who to book flights with???? the good the bad or the ugly

Always go direct. My niece booked flights to the US (business class) with Lastminute.com and they were changed by Lastminute about 3 months in - day and airport changed - they were sold as completely flexible tickets but the new arrival airport wasn't suitable. Lastminute have would not pay out and as they are not based in the UK it was a really convoluted process to get some money back. On her research she actually found out they have done this [not refunding when they should] so many times the UK Government has become involved.

My niece would have got her full money back on the change of time (over 2 hours) and certainly the change of airport had she booked direct. But Lastminute just make up their own rules. In the end with the help of her MP she got a 70% offer and accepted it.

gov.uk/gov…nds

The reviews for all 3 companies are shocking - I guess there's a reason they always tend to show up amongst the cheapest in search results!

Never used skyscanner but booking.com is also good for booking flights and I guess it depends on the price going direct or not as the price could be cheaper. I agree direct is best.

Always go direct to the airline, unless booking a package holiday from a reputable travel agent.

But personally I would never use Ryanair anyway.

I would nearly always go direct. As soon as you add bags or seats on a low cost airline going direct will be cheaper anyway. Low cost airlines don't pay agents commission, so if you see a cheaper price it's just so they rank better on price comparison sites, they make a small loss with the hope that you'll add their inflated extras.

Occasionally I will use an agent if the deal is particularly better (usually only the case on long hall).