Hotelsforlife

Anyone had any thoughts on not booking flights through your usual agent (assuming you have one)? I like the service he provides, but seems like a tempting deal to pass up.

chinmoylad

I think this applies to everything, not just flights. If you have a good working relationship with your agent, I would suggest to check with the agent to see if s/he can match any deals/offers/rates etc.

If s/he cannot match the deal/offer/rate, and if you think the offer is too good to pass up or presents great savings, go right ahead!

If the deal/offer/rate is extremely time sensitive, gauge how your agent typically responds and confirms etc and based on that, either go ahead with the agent or book it independently.

For many hotel rates at least, if you see a time sensitive deal/offer/rate and decide to go ahead and make the booking immediately and book it through the hotel directly, you may even be able to transfer this booking over to the agent to handle for a few reasons:
- Any added exclusive amenities/benefits combinable with the offer that the agent can provide?
- Agent to 'handle' the booking (many on this forum contact hotel/GM directly, many let agent handle the little details)
- Based on working relationship with the agent, you may want the agent to make commission so this would be helpful

I hope that helps!

ABG

My understanding is that as long as your Amex is charged by the airline with a valid 13 digit ticket number it does not matter who issued the ticket for the calculation of 5x points.

Cityflyer10

I almost always book direct (and if not simply through Amex travel) so not the best help but...

My understanding that especially for international tickets, travel agents may use wholesale or private contracts that are comissionable and probably would not be valid for 5x points from Amex.However, if the airline is the one who charges your card for the ticket and your agent just charges a separate booking fee, you will most probably still get the 5x as AMEX gets the ticket number and ticket info and sees that it is airfare

So YMMV, but you probably would need to check with your agent to confirm how the ticket is booked

DavidO

I'm not an air expert (in fact, have never done an air booking via Sabre), but I believe that when booking air through Sabre, the system sends the credit card to the airline at ticketing. Historically, Sabre was American Airlines' own ticketing system.

I believe the charge will show up on your credit card statement as UA, AA, etc. — definitely not the travel agency — so you should get the 5X points with the Amex promotion.

If you have a trusted air agent, keep using him/her! One advantage you'll get is someone to monitor your flights and proactively work on your behalf in the event of difficulties. Doubt you'd get that level of service from an Amex Platinum agent or their website.

KatW

Not a frequent occurrence but for some venues some TAs including Virtuoso can upgrade at time of booking which is a very fine and rare benefit.

RichardInSF

Going to let this run for a bit and then move it to the Amex forum where the OP may get additional useful responses.

RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotels

BlackHappy

I think it depends on the travel agent. In the US, my travel agent shows up on my Amex statement as representing EVA AIR with an eva address. I've gotten 5x points booking through them. In Taiwan, my TA doesn't show up as eva on my statement and I don't get 5x points from them. If you've booked through this TA before, take a look at the details of your statement.

Waaj

Waaj

DavidO

You will get the 5X points with Amex whether you book through American Express, on the airline's website, or through a travel agent (i.e., a Sabre booking). The airline charges your card, not the TA.

Waaj

RichardInSF

Apparently this is a dup thread to one in the Amex forum, so closing this one.

RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotels and travel