As flyerCO and others have stated there are some valid reasons to use an OTA on occasion. There are many that are not scummy like FlightHub. The big 3 (Expedia, Travelocity, and Priceline) all respect 24h RFC. I'm sure there are other smaller OTA's that have decent ethics too. I have used Priceline in the past to book complicated AF/KL multicity itineraries via ITA tools that the silly AF/KL website won't allow or understand. I then call Delta to apply GUCs and from then on out its in DL's control anyways.

I actually did a quick flyertalk search for a known list of "reputable OTA's" before I tried this. I should have been more diligent and specifically searched for "FlightHub"...there is plenty of bad press for them when you look. We should put together a list of OTA's that people can decently trust understanding their limitations. I was fully aware of the schedule change implications on this trip and was willing to deal with it. I also read the T&C and knew they did not respect 24h Cancellation (that should have scared me away...sometimes we all have stupid moments). But the pure scumminess was worse than I expected.