Selecting an airline booking agent

gfa2000

Hi there,

I am planning to go to Portugal next august/september with a group of friends in an Airbnb and only have our flights left to get. We've been looking at skyscanner/kayak and have found our flight however every single booking agent seems to have a 2* trustpilot rating. Kiwi generally had the best price (it changed now) however the reviews were especially bad with most people talking about flights being changed a day before.

Are these poor reviews just because only people with awful experiences bother using trustpilot or is there a better way to be booking flights (direct through airline?) because it seems most of the booking agents have poor reviews.

Thanks,
gfa2000

TheMilkmansDad

booking agents can cause issues should you need to amend/cancel at any point. Personally I would be booking direct with the airline to avoid/reduce any potential issues should plans change.

comeandgo

Never use a booking agent, especially with flights or covid requirements meaning changes can happen.  Go directly to the airline you are using.

Westin

I would forget those listed online, often overseas, based ticket sellers.  Don't be drawn by "cheap" and make sure you buy what suit your needs best. Either book direct with the airline or use a good UK based travel agent or operator.  

Caz3121

I would not touch any of them on that list. None of them have live pricing or availability so until you make a booking request and they go to process that request (usually within 48 hours) you will not know what price they can sell you a ticket for. They also have additional fees that come into play even if the airline cancels the flight.
You will find the process about booking requests, no guarantee advertised fare available and fees will be in the t&cs
Look to book direct with the airline (whilst third parties may choose to undercut the airline to suck you in to become their customer and subject to their fees, the saving is likely to be minimal and you will often end up paying more in the end)

Sandtree

TheMilkmansDad said:

booking agents can cause issues should you need to amend/cancel at any point. Personally I would be booking direct with the airline to avoid/reduce any potential issues should plans change.

I would argue there are exceptions, my wife and a colleague were travelling to France for an event, wife booked via an agent and colleague direct with Air France. In the evening before the flight Air France cancelled a large number of flights (cannot remember what the cause was), we got a text from our agent, Mrs was speaking to an agent within 10 minutes and within 20 minutes of that was booked on a BA flight leaving more or less at the same time paid for by Air France.

Her colleague spent 5 hours trying to get through to Air France (various issues of being cut off, battery dying etc) and didnt get to speak to anyone. In the end she paid for a BA flight herself and a few weeks later for the AF flight refunded but was about £75 out of pocket due to the higher BA ticket cost.

I generally prefer booking direct however there are times where agents can be useful but I'd be careful with which agent you go with. Overseas, targetting budget travel etc are all likely to be headaches if there are issues.

CKhalvashi

I assume that wasn't one of the consumer-facing online bulk agents Sandtree.

As above, book directly with the airline, it makes your life easier 99% of the time.