Airline Tickets

This will be my first time flying. I have checked out lots of sites and also the actual airline site. At this time I am not seeing a big difference in rates? Do you book through the airlines or through the airlines? Any advantages of either?

Sorry too late to edit - it should read through the airlines or an online agency.

Might be differences from Europe, Asia, US etc.

I always start to check prices at different airline tickets sites and compare prices as well as available airlines - but I normally find that I can get the best or similar price at the airline website - so it is where I normally book.

Please be aware that prices might not include checked luggage (which you probably need for your cruise) and other fees. Sometime you need to go through the entire booking process before you do see the actual price - and then it might be more expensive than other offerings.

Since you sound new at this (and great that you're asking *pre* purchase), here's some basics.

As you've discovered, there is usually little or no cost difference, so why get a third party involved? There are posts here and on travel ombudsman sites where a problem came up during travel and the airline and agent pointed fingers at each other. Also if a credit or refund is due, the provider (airline, hotel, tour operator, etc) will only communicate and issue a refund to the agency. That's a sensible practice...but when the agency tells the traveler they will need to work directly with the provider, the traveler is stuck in the middle. When the provider does agree transfer money to the agent, occasionally the agent loses or denies any record of receipt...and there's been cases where it's truly unclear whether the agent received payment.

A lower fare from a third-party is a big clue that it's *not* the same fare the airline is selling on their website. It might be a consolidator ticket, unpublished fare, etc. Be very aware of the difference (read the sticky at the top of this forum), then ask the seller a lot of questions about endorseability, re-routes, if the ticket can be changed for a fee, etc. so you are making a fully-informed "risk decision".

Always use a credit card with no international transaction fees, or be *very* sure where the bank processing the charge is located. Even when you purchase through the US portion of a foreign airline's website, the location of the processing bank is what counts. There was an article where a family purchased US-India roundtrip tickets on Emirate's US website. They were hit with $300 in foreign transaction fees because the processing bank was in Dubai. This isn't a problem if you buy through AA, United, etc. but foreign airlines generally provide much better service. (I'm writing in the context of a US-resident)

Using half of a roundtrip ticket is a good suggestion...of course that's if the fare is less than a one way, which is often true for international flights. "Throw away" ticketing is prohibited by your contract with airline, who could come after you for the difference. In practice that doesn't happen unless it's a serial offender or an agent. If you do decide to use TAT, don't ask a travel agent to do it...they can be hit hard by the airline. Also, be very sure it's the *second* half that you don't use. If you're sailing to Europe and need to fly back to the US, buy a Europe/US/Europe round trip. Purchase the opposite and the entire ticket will be cancelled when you don't show up for the first leg on the ticket (US/Europe).

Roundtrip tickets can span up to a year. Instead of TAT, why not pick a less busy time within a year of your cruise to do a second trip to Europe? Use the US/Europe "return" half that you would have thrown away to fly to Europe, and combine it with a OW ticket home. Research and pre-select a time of year when the OW return ticket is cheap...maybe "shoulder" seasons like March or October, or during "dead" periods like Jan/Feb. (I hope this makes sense, I will try to explain it differently if it's confusing). It's totally fine with the airlines.

For personal travel, I just book direct with the airline. Except when I run into odd issues with their website and use something like Travelocity instead.

 

 

Using half of a roundtrip ticket is a good suggestion...of course that's if the fare is less than a one way, which is often true for international flights. "Throw away" ticketing is prohibited by your contract with airline, who could come after you for the difference. In practice that doesn't happen unless it's a serial offender or an agent. If you do decide to use TAT, don't ask a travel agent to do it...they can be hit hard by the airline. Also, be very sure it's the *second* half that you don't use. If you're sailing to Europe and need to fly back to the US, buy a Europe/US/Europe round trip. Purchase the opposite and the entire ticket will be cancelled when you don't show up for the first leg on the ticket (US/Europe).

 

Roundtrip tickets can span up to a year. Instead of TAT, why not pick a less busy time within a year of your cruise to do a second trip to Europe? Use the US/Europe "return" half that you would have thrown away to fly to Europe, and combine it with a OW ticket home. Research and pre-select a time of year when the OW return ticket is cheap...maybe "shoulder" seasons like March or October, or during "dead" periods like Jan/Feb. (I hope this makes sense, I will try to explain it differently if it's confusing). It's totally fine with the airlines.

Sorry but I am not understanding this part - probably because I don't fly. Why would you use half of a RT ticket? Thanks

Sorry but I am not understanding this part - probably because I don't fly. Why would you use half of a RT ticket? Thanks

Not sure, but I think he's assuming for some reason that you only need a one way instead of round trip ticket for the cruise.

Sorry but I am not understanding this part - probably because I don't fly. Why would you use half of a RT ticket? Thanks

Sometimes it's cheaper to buy a round trip and not use the return portion as opposed to buying a one way ticket. As mentioned, it' called "throw away" and you aren't supposed to do it. But if you don't make a habit of it, it wouldn't be an issue.

Sorry but I am not understanding this part - probably because I don't fly. Why would you use half of a RT ticket? Thanks

The poster may have been assuming you are taking a transatlantic cruise-either flying to Europe and cruising back to US or cruising from US to Europe and flying home. As has been discussed, one-way fares for this type of cruise can be very expensive. Therefore, it is sometimes suggested to purchase a round-trip ticket and only use the half you need for your particular circumstance. Hope this clears things up for you. If you're not taking a transatlantic (or transpacific) cruise, then just ignore the suggestion.

Sorry but I am not understanding this part - probably because I don't fly. Why would you use half of a RT ticket? Thanks

Sorry...others are right...I somehow got it in my head that you were traveling one-way transAtlantic, and had "sticker shock" over the OW fares. If you need a roundtrip, it doesn't apply, but keep the "throw away ticket" concept for future use.

I typically buy through the airline for the reasons you mentioned - price not very different - except for times when I can't get the times I want to fly in and out through the airline directly. In those cases I'll use an online agent because they usually show more options including the code share routes that I normally don't see on airline pages. Since I'm not a frequent flyer (once a year or twice a year) I could be searching incorrectly as well.