Mystery travel agent who issues cheap tickets hours before flight. How is it possible
Oct 31, 2018, 1:32 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 3
Mystery travel agent who issues cheap tickets hours before flight. How is it possible
A friend of mine told me about this travel agent (TA). The friend is buying tickets from this agent since 2 years.
The friend usually contacts the TA month or two in advance and the TA gives him a flight itinerary with HK (Holding Confirmed) category/number. These tickets are much cheaper than the ones we see online, usually 10-15% cheaper.
I want to understand what kind of business model this is. The TA says he is an authorized travel agent.
I don't understand why he does it this way. Do you know why some travel agents give HK number months in advance but issue tickets a few hours before the flight?
The friend usually contacts the TA month or two in advance and the TA gives him a flight itinerary with HK (Holding Confirmed) category/number. These tickets are much cheaper than the ones we see online, usually 10-15% cheaper.
- The TA does actual issuing of tickets 12 hours - 2 hours or so before the travel. The TA says he issues the tickets for every client (who travel on the same day), at the same time (i.e. issues tickets of the whole group at once).
I want to understand what kind of business model this is. The TA says he is an authorized travel agent.
- The TA did not explain to me why he waits for so long and issues tickets a few hours before the flight to get the special cheap ticket price.
- TA says he does not contact airline at the last minute and the tickets are already confirmed.
- TA says he does something in his "system" to issue the tickets (without contacting airline). He did not explain further.
I don't understand why he does it this way. Do you know why some travel agents give HK number months in advance but issue tickets a few hours before the flight?
Nov 14, 2018, 4:16 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 3,642
One possible scenario is that this "agency" is actually booking using stolen credit card information or possibly fraudulently acquired frequent flyer points. They would not want to commit the payment and ticketing until the last possible point in time to minimize the possibility of fraud detection. Maybe it is not this but I would want more visibility before I purchased tickets or hotels via this method.
Nov 18, 2018, 1:43 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
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One possible scenario is that this "agency" is actually booking using stolen credit card information or possibly fraudulently acquired frequent flyer points. They would not want to commit the payment and ticketing until the last possible point in time to minimize the possibility of fraud detection. Maybe it is not this but I would want more visibility before I purchased tickets or hotels via this method.
Nov 18, 2018, 8:10 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 3
I'm not sure but Economy class.
I am told that at a few times people could not get confirmed tickets on time from this TA. In such cases, TA had to refund money for the new ticket bought by the passengers.
Last edited by flying_seek; Nov 18, 2018 at 8:17 pm
Nov 20, 2018, 1:12 am
#7
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: IN, US
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Posts: 63
That'd be a disaster for Intl travel. Suppose the TA cant get tickets and you end up losing a boatload in last minute flights or costs associated with changing dates for the whole itinerary.
Dec 11, 2018, 3:41 pm
#9
Join Date: May 2001
Location: topeka, ks usa
Posts: 392
I recall "Bucket Shop" several decades ago. legitimate tickets, had to be paper tickets. Apparently the airline would give the agency ticket stock to fill out, and the trip had to be booked by the airline agent representative. (not normal reservations).
Dec 11, 2018, 3:47 pm
#10
Join Date: Feb 2006
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As someone who has lived in Europe + the US + Asia, I can confirm that in Asia quite a few markets have travel agencies that do similar things. When I lived in HK I could often find much better deals (i.e. lower price and higher fare class) when booking with a TA versus online; I still occasionally use a TA in San Francisco who can perform similar miracles. It is my understanding that they have the ability to put a hold on inventory (say 9 economy seats booked in K class), and release it back if unable to sell. If you have an ExpertFlyer subscription, you can see that there are often big differences between seat maps and load counts for Asian airlines. FWIW I believe that NWA played this game, too, back in the day.
Dec 11, 2018, 4:53 pm
#12
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 11
Go TA
I say more power to the TA. It's high time passengers got a fair deal. When hotels can offer rooms on a cancellable basis if you are willing to pay a premium why can't the airline industry do the same. yes, I know about flexible fares but in most cases they cost an aram and a leg.
Dec 11, 2018, 8:16 pm
#14
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Seat 1A
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Posts: 4,124
They still exist in ethnic communities where there is a large number of recent immigrants. However, deals can only be found for fares going to the home country/region of these immigrants.
Dec 12, 2018, 6:13 am
#15
Join Date: May 2003
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Posts: 320
As someone who tracks airline and car rental prices more or less for fun - another wrinkle is the HK combined with dynamic pricing.
I don't know about other people's experiences, but the dynamic pricing many airlines use today is such that the cheapest tickets are often 1-2 weeks before departure...occasionally even closer than that. Combined with guaranteed seat, this could give the TA a way to generate delta between paid price and actual inventory cost.
I don't know about other people's experiences, but the dynamic pricing many airlines use today is such that the cheapest tickets are often 1-2 weeks before departure...occasionally even closer than that. Combined with guaranteed seat, this could give the TA a way to generate delta between paid price and actual inventory cost.