Booking flights through 3rd party?

Aidanmc

I've been looking at flights for a trip later this year. I use google flights to search and then it gives options of who to book with.

There is a big price difference from booking directly with airline and booking via 3rd party providers such as Booking.com, Flightnetwork, Goto Gate........Are these 3rd party providers reliable?

Actually when i go to Plus Ultra website and enter same dates as with google flights i get a different price altogether. Is google flights good for finding flights?

Shimrod

Aidanmc said:

I've been looking at flights for a trip later this year. I use google flights to search and then it gives options of who to book with.

There is a big price difference from booking directly with airline and booking via 3rd party providers such as Booking.com, Flightnetwork, Goto Gate........Are these 3rd party providers reliable?

Actually when i go to Plus Ultra website and enter same dates as with google flights i get a different price altogether. Is google flights good for finding flights?

It looks like Google is giving you the price for a fully flexible fare rather than quoting the cheapest non-refundable economy fare from the Plus Ultra website. Checking Booking.com, it looks like a flash sale reducing the price to £587 (at point of checking) from a normal £740-ish.

If I ask google to show me the cheapest direct flight I get this, which matches the best price of the booking agents:



I prefer to book direct with airlines, but would consider using a major agent - such as Booking.com or Expedia if there was a good enough price difference.

With these comparison websites you need to check that the tickets are comparable - some will include checked bags in the price while others exclude them.

heatherw_01

I personally only book direct but if there is a big discount, I would use a trusted site such as expedia. I wouldn't use a random site I found via Google.

Some prices exclude baggage and the main site may include it in the price, so you have to check the fare.
The price stated on comparison sites is often a different tier as some have multiple tiers even of economy.

So just do your own research first.

silvercar

Shimrod said:

Aidanmc said:

I've been looking at flights for a trip later this year. I use google flights to search and then it gives options of who to book with.

There is a big price difference from booking directly with airline and booking via 3rd party providers such as Booking.com, Flightnetwork, Goto Gate........Are these 3rd party providers reliable?

Actually when i go to Plus Ultra website and enter same dates as with google flights i get a different price altogether. Is google flights good for finding flights?

It looks like Google is giving you the price for a fully flexible fare rather than quoting the cheapest non-refundable economy fare from the Plus Ultra website. Checking Booking.com, it looks like a flash sale reducing the price to £587 (at point of checking) from a normal £740-ish.

If I ask google to show me the cheapest direct flight I get this, which matches the best price of the booking agents:



I prefer to book direct with airlines, but would consider using a major agent - such as Booking.com or Expedia if there was a good enough price difference.

With these comparison websites you need to check that the tickets are comparable - some will include checked bags in the price while others exclude them.

I wouldn’t use any of the smaller online sites like gotogate! Too much of a risk of things going wrong and them being uninterested and uncontactable.

TELLIT01

If you use a 3rd party site, you relationship is then with them, not directly with the airline.  Any changes to the booking can be more restrictive and more difficult.

Aidanmc

Shimrod said:

Aidanmc said:

I've been looking at flights for a trip later this year. I use google flights to search and then it gives options of who to book with.

There is a big price difference from booking directly with airline and booking via 3rd party providers such as Booking.com, Flightnetwork, Goto Gate........Are these 3rd party providers reliable?

Actually when i go to Plus Ultra website and enter same dates as with google flights i get a different price altogether. Is google flights good for finding flights?

It looks like Google is giving you the price for a fully flexible fare rather than quoting the cheapest non-refundable economy fare from the Plus Ultra website. Checking Booking.com, it looks like a flash sale reducing the price to £587 (at point of checking) from a normal £740-ish.

If I ask google to show me the cheapest direct flight I get this, which matches the best price of the booking agents:



I prefer to book direct with airlines, but would consider using a major agent - such as Booking.com or Expedia if there was a good enough price difference.

With these comparison websites you need to check that the tickets are comparable - some will include checked bags in the price while others exclude them.

Someone on trustpilot says booking.com for flights uses GotoGate?

bagand96

Flights via Booking.com are indeed handled by GoToGate which is enough for me to steer clear!

In some cases decent savings can be made booking via an agent - and yours seems to be one of those.  Just be aware that you're putting a third party between yourself and the airline.  Any changes etc between now and the flight would need to be dealt with through the agent, who may add on their own fees and can often make things more complex.

If you go ahead via an agent ensure you get the airline booking reference so you can check the booking on the airline's website.  And then regularly check for any changes!

Voyager2002

Shimrod said:

Aidanmc said:

I've been looking at flights for a trip later this year. I use google flights to search and then it gives options of who to book with.

There is a big price difference from booking directly with airline and booking via 3rd party providers such as Booking.com, Flightnetwork, Goto Gate........Are these 3rd party providers reliable?

