have to have them tell you that the ticket is under “travel agent” control.
As I am US based, the EI website automatically displays the ticket price in dollars and when I swap it to Euros or Swiss Francs it is the same cost just converted with today’s exchange rates. I have no problem in paying in Euros but unfortunately I don’t think they give you 50% off for paying in their national currency.
I am still curious if anyone has had any luck as to calling in and having them match a fare. I remember seeing in some of the older threads that EI had a price guarantee but can’t find anything current on this.