Has anyone booked a business or first class flight through 1st-AIRNET? I've been quoted an excellent fare, but would like reassurance that they are reliable and I won't be bumped. Thanks!

A quick search will reveal many past discussions. For instance:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...l-tickets.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri......-deals.html

Caveat emptor. They have some dirty tricks up up their sleeves mixed in with legitimate consolidator tickets. I bought 3 business class tickets from them in 2000 before. Two were legitimately booked and ticketed; the other used a senior citizen discount for a passenger who wasn't eligible with pesos used as the purchasing currency. This was for a USA-Asia ticket.

If you post your trip, a bunch of people could suggest legitimate consolidators.

I have come accross your post today. Having been with 1stAir for 5 years, I do not believe your comments present an accurate picture. I am unaware of offering senior discounts for non seniors, and in fact do not know of any carriers that even offer senior discounts. I have heard from colleagues that were with the company in 1999/2000 that there was once a problem with third party vendors that listed their content on the 1stAir site. However, that is now 10 years ago and your comment indicates it has been nine years since your last purchase. If you want to send me a PM of your name, I can look up the activity regarding your transaction.

Please keep in mind that 1stAir is not an agent but a third party broker. Wholesalers and airlines alike list their content on the 1stAir website as an alternate distribution channel to the mainstream sites. In the early days there was not much control of the content that was listed and the performance (i.e.craigslist) but over the years that has tightened up and only products we have first hand knowledge of being delivered are offered on-line or via phone.

Nonetheless, as they saying goes there is no such thing as bad PR so we do appreciate you keeping us in mind even if for the wrong reasons.

Perhaps we can try again for you in the next decade

I have commented on them before..Mainly to Australia and never had any problems..At least five trips. I saw some of the same comments on FT which are listed above a few years back and asked the same questions. Most of the bad comments appeared to be old, or problems that were resolved but the resolutions never get posted on FT

If the savings is minimal, you may be better buying from the carrier directly or your normal source.However, if the savings are substantial you the reward will more than outweigh the limited risks

Happy Travels

My desired trip would be Business (or First) Class one way from Sydney, Australia to Singapore on December 10, 2009. Could someone recommend other consolidators I could contact in which there is more confidence? Thanks!

Senior discounts were offered by airlines at the time I purchased them, which was 9 years ago.

For Sydney to Asia, you will likely need to go through an Australian website or agent. You could try travel.com.au

Only received their e-mails...No experience with them..Also keep in mind that if you are in the U.S. and you try to buy with an overseas (Australia in this case) agent you will likely take a hit on the credit card fee and exchange fees charged by your CC company for converting Australian Dollars to U.S. dollars...If the pricing you get from agents in Australia (after you do the research) is not more than 10% less, I would suggest to buy it in the U.S. to eliminate the currency exchange risk