Actually when i go to Plus Ultra website and enter same dates as with google flights i get a different price altogether. Is google flights good for finding flights?

It looks like Google is giving you the price for a fully flexible fare rather than quoting the cheapest non-refundable economy fare from the Plus Ultra website. Checking Booking.com, it looks like a flash sale reducing the price to £587 (at point of checking) from a normal £740-ish.

If I ask google to show me the cheapest direct flight I get this, which matches the best price of the booking agents:



I prefer to book direct with airlines, but would consider using a major agent - such as Booking.com or Expedia if there was a good enough price difference.

With these comparison websites you need to check that the tickets are comparable - some will include checked bags in the price while others exclude them.

Note that flight bookings made with booking.com are actually handled by Gotogate. If you want to buy one of these flights, I suggest you book directly from Gotogate to reduce confusion. First of all, read some reviews of Gotogate and decide whether you really want to proceed.

Personally, I would rather use Expedia if booking directly is not an option.

Shimrod

Voyager2002 said:

Shimrod said:

Aidanmc said:

I've been looking at flights for a trip later this year. I use google flights to search and then it gives options of who to book with.

There is a big price difference from booking directly with airline and booking via 3rd party providers such as Booking.com, Flightnetwork, Goto Gate........Are these 3rd party providers reliable?

Actually when i go to Plus Ultra website and enter same dates as with google flights i get a different price altogether. Is google flights good for finding flights?

It looks like Google is giving you the price for a fully flexible fare rather than quoting the cheapest non-refundable economy fare from the Plus Ultra website. Checking Booking.com, it looks like a flash sale reducing the price to £587 (at point of checking) from a normal £740-ish.

If I ask google to show me the cheapest direct flight I get this, which matches the best price of the booking agents:



I prefer to book direct with airlines, but would consider using a major agent - such as Booking.com or Expedia if there was a good enough price difference.

With these comparison websites you need to check that the tickets are comparable - some will include checked bags in the price while others exclude them.

Note that flight bookings made with booking.com are actually handled by Gotogate. If you want to buy one of these flights, I suggest you book directly from Gotogate to reduce confusion. First of all, read some reviews of Gotogate and decide whether you really want to proceed.

Personally, I would rather use Expedia if booking directly is not an option.

It's a long time since I used an intermediary - looking through past bookings it was Expedia back in 2012. As I said, there'd have to be a significant price difference for me to consider it. Often there are only a few pounds difference (if any) which makes using an agent not worthwhile.

Aidanmc

Shimrod said:

Voyager2002 said:

Shimrod said:

Aidanmc said:

I've been looking at flights for a trip later this year. I use google flights to search and then it gives options of who to book with.

There is a big price difference from booking directly with airline and booking via 3rd party providers such as Booking.com, Flightnetwork, Goto Gate........Are these 3rd party providers reliable?

Actually when i go to Plus Ultra website and enter same dates as with google flights i get a different price altogether. Is google flights good for finding flights?

It looks like Google is giving you the price for a fully flexible fare rather than quoting the cheapest non-refundable economy fare from the Plus Ultra website. Checking Booking.com, it looks like a flash sale reducing the price to £587 (at point of checking) from a normal £740-ish.

If I ask google to show me the cheapest direct flight I get this, which matches the best price of the booking agents:



I prefer to book direct with airlines, but would consider using a major agent - such as Booking.com or Expedia if there was a good enough price difference.

With these comparison websites you need to check that the tickets are comparable - some will include checked bags in the price while others exclude them.

Note that flight bookings made with booking.com are actually handled by Gotogate. If you want to buy one of these flights, I suggest you book directly from Gotogate to reduce confusion. First of all, read some reviews of Gotogate and decide whether you really want to proceed.

Personally, I would rather use Expedia if booking directly is not an option.

It's a long time since I used an intermediary - looking through past bookings it was Expedia back in 2012. As I said, there'd have to be a significant price difference for me to consider it. Often there are only a few pounds difference (if any) which makes using an agent not worthwhile.

Expedia doesnt seem to offer this airline on those particular dates.

Was thinking i'd be just as well booking on G2G if booking.com uses them anyway

In this case its about £150 cheaper than going direct to airline....quite tempting

Westin

I’m also not an advocate of these overseas based OTA’s but if you are going to use one I suggest:

a. You are very careful with inputting your data. Any errors will cost you dearly.
b. Read the terms & conditions of booking. Understand what you are buying and importantly what you are not! These OTA’s are not hand holding travel agents.
c. Consider your purchase as final.  Don’t expect the ability to change names, dates, flights, baggage etc.
d. Continue to monitor your reservation on