June 16, 2002 from our newspaper - Consumer Reports Travel letter compared six web sites for booking flights and concluded you have to comparison shop.
http://www.consumerreports.org/travel/

These three offered lowest fares frequently, but travolcity was best at good routing combined with low fare.
www.expedia.com
www.orbitz.com
www.travelocity.com

These three were so technically inferior that they do not recommend them.
www.cheaptickets.com
www.onetravel.com
www.travelnow.com

Have you had any experience booking flights online? Post here and we will eventually move it over to the FAQ forum for a reference.

I have had no problems ever, but my good travel agent has consistently done better for me. In particular, she gets me open jaw flights for little or no extra money, and these are made difficult to do on websites.
The only flights I did better on were the "email list specials" like going to Norway from Baltimore for $99 each way. But that was January, and few people wanted to go to Norway just then.
I am still using her via email, because the online flight picture is decidedly less fruitful from here, in my experience. If anyone else in Italy has a great resource, I'd like to hear about it.

It's not in the airline's best interest to sell you the cheapest ticket. I don't think you should ever buy a ticket directly from airlines; travel agents will find the best deals and give you the best service.

I just read about a large survey of corporate travel, they found that booking through travel ageants actually saved corporations 27% rather than booking directly from the airline web-sites.

Zak, I have to disagree with you. Sorry but almost every time I have used a travel agent to book international flights, I have ended up spending more than I would have doing it myself over the internet. In some cases, I have actually brought in web fares to travel agents and asked them to find similiar fares and they have told me outright that they couldn't match the fare I had found. For our trip to Italy next week, the lowest fare a travel agent could find for me in January was $1100. We were able to find a fare for $950 through Orbitz. Granted, not the biggest difference in the world but for four people, worth the time and effort of some late nights cruising web sites. Plus many agents are now starting to tack on booking fees. Understandable that they are doing that but unless convenience is my number one criteria, I'll still keep shopping the web.
Carolyn

We had no luck at all in researching our air tickets on the web, looking at almost all the sites mentioned on and off for a month. A visit to a travel agent gave us more choices than we ever saw on any web site, cheaper and more convenient as well: r.t. LAX to FCO for under $800.
Yrs, Robert

By mistake I had this thread going on two forums. I am copying over the couple of replies on the other forum

David: The one that I've been partial to lately is www.qixo.com. It's basically a search engine that searches many different online booking sources (either directly through the airlines' websites or through online ticket agencies) and shows you who's offering what.

Try it. Let me know what you think.

Pauline: I used to use Expedia frequently for booking business trips and got good enough prices and never had problems.

I think the web is both great and interesting. I have used it to book air, but the few dollars you have saved are eaten up pretty quickly when there are problems. Once on a flight booked through one of the online services the airline cancelled my connecting flight. I was assigned a new flight that left ten minutes after my first flight began, making a connection impossible. You would not believe the amount of time spent correcting this so obvious problem. It seems that when you book on line with one of the services the airlines have little to no sympathy for your problems. Were it not for a gold medallion level with Delta and a sympathetic agent I would have been lost. Still it took numerous attempts and much time to correct.

My agent charges $10.00 and is virtually available 24/7. More than once she has averted problems for me by tracking the flights to ensure I have the most up to date booking.

There are times when she has frankly admitted that the web fare could not be matched and directed me there. She does know however that I will use the agency for a few dollars. This ongoing relationship is valuable to me because of the business travel I seem to constantly to - the anti-christ of slow travel. Most recently, using points, she booked an Atlanta/Rome for me in less than 30 minutes.

My conclusion - stuck an extra night somewhere uses up the few dollars saved and the ongoing relationship is valuable. I do admit, it takes time to find a good agent - not all are.

I do both. I tend to use the web for domestic flights and use a great travel agent who deals with a consolidator for international.

For domestic, I prefer to go directly to the airline. I fly frequently between the Northwest and Sacramento California. I like Alaska because of web booking and checking in. It is so fast. Southwest is cheaper but I value my time.

I also booked a package to Las Vegas over the web. The MGM-Mirage Vacations has a great site which includes options for flights, lodgings and auto rentals. There are some great specials.

I have tried Expedia but I did NOT like the service I got when I tried to change my ticket with Expedia. It was not worth the hassle. I've never purchased again from Expedia.

For International, I use Expedia to get cost estimates, carriers and schedules. I find Expedia the easiest to use. I also like on-line information that is available on Expedia regarding the destination. It is similar to Fodors. Basically a great research tool.

But I purchase my international tickets through the travel agent. Find a travel agent who uses a consolidator and they can find the same or better prices. There is a small ticketing fee but it is worth it. I would probably also try my travel agent if I was flying cross country or to Hawaii.

