OTA or Airline Direct ?

Murphy_The_Cat · 17 July 2016 at 1:25PM

By a happy chance, I've got the opportunity to spend some time over the Christmas period on the West Coast of America.

"Just get yourself some flights and we'll go from there !"

Long story short, the best timed flights, at the best fare are flying with BA.

Buying it via an OTA (in this cae NetFlights) is about 12% cheaper than booking direct with BA.

I'm one of the subscibers to 'if it looks to good to be true, it generally is" and if the OTA was www.elcheaporubbishtravelcompinc.com I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.

Comparing like for like, both will charge nothing for using a debit card, (a similar amount for CC), I'll get a touch of cash back via Quidco with either, its for identical flights -- bog standard return fares to the West Coast of the US.

Netflights seem as reputable as can be and are part of a large conglomerate, BA are a hossing big part of IAG.

Am I missing something, or just for once, have I found an instance where the OTA offers a better deal than direct with the airline ?

Alan_Bowen · 17 July 2016 at 2:54PM

No, sometimes OTA's are offered net fares which they can sell at any price they choose. The terms are usually stricter as regards changes and cancellations but Netflights is owned by Dnata, the agency controlled by the Government of Dubai, so I don't think they are likely to disappear and regularly appear here as one of the 'good guys' Just make sure the flights are exactly what you want and that you have cancellation insurance and you are 'good to go'

Kernow666 · 17 July 2016 at 3:25PM

I have used agents a lot if price is right and never had a problem

flight centre
ebookers
travelup

I know people say always book direct ( these are usually the people who dont even travel but have an opinion on everything )

if the saving is 10%+ then I would do it again & again if its a reputable company

PeacefulWaters · 17 July 2016 at 6:19PM

There does come a tipping point where a decent saving with a reputable provider makes it worth ignoring the "book direct" logic.

And you can still credit the flights to your AA loyalty scheme!

cubegame · 17 July 2016 at 6:55PM

BA do price match so no reason at all to book with an agent. Only offers an extra layer of inconvenience.

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/flights-and-holidays/flights/price-promise

PeacefulWaters · 17 July 2016 at 7:55PM

cubegame wrote: »

BA do price match so no reason at all to book with an agent. Only offers an extra layer of inconvenience.

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/flights-and-holidays/flights/price-promise

Claiming the price match is also inconvenient and given my experience of BA customer service I'd have little faith in them honouring it.

bagand96 · 17 July 2016 at 8:49PM

I always think that if the saving is worth it, and you do a bit of homework and carefully consider the OTA, than it can be worth it to book with them.

In this case I'd agree that netflights are definitely reputable enough and I'd have no issue booking with them.

It's all well and good saying an airline has a price guarantee but they generally have so may get out clauses they make it near on impossible to claim.

novelty-socks · 17 July 2016 at 8:57PM

I fly between the UK and US a fair bit (mostly for work), and I generally always try and book direct.

But, like you say, when savings hit that sort of level it's definitely worth booking indirectly. Sounds like the agent you've found is reputable, so I'd certainly be tempted to give them a go.

My advice would be: once you've booked, make sure you get the record locator (6 character code) and use it on BA's website to make sure your flight has been ticketed and confirmed. Then you're sorted!

Murphy_The_Cat · 17 July 2016 at 10:31PM

Thank you everyone who has contributed to this thread.
I've mooched around the various OTA's and I've booked with NetFlights.
Amongst other things, they were able to give a 100% accurate quaote that reflected the age of my children.
All of teh confirmations came straight back, although I realise that I'll have to wait for the PNR to come over night/within 24 hours.

I'm not at all interested in BA's price guarantee - life is to short to argue the toss with a large organisation, when someone has just under cut them, on their flights, quite substantially.

Happy Days and the countdown to Boxing Day begins !

p.s. no positioning flights needed - on this occassion, flying from my regional airport has well and truly come up trumps !

PeacefulWaters · 17 July 2016 at 11:42PM

Check the price inclusive of car hire with BA Holidays.

Murphy_The_Cat · 18 July 2016 at 10:07AM

Kernow666 wrote: »

I have used agents a lot if price is right and never had a problem
flight centre
ebookers
travelup
I know people say always book direct ( these are usually the people who dont even travel but have an opinion on everything )
if the saving is 10%+ then I would do it again & again if its a reputable company

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

Check the price inclusive of car hire with BA Holidays.

Hello Kernow

I followed your suggestion and it was a bit like Goldilocks and the three bears.
FlightCentre website couldn't find any flights for me.
Ebookers weren't competitive
TravelUps website wouldn't accurately work out prices due to the age of my children
But NetFlights was 'Just Right'

:j:beer:

PW
The suggestion about adding the car to the BA booking (which would also make it a BA holiday which wouldn't need paying for several months) was a really good one.
I'd checked it before I booked with NetFlights and it did close the gap.
However, booking the car with (probably rentalcars.com) and the flights with NetFlights is still approx 10% cheaper than going with BA.

p.s. the PNR has now come through, & I've added my AAdvantage details to the booking - although on this occassion, I realise that I won't get that many miles due to the imaginitive way that AA look at flights not booked on AA/flying on AA metal.

Happy Times. I've got the quickest flights that I could get, from the most convienient airport, at the 'cheapest' price and then discounted by NetFlights.

OTA or Airline Direct ?

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