Flight booking site with easy changes

Plus

I'm trying to book some scheduled flights that I might have to change at short notice later on.
In this particular case it's a triangular route A-B-C-A on African airlines, but the question is more general than this specific route.

Normally I'd just book this with the airline, but they're quoting silly rates (that they round the prices to the nearest pound isn't a good start). I tried a few codeshare partners and I can't make them quote this. I can find the ticket on Matrix and Skyscanner, and sites like Opodo and STA Travel and a variety of others are quoting the same price as Matrix. (Amadeus.net won't do multi-city routings, but the round-trip prices it comes up with look similar - if I had an interface on Amadeus I could probably find it there)

I know airlines have fees, and booking agents have fees too, and that's fine. But I asked STA Travel how much their own fees are and was told roughly £250 for cancellations and £75 for changes on top of the airline fees, which is a bit much. The other problem is I don't want to be on the other side of the world trying to call the UK to make the change, especially to some call centre with endless queues.

So is there any site which is reasonable for allowing changes? Is there a way, for example, to do changes at the airline even if I booked via a third party? Could I simply go to the airport and do it at the ticket desk?

Caz3121

have you tried looking at an open jaw - A-B//C-A then a separate ticket for B to C (assuming you are not just transiting
If you want to be able to make changes direct with the airline (avoiding third party fees - then avoid third parties)

Voyager2002

Is there a convenient way to speak with the airlines in question? Since you know the precise fares that you want, including all the codes required for booking (given on ITAsoftware) it should be possible for you to explain what ticket you want, rather than relying on what pops up on the sales assistant's screen.

Otherwise, my instinct is to ask Trailfinders (again, speak with someone rather than buy from a screen) although my last attempt to do what you are attempting did not work. Or look for travel agents that mainly serve business travellers rather than tourists...

Plus

I can call the airline (in this case it's Ethiopian), but I would have expected the price the sales desk can book on the phone to be the same or worse than on their own website? The problem in this case is one of the legs is stuck on 'Economy Flex' which then drags up the whole booking to that rate (I would rather pay their extra change fees if I discover I need flexibility than pay for it up front)

Any recommendations for business travel agents who deal with individuals?

Or is there a way to avoid the 'all changes must go through your agent' issue?

Voyager2002

Plus wrote: »

I can call the airline (in this case it's Ethiopian), but I would have expected the price the sales desk can book on the phone to be the same or worse than on their own website? The problem in this case is one of the legs is stuck on 'Economy Flex' which then drags up the whole booking to that rate (I would rather pay their extra change fees if I discover I need flexibility than pay for it up front)

Any recommendations for business travel agents who deal with individuals?

Or is there a way to avoid the 'all changes must go through your agent' issue?

It is ten years since I last used Ethiopian, but back then the fares they offered in person/by telephone were very much better than those shown on their website.

On agents... the obvious suggestion would be American Express, but a former employer stopped using them after many failures on their part, instead using
http://www.destinations.co.uk/

(This is a job I left in 2002, so the quality of service may well have changed since then.)

Plus

Thanks. Looks like Destinations needs you to have a business account.

Amex's website will quote for flights, but it appears not to have Addis Ababa (ADD) in the database - it has 'Chadderton Lothian' but not the capital of Ethiopia. Change fee is £20+airline fee which is a lot more reasonable. But it seems I can't book without being an Amex cardholder - is that correct? (I could apply for a card, but that'll likely take a week or two to arrive, assuming I pass the credit check) And feedback on Amex doesn't sound good either.

Any other travel agents that are worth trying?

jpsartre

Did you try what Caz3121 suggested?

Plus

jpsartre wrote: »

Did you try what Caz3121 suggested?

I've never found singles to be good value, but anyway:

A-B-C-A multi-city: £479 on Matrix, £831 from Ethiopian (when I searched a week ago was £579)

A-B / C-A open-jaw: £459
B-C single: £259
Total split-ticketing: £718

jpsartre

Plus wrote: »

I've never found singles to be good value,

It depends on the route and airline. Some airlines will book singles into flexible fare classes and some 3rd party sites will get around this by booking the flight as a return with a random return flight (that you're then expected to skip). Really, if you just posted your itinerary it would be easier to give advice but it's obviously up to you. It's akways going to be more of a hassle to make changes through an agent.

Plus

The followup to this story was I eventually got nowhere and called Ethiopian Airlines booking line. It wasn't looking promising (took 4 attempts: hold music, hold music/cutoff, voice mailbox, human) I got through to someone who spoke good English and quoted me a price marginally less than I found on Matrix, substantially less than their website was quoting. They made a reservation and sent me a link to pay within 24 hours online.



So in the end buying from the airline worked, after perseverance.

Voyager2002

Plus wrote: »

The followup to this story was I eventually got nowhere and called Ethiopian Airlines booking line. It wasn't looking promising (took 4 attempts: hold music, hold music/cutoff, voice mailbox, human) I got through to someone who spoke good English and quoted me a price marginally less than I found on Matrix, substantially less than their website was quoting. They made a reservation and sent me a link to pay within 24 hours online.



So in the end buying from the airline worked, after perseverance.

Well done for your persistence.