Originally Posted by Rambuster
If you are looking for tickets ex-CMB, you will most probably have to have the ticket issued there too to make it a "legal" ticket. In most cased ex-XXX tickets do need to be issued in XXX. TA's might be able to issue the ticket from somewhere else, but can be debited the fare difference by the airlines if the tickets are audited. That's why you will probably not find a TA to issue these tickets.
Well, not all ex-CMBs are created equal
. This is not a CX I fare or anything like that. There does not seem to be anything in the rules to restrict SOTO issuance and Expedia UK seems to be able to generate the fare as in ITA (with much higher taxes, though) but, given Expedia's limitations, I cannot reproduce the full specific itinerary that I want but a simplified version of it with fewer legs but the same fare bases work.
Guy Betsy has got it absolutely right with his "fresh out of college or travelling through from Oz" comment. Why is it that agencies that present themselves as travel professionals employ people who do not have a basic training in basic concepts of air fares and ticketing is beyond me.
Originally Posted by Rambuster
If you are lookinf for TA's in a special region, I would suggest to dig around in the *A or OW forums.
Yes. I thought about where to post, but since the question is about finding a good TA in London, a British-oriented forum might be more helpful than other fora. Most TA-related issues in *A and OW are about finding a good TA in the origin country (for RTWs) or whether dealing with airline X's international/RTW desk and local ticketing policies. Neither of these are quite what I am after.
Originally Posted by Guy Betsy
get a US based agent to do your booking for you where their CRS guarantee the fares quoted. Most EU based agencies may not have such guarantees
I did not know that. I thought that CRSs guaranteed automatically generated fares everywhere, not just in the US. Thanks for the info.
Originally Posted by Guy Betsy
Best to go to an individual TA for that.
. hence my post asking for recommendations.