Posted 8 November 2023

Plane Tickets?

Quick question regarding plane tickets; I'm looking to book tickets but was just wondering what the main differences is with booking via a third party website and going direct?

The difference between booking via Trip.com and going direct is around £400 which is a significant amount so was just wondering which is better?
Thanks
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  1. Laurel-Hardy's avatar
    The only problem I’ve had is when getting a refund when the trip didn’t take place. I’ve never used third party companies since.
  2. 001Cisco's avatar
    I never experience that much of difference.
    Is it something to do with baggage allowance?
    I use Kayak to check last time as it has filter with baggage allowance. (edited)
    AzNDeals's avatar
    Author
    Yes, if it was a small difference I wouldn't have minded it but its an extra £100 or so pp. Doesn't help that the flights are for very soon either.

    My main gripe against going directly is the poor website that China Southern have 51383269-f9TKg.jpg
    I'm struggling with what information it is actually asking for! I would assume that when it asks for country, it is actually asking for nationality but I'd rather not leave it to guesswork.
  3. TristanDeCoonha's avatar
    Ryan air get really silly about booking through a third party, or even using a third party card for payment, making you jump through additional hoops. Their system even throws a wobbly if you don't have a "standard" email suffix, like Gmail, yahoo etc.
    So for the sake of the few quid, it is worth booking directly with them for the security of the booking, and your sanity
    Gollywood's avatar
    Ryanair feel that they should be the only ones who can shaft anyone
  4. chrb's avatar
    Don't book through 3rd party websites. It cost me a lot of money, when my flight home was delayed by 28 hours, and I had to buy another flight home. My bank via a S75 claim, 3rd party, and the airline TUI wouldn't refund me. Now I will always book direct.If I had booked direct I would have been refunded by the airline and if they didn't pay my bank would have refunded me (edited)
  5. Pandamansays's avatar
    I found that if there is any 'bumping' to be done, it's the 3rd party bookings that get bumped rather than the book direct ones.
    AzNDeals's avatar
    Author
    Sounds like a win more than anything I don't mind having my holiday compensated haha
  6. AzNDeals's avatar
    Author
    Just to round this question, I have asked around friends and family for what they usually book with, and I decided to book through Booking.com
    Was still more than Trip.com but I seem to have a booking reference code that I can use on the airlines website already.

    Might update again once I actually get on the plane to see if it actually worked in the end
  7. Xippi's avatar
    I know where you're coming from. I always book car hire through 3rd party websites but always book flights direct from the airline - and I'm not at all sure why. I think its a sense of added security dealing directly with the airline. I've had to pay Trip.com a fee to recover money after an airline cancelled that otherwise would have come straight back if I'd booked direct - maybe that's influenced me. £400 is a lot of money though.
  8. Griffinpark1982's avatar
    Yeh we booked a flight last year with lastminute.com but had to cancel due to unforseen circumstances. The total cost amounted to £2200 for the flights but they only refunded £1400 so we lost out on £800 even though we took out extra insurance. I would book direct with the airline if u can and want added peace of mind.
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