Originally Posted by christep

Basically the advantages tend to be better availability and instant confirmation, although the OW airlines are getting their act together so that they can more often instantly confirm. Also if you have status with the airline that you want to fly then you will likely get a better response from calling them directly. Unfortunately, with the way certain airlines are playing with yield management these days you now sometimes get different availability results from calling, say, CX in London or CX in Hong Kong. This is a stupid way to run a business, but I guess all we can do is play the game and if you don't succeed at one office then try another. Since when you call the airline direct you are just talking about reservations then the method of ticketing doesn't matter.