Are flights any cheaper going via Agent rather than direct with firm

patgc

Want to fly to Portland Oregon end of August, return End September. Did this a couple of years ago and I did all the booking direct with Delta online. Am I likely to get a better price by going through a travel agent. ? Looking at non stop with prebookable seats only.

richardw

Delta are the only non stop airline on the route, I doubt they need an agent to sell discount fares. If you need a car or hotel consider a package deal.

EveryWhere

Agent might be cheaper, but the ticketing conditions might be different and in the event of any issue you may have to defer to the agent as opposed to the airline.
So the saving via an agent would have to be substantial to make it worth your while.

Westin

EveryWhere wrote: »

Agent might be cheaper, but the ticketing conditions might be different and in the event of any issue you may have to defer to the agent as opposed to the airline.
So the saving via an agent would have to be substantial to make it worth your while.

Exactly this.

Another option would be to add an extra travel component such as a night or two in a hotel or car hire. This then becomes a packaged arrangement and because the flight cost is then opaque (you just have the total cost) the agent may use an IT fare which can drop the cost. Booking a fly drive with say BA Holidays or Virgin Holidays can sometimes be cheaper than the flight alone. As Everywhere however says the ticketing conditions will often be different so make sure you check these.

If using an agent/operator please use a reputable one.

patgc

I would be going to stay with family in Portland so no need of hotels, car hire etc as already provided. So its just the direct flight I am after. What day of the week is usually the cheapest day to fly ? does it make a difference ?

Westin

I get that but sometimes it can be cheaper to book as a package than a flight only. Just don’t collect the car or stay in the hotel.

Flight pricing is dynamic and so changes with demand. Indirect may be cheaper than direct. A stay with a Saturday night included will often be cheaper generally. Your planned duration obviously covers this. You may find a departure on Tuesday or Wednesday may be possibly slightly cheaper. You will just have to play with departure dates to see.

I would price up on both the airline sites for Delta and Virgin Atlantic, on Netflights and also look at Virgin Holidays for a fly-drive Package, also a flight plus one night hotel stay package. The Virgin Atlantic flight will be a code share on a Delta aircraft direct Heathrow to Portland.

Heliflyguy

Depends on the fare level but basically weekend fares on that route with DL are Thursday to Sunday each way and will be higher.
Some fares have weekend fares as Friday to Sunday ex USA.

CardinalWolsey

Use Google flights, and then explore with their date grid and/or price graph - very useful tool.