Originally Posted by
dulciusexasperis
Third party sites are simply a 'parasite' (pun intended) that makes money on a transaction that could be done without a middle man being involved at all. When you add a third party, you add more room for problems and for being 'ping-ponged' between the third party and the product provider as to who is responsible for dealing with your problem. With only you and the provider involved, there is no room to do that. Common sense.
As I said uphread, I would MUCH rather outsource my issues to Ctrip than deal with airlines directly, and the same applies for most independent hotels. Travel businesses in China simply can't afford to piss off ctrip, while individual customers are expendable.