cathaypacific.com VS Expedia?
 

The ticket I'm after is cheaper by about USD 60 on Expedia and about 50 on Orbitz compared to cathaypacific.com

I'm new to CX and have never used Expedia or Orbitz.
Are tickets bought on these sites reliable and hassle-free?

Thanks.

Yes they are fine although sometimes when you do need to make any changes then having a direct booking with the airline can be easier as if you sometimes try to make changes to indirect bookings then the airline will tell you to cotact your agent you made the booking with.

Agree booking with agent will be major hassle when it comes to ticket change. Calling local reservation is way easier than calling TA to change and the annoyance involved, especially if you are on a business trip (you can ask a local colleague to handle the change)

You also should carefully compare the fare conditions (flexibility, penalties,..). Might be quite different on expedia than on CX.com