zsc

Lately many have been stung by making their flight bookings through an OTA only to be redirected by the airline's customer service department, and that led to me wondering what difference, if there are actually any, apart from the obvious price, when booking through an OTA?

I've made many OTA bookings before, and I don't recall a time where I was not given a direct airline PNR, which allowed me to do essentially everything I wanted to, similar to a direct booking. Anyone with back office knowledge who is able to shed some light on this?

Note: tried searching using various search terms both on Google and FT but didn't find anything.

irishguy28

It's not correct that you can't get the airline PNR; any reputable agent provides this with the e-Ticket. And it's not correct that you can't "do essentially everything" online with that PNR - only a handful of airlines (such as Aer Lingus) have limited functionality on their websites for third-party/agency bookings.

However, you cannot call up the airline to talk about/discuss/change the ticket. When you decided to use an agent, you went to a middleman, other than the airline. Therefore, you must continue to deal with that middleman.

The main difference is: you paid your money to the agent. The agent may or may not have yet paid the airline. They "own" the booking, so they are responsible for it, until it goes to airport control.

Because you chose to use an agent rather than the airline, the airline has no reason to deal with you. Airlines will typically only deal direct with you once the flight has opened for online check-in.

If you paid money to a third party, even if it is ultimately bound for that airline, you have to deal with that third party.

You should only consider buying from an agent if the ticket is not available otherwise (i.e. tour package discount, error fare etc) or if there is a significant discount available for doing it this way.

moondog

...or in situations when agents are easier to deal with than airlines (very common in my case).

irishguy28

Right now, everyone is difficult to deal with.

But your experience is different to mine. Many of the "cheap cheap" agents require you to pay extra for any sort of customer service [the example below is from a test booking on Travelgenio's UK website] so you may find yourself struggling to make any meaningful contact with the agent; some are contactable only via premium-rate phone lines - so any savings over dealing with the airline directly usually evaporate; most Western airlines can, in normal times, be contacted on Twitter or social media for most queries, with reasonable response times.

moondog

I book most of my intra-Asia flights and hotels via ctrip unless there is a substantial incentive to go direct. They are easy to reach on the phone or chat, and I save oodles of time by letting them sort things out for me.

writerguyfl

I'd say irishguy28 sums it up pretty well.

It's true that if you have the PNR your can usually do some basic things on your own. You can probably view your reservation and maybe select your seat(s). But, if anything happens that requires an actual change to your ticket before you get to the airport, you will be forced to deal with the travel agency that made the booking.

One thing that's become critical given the massive number of flight cancelations is notifications. When you book with a travel agency (traditional, corporate, or online), the airline will notify the agency of any schedule changes or cancelations for the tickets they "own". It is the responsibility of the travel agency to notify the traveler.

In that situation, the traveler must contact the travel agency to make any changes to the trip. While moondog may be lucky enough to have found a travel agency with excellent agents in his/her part of the world, I can assure you that the customer service folks at US sites like Expedia and Orbitz aren't typically very good. So, you'll be at the mercy of the ability of whoever happens to answer the phone when you call for help.

Disclosure: I once worked at a specialty travel agency call center. I started as a phone agent and moved into the Training Department. Many of the agents I trained were great. Some were good. And a small number were barely adequate. So, I really mean it when I say you're at the mercy of the ability of the person that answers when you call a travel agency for help.

cbn42

I would also add that online sites often have their own loyalty programs. If you book through a site like Orbitz, you collect points in their rewards program (essentially 1% back for flights) in addition to the airline's program.

This is not true for hotels. For the case of hotels, you usually do not get points in their loyalty program if you book through a third party. Therefore, you have to pick one or the other.

moondog

Airlines tend to be much fonder of OTAs than hotel groups are for a variety of reasons, e.g.
-much lower commissions
-reduced customer service burden
-hotel groups are only getting a small piece of the pie to begin with so paying out ~15% on gross really stings