long haul flights - how do you get a good deal?

tunstallhill

tunstallhill

Striker
i'm looking at a multi-city ticket for next summer, and i know the exact dates. a few websites (Opodo, Ebookers etc..) get some unbelievably low prices, but all of the reviews online say to avoid them and go direct. but its about 5x the price with BA etc..

anyone know a reputably website or travel agent to go through? or when the best time is to book direct?

i'm wanting to fly to canada, then 3 weeks later fly back from florida
 


Why does it advise avoiding them?

I usually get the cheapest going from a 'reputable' source, with an airline I don't mind ... Be that ebookers, netflights etc. or direct.
 
tunstallhill said:
i'm looking at a multi-city ticket for next summer, and i know the exact dates. a few websites (Opodo, Ebookers etc..) get some unbelievably low prices, but all of the reviews online say to avoid them and go direct. but its about 5x the price with BA etc..

anyone know a reputably website or travel agent to go through? or when the best time is to book direct?

i'm wanting to fly to canada, then 3 weeks later fly back from florida
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I have always booked the cheapest and always got on the airplane. Check with the website of the carrier but if expedia or whoever is cheaper then go with them.
 
tunstallhill said:
i'm looking at a multi-city ticket for next summer, and i know the exact dates. a few websites (Opodo, Ebookers etc..) get some unbelievably low prices, but all of the reviews online say to avoid them and go direct. but its about 5x the price with BA etc..

anyone know a reputably website or travel agent to go through? or when the best time is to book direct?

i'm wanting to fly to canada, then 3 weeks later fly back from florida
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What reason do the reviews give for going direct?

We flew into Vancouver and out of Seattle at the end of last year and I'm sure we booked via one of the third party sites as it was cheaper. Just booked on credit card and called BA direct to confirm that booking had been made with them straight after.
 
Just go with whoever is the cheapest and use a credit your ticket is with the airline not the imteerrmediary. I've never had bother.

A lot of long haul providers no longer include luggage as standard in their basic economy ticket so watch that when you think you are comparing like for like.
 
Flavonoids said:
Why does it advise avoiding them?

I usually get the cheapest going from a 'reputable' source, with an airline I don't mind ... Be that ebookers, netflights etc. or direct.
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just says that when flights get cancelled or alterations need making etc.. that these third party brokers are a nightmare and not worth the money you save

there's quite a busy travel forum on tripadvisor, usually get good advice on there, and i searched for Opodo and theres hundreds of posts advising not to use them, same as Kiwi, Travelgenio, Opodo etc..

seems that all the advice is hell bent on telling you to book direct.

Hammer said:
What reason do the reviews give for going direct?

We flew into Vancouver and out of Seattle at the end of last year and I'm sure we booked via one of the third party sites as it was cheaper. Just booked on credit card and called BA direct to confirm that booking had been made with them straight after.
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who did you use?
 
tunstallhill said:
just says that when flights get cancelled or alterations need making etc.. that these third party brokers are a nightmare and not worth the money you save

there's quite a busy travel forum on tripadvisor, usually get good advice on there, and i searched for Opodo and theres hundreds of posts advising not to use them, same as Kiwi, Travelgenio, Opodo etc..

seems that all the advice is hell bent on telling you to book direct.



who did you use?
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Your contract is with the airline not the reseller, I've never had bother.

I can u derstand that if one flight with provider A is cancelled and you miss the next flight with provider B then there's no duty that B sorts you out ... But that would be the case if you went direct. The only way to avoid that is to book them all together direct as a package with code share airline es I'd imagine ... maybe that's what they're getting at?
 
nyron4england said:
you want cheap price but expensive service. cake and eat it scenario. use sky scanner, book through the cheapest one and check the star rating.
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no i just want the cheapest i can possibly get, given that i am 13 months in advance and know the exact dates i want to travel.

just not sure whether to book 12 months in advance, 9 month, 6 month or whatever, if it makes any difference
 
tunstallhill said:
who did you use?
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Travelup.

tunstallhill said:
just says that when flights get cancelled or alterations need making etc.. that these third party brokers are a nightmare and not worth the money you save

there's quite a busy travel forum on tripadvisor, usually get good advice on there, and i searched for Opodo and theres hundreds of posts advising not to use them, same as Kiwi, Travelgenio, Opodo etc..

seems that all the advice is hell bent on telling you to book direct.
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Alterations and things you can sort directly with the airline once you have the booking surely?
 
Flavonoids said:
As long as you don't leave daftly short turnaround times between connecting flights then book the cheapest.

I reckon that's the consensus.
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will it make a difference if i book 12 months in advance, or say 6 months?

by the end of august all the flights i want should show up on skyscanner search engine, i might just search the same flghts every week and note down the cost and see if they start getting cheaper or more expensive
 
tunstallhill said:
no i just want the cheapest i can possibly get, given that i am 13 months in advance and know the exact dates i want to travel.

just not sure whether to book 12 months in advance, 9 month, 6 month or whatever, if it makes any difference
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tuesdays are a good day to book. transatlantic are always hit and miss, i've booked flights for people the day before and be cheaper than a few months.
 
I've never found a cheaper price going direct. Not sure where these people are using but via BA, Qantas, Singapore, Thai, Emirate etc I've almost always booked via a 3rd party. And as flav said you deal with the airline after that.
 
tunstallhill said:
will it make a difference if i book 12 months in advance, or say 6 months?

by the end of august all the flights i want should show up on skyscanner search engine, i might just search the same flghts every week and note down the cost and see if they start getting cheaper or more expensive
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they go up and down depending on when the airline release cheap tickets to the other sites
 
Poo Butties said:
Just go with whoever is the cheapest and use a credit your ticket is with the airline not the imteerrmediary. I've never had bother.

A lot of long haul providers no longer include luggage as standard in their basic economy ticket so watch that when you think you are comparing like for like.
Click to expand...
Be careful who you book with. I would need to look up the company but they took 6 weeks to refund me after the flight I'd booked was no longer available and all they'd offer me was a flight the next day. This was despite flights being available an hour either side of what was cancelled.

If its a few quid, go direct.
 
Hammer said:
Travelup.



Alterations and things you can sort directly with the airline once you have the booking surely?
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dunno, its just what all of the posters on there say, in no uncertain terms. calling people idiots and that for using ebookers and stuff. suppose you only ever hear of the horror stories, probably 99% of the bookings go through no problem

nyron4england said:
they go up and down depending on when the airline release cheap tickets to the other sites
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is there a way to get notifications on this? like i say, i've got time on my hands so willing to wait it out to save a few hundred quid
 

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