Buying Airfare On Line?

[RLE]

Question for anyone out there ~ What has been your experience when purchasing air tickets through on line websites? Six people in our party. We would love to save some money on our flight to Europe, but don't want to be left hanging if something happens.

[greatam]

I purchased for our company 343 airline tickets online in 2005. I print everything out. Never had a problem with online booking.

[Nliedel]

I buy all of my tickets through either Expedia.com or the Airlines website only now. I am a former TA and very happy.

[zqvol]

We have used airline websites and a consolidator and had no problems at all. Only issue was I didn't pay attention once and could have gotten the same fare throuhg the airline as the consolidator without the fee, so it cost me a little bit more, but no problem with the tickets.

[WillieBluffU]

I always book on-line. usually Expedia or the airline's web site. Never had a problem except once! I accidently put the wrong last name on one of the travelers last year when I was booking for 6 people. I noticed it AFTER I hit the send button and before the screen changed. The mistake was made on Southwest's website. I screamed, yelled, cussed, jumped up and down, then I called Southwest and had to go through cancelling the reservation and getting a new ticket issued. I am not sure what would have happened if I had been on Expedia or another airline. It all ended up working out OK and I was able to get the same rate for my messed up traveler. So my word of advice...double check everything you type 3 times.

[Globaliser]

I think that I'm now buying between 10 and 20 tickets online for every one that I buy from a TA.

 

The only tickets that now come from a TA are for specialist Oz/NZ itineraries that can't easily be done online, where the TA is a consolidator so (usually) has lower fares than the airline's published fares, and where my business relationship with the TA is such that I get a lot of free extra flexibility thrown in at no extra cost (hold reservation without deposit or commitment until about 8 weeks before travel, etc.).

[RLE]

Thanks everyone for your upbeat answers. I just need to convince the rest in my party it is a good idea.:D

[pltwannab]

Been ticketing online ever since the option was available way back in the last century. Over 150 purchased travel, never had a problem.

Funny thing was when they let you check in online and print boarding passes, the first day it was available I had it, ga and fa looked surprised.

[pltwannab]

Been ticketing online ever since the option was available way back in the last century. Around 200 purchased , never had a problem.

Funny thing was when they let you check in online and print boarding passes, the first day it was available I had it, ga and fa looked surprised.

[sobore]

I have never had a problem with purchasing online. Most airlines will also give you bonus miles for booking on their site.

[m2violin]

I'll be cruising on the HAL Oosterdam leaving out of Seattle 8/26. I plan to fly in from Tulsa the night before. I am debating whether to go directly through the airline websites, the online TAs (Expedia, Travelocity, AAA, Orbitz), or to a live TA (which would probably be the local AAA office-yes, I am a AAA member).

 

As of this morning the best rates appear to be on the airline websites, specificially, American and Delta. Are there any advantages to paying the extra $$ going through a TA (online or in-person)?

 

What do you say? If it matters, I have no problem going the e-ticket route (have done it in the past). I appreciate your thoughts!

[Globaliser]

Are there any advantages to paying the extra $$ going through a TA (online or in-person)?

IMHO, a live TA may be worth extra money if they can add value to the transaction: Can they provide personal service? Will they take some of the hassle out of looking for and finding what you need? Will they take some of the work out of looking for schedule changes, aircraft changes, seat allocation changes, etc?

 

If they're charging you money and doing no work, my response would be why bother? But some TAs are worth their weight in gold and definitely worth paying money for. There's no generic answer that's correct across the board.

 

E-tickets have little to do with whether you use a TA or not. Many TA bookings will be e-ticketed, which means that you'll never see an actual ticket. Any documents that are given to you are only evidence of a booking or evidence that an e-ticket exists; they are not the ticket itself which only exists electronically inside the airlines' computers.

[RLE]

Hello !!!

Well I did it through Orbitz....and now have tickets in hand. We had to take the option of paper tickets. That will ease my fellow travelers minds. Booking our party of six with three different credit cards was a challenge....a bit stressful...you really need to know dates, times, correct name as it appears on the passport, addresses, etc. Booked one couple, then the second....snag came with last two travelers. Flight had gone off the screen....then back at a different price...then one passenger at a time. Finally after waiting a while, weeding through and picking flight all was right and within budget. Phoned the airlines and confirmed with them, all documents appear to be correct. Thanks again for all the help. :D

[m2violin]

Just a follow-up: After researching online fares on a variety of sites (AAA, Expedia, Orbitz, etc.) I went ahead & booked my flights on the American Airlines website. Actually, Delta was .02 cheaper than American, but I went with American (for a number of reasons). I'll be connecting in DFW on my flight out of Tulsa (I can tolerate a mini-plane for the short flight from Tulsa-Dallas) and connecting at Chicago's O'Hare on the way back. I grew up in Chicago, so I don't get flustered by O'Hare. Besides which, I have an almost 2-hour layover, so I'll have plenty of time to get to my connecting flight!

 

BTW, my flight from SEA to ORD will be via Alaska Airlines (due to a code sharing arrangement between the airlines).

 

Thanks for all your help and suggestions!

[FlyerTalker]

BTW, my flight from SEA to ORD will be via Alaska Airlines (due to a code sharing arrangement between the airlines).

You'll prefer AS to AA for that flight. The good news is that AS and AA both operate from T3 at ORD. AS has one gate, L2, so you can be VERY sure where you're arriving. ;)