Originally Posted by
donpauly
I use to book flights with sites like orbitz a while back. Then after i read that you should always book flights directly with airlines, i started doing that instead. If that is the case, what is the purpose of using a site like orbitz to book a flight with say jetblue then over doing it directly with jetblue?
Several reasons... won't name all of them but off the top of my head...
1. OTA is still a TA so in general if you need to make changes you need to go through them and not directly with the airline (especially for simple things that you could have done online on the respective carrier's website, which it may not let you do if you went through an O/TA)
2. Depending on the product you're purchasing, sometimes the O/TA will charge more for things like change fees, or the such, more than what the airline might charge if you had booked directly through them
3. Some OTAs re known for horrible customer support compared to the airline (but this is arguable... just anecdotal history here on FT)
4. and the list goes on... (?)