Marta

It is not in the interest of a travel agent, either, to find you a cheap ticket, since commission is a percentage. Also, agencies are swamped and typically spend less time trying to get a good deal on your ticket than you would, which is normal enough.

My best luck has been with Expedia, although nothing to write home (or SlowTrav) about.

I do have a horror story, an outfit called "Travelsecrets.Com", which in fact appears to be a small agency in Washington State. I was only able to get a price on their site after I'd filled in credit card info: I cancelled the transaction before ever actually getting to "Book ticket" -- but that didn't prevent them from physically sending me not one, but TWO tickets I didn't want. There was at the time no phone number I could reach them at, nor even an e-mail; but I was able to track them down: the phone number got me an answering machine even during business hours, and no one ever replied to my e-mails. When, having sent them an e-mail stating that I wanted the tickets canceled, and that I had never ordered them, I received a threatening letter from their attorney charging me for the tickets (and, if I remember correctly, a cancellation fee as well).
   I eventually had to call my credit card firm and have them turn the screws on the outfit.

A couple of years ago, on our last night in Rome, the phone rang in our hotel room--at 1:30 a.m. It was our travel agent phoning from the States to tell us that the airline had overbooked or something (I don't remember the details) and she had already booked us on another airline with a flight that would leave a few hours later in the day. So we had the pleasure of one last, unplanned lunch in Rome, and still got home the same day--albeit at an ungodly hour.

I check the internet for fares, and she always matches them, or comes so close that it isn't worth worrying about, especially for such service.

Incidentally, we hadn't even booked the hotel through her, but she had asked me where we usually stayed, and apparently remembered the name (or entered it in her computer). It's a little 12-room hotel, but somehow she found the phone number and tracked us down. That's service!

For my trip in September I booked on the internet with www.airlineconsolidator.com for a direct round trip flight from Boston to Milan. As the trip is in the future, I don't yet know how it will turn out, but so far I have been pleased with their service. Once we reserved our flight, we were entered into Delta's computer and told to call them directly for seat assignments which we did without problems. Although the tickets are non-refundable and have a large fee for any changes ($250 I think), they include frequent flyer miles, accepted a charge card for payment and didn't have hidden fees. The rate was $760 dollars which was the best fare I could find for a direct flight at that time of year. I'll post after our trip about how it went.
Colleen

I was not aware that travel agents received any commissons on airfares anymore. I had thought that recent changes by the major airlines cut them out completely. In any case I doubt a good agent will risk the relationship for a few dollars. One time visit maybe. Cute story about the agent calling the hotel. Not hard to compare the value of an extra lunch in Rome against terminal food at the airport.

I always book directly with Delta because we use our miles to upgrade to first class. I know I pay too much for our tickets!! But to be able to upgrade ahead of time using miles, you have to buy a more expensive ticket - and once you have been in first class, it is hard to go back to coach. But, even with these more expensive tickets, we always have to pay $150 per ticket if we change our return dates.

Bill, it has been several years since they got percentages. There is now a very low cap ($50 I think?) and an agent can spend considerable time searching a great route and price for almost nothing. Cruises and packages pay much better, I hear.
I did say my GOOD agent gets me great prices. A lousy agent will get you what comes up featured on his/her computer program, which will likely be the owner/sponsor of the program.
My agent, given enough time, will continually go back to see what comes up, search out different routes, knows who is having specials, is aware of required booking dates. She wants and needs repeat business, since even with her booking fee of $20, her company makes little for all that work, and I don't ever buy the packages and cruises and hotels and cars that pay better. I am ruthless in that; even when she traveled with me, I didn't use her for the other things. She is ruthless too in using my on-the-ground knowledge when she is helping a client do a trip someplace she knows I've been and they don't want to stay in the 4-5 star hotels agents have available. She even books slow travel houses and agriturismo.
The only problem is she wants to see everything in the blue guide.

We were trying to figure out an inexpensive way to go on an unplanned trip. Husband was saying absolutely not; we have too many other trips planned, remodel of house, etc.

Just to see what I could find, I used Google to find a consolidator. It gave me a site called sureticket.com.

I punched in our dates, San Francisco to Paris with no preference for airline. It came back that a major U.S. carrier had a nonstop, perfect times for $502 each roundtrip.

I then told it the same info but specified United Airlines. It came back with the exact same times, only $1,108 per person.

I booked through "Major U.S. Carrier" button and voila! Of course, it was the United flight.

I also checked the same flight on United and at their site it was $1,075.

Although they will not let us use miles to upgrade, we are receiving miles for the flight.

With those prices, husband said yes!

Most airlines have capped the commission paid to travel agents, some as low as $20.00 per ticket regardless of ticket cost. Travel agent's commissions have been protected with most wholesalers when booking negotiated contract air. Better for them and often better for you.

Internet bookings are sometimes cheaper but that comes with a trade off, the tickets are normally non-refundable, non-transferable with steep change/cancel penalties and have advance purchase requirements. The closer to travel the more expensive it will be via the internet, with a wholesaler the cost is about the same whether booking 120 or 5 days prior to travel.

Booking air through a travel agent with a wholesaler always has it's benefits and used to get the lowest price out there. For the best negotiated rates, typically a minimum 3 night hotel booking is required. Pre Sep. 11 the cost of a ticket plus the 3 night hotel minimum was 'normally' still less than booking a ticket direct, there are always exceptions. If you don't actually need a hotel, book the cheapest one they have to get the air & "throw it away". If you do need that hotel at a negotiated rate, even better.

Post Sep. 11 everything has changed and internet prices have become very competitive - though you will always have the trade off with flexibility & penalties.

My personal choice - if you can't save a significant amount of money booking direct/via the internet, book it with your travel agent. When things go wrong, flights are oversold and they start bumping people; it's very helpful to have someone in your corner flexing their wholesaler's partnership muscle on your behalf.

A few travel agencies with their own muscle flexing power, when what you want is security that things will be made right when the airlines misbehave:
American Express - Virtuoso - Leisure Travel Group

Online booking muscle - Expedia.com
Microsoft's baby with lots of power and no signs of slowing down.

Let me try to give a definitive answer about travel agent commissions.

(1) On regular fares, as of March 14, 2002, almost no airline still pays a commission, period. A few do, such as Southwest Airlines, which pays 5% of the base fare of a ticket, capped at $ 20. (whoopee). For all others - AA, DL, BA, CO, NW, KLM, UA, US, truly 95% of the world's airlines - they pay travel agents zip zero nada zilch.

(2) On consolidator tickets, the consolidator either pays a commission (8-12% usually, on base fare) or gives the agent a net fare that the agent can mark up (like other retailers such as your shoe store or appliance store or department store do).

I've been in the travel business since 1986. Back in the day when airlines did pay commissions to agents, it was always fascinating to me to watch how hard agents worked to get the price down down down so as to give the client the best deal. It was a source of pride to be able to do the best possible for the client even if that lessened the commission. I've been with two different agencies, each locally and independently owned, and I've watched this happen over 16 years now, day in and day out. It's a point of honor.

What a good agent can do with a computer is astonishing; you have to know the 'tricks of the trade' and what to ask the computer to find, though...it doesn't just hand it up to you. Travel agents know that clients will return only if they feel they have been given good value, not gouged; and like any other retailer, travel agencies want repeat customers.

Try thinking of it this way: do you think Pauline hopes you will have to pay a high price for a car rental from Auto Europe so that Slow Travel will get more of a commission? Or do you think she hopes you will get the best, least-expensive rate possible on your rental? I'd bet on the second choice, and that's exactly the same mindset as any reputable travel agent you will ever meet.

Brava, Sally!

Thanks Sally! And thanks everyone else for making this a very informative thread. I will leave it open for a few more days, then move it to our FAQ forum so we can all easily refer to it.

Thanks, Sally. And thanks, Pauline, for keeping the thread open for a bit, 'cause I have another question -- for Sally .

quote:

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2) On consolidator tickets, the consolidator either pays a commission (8-12% usually, on base fare) or gives the agent a net fare that the agent can mark up (like other retailers such as your shoe store or appliance store or department store do).

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Sally, if you're working with a consolidator that gives you the net fare, is that net fare a cheaper fare than he/she'd give, for instance, me? Will I end up paying a bit more if I buy the ticket from you (of course, quite possibly well worth it if this is true) or will it end up being about the same amount if I buy the ticket through you as if I just contact the consolidator myself?

Thanks.

Sally - I thought the 0% was a rumor...Ouch! Any rumors in the mill about wholesaler commissions being next? Maybe they will just drive the contract prices up to be less than competitive.

quote:

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Back in the day when airlines did pay commissions to agents, it was always fascinating to me to watch how hard agents worked to get the price down down down so as to give the client the best deal.

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I work in a field of many and have to agree with you whole-heartedly. It is a tough business and you earn every dollar that you make. A slightly higher fare or booking fee is a small price to pay for a good experienced agent. And if they get you the lowest fare as well - no brainer!

Question for you - What is a consolidator? I've always thought of them as being air only bucket shops - Not true?

Moving to the FAQ forum.

I'm leaving for Italy on 11/2/02 but I ordered my tickets about 4-5 weeks ago...after checking expedia, cheap tickets, and the airline sites I called USAIR directly and got a better deal over the phone than anywhere on the Net....really suprised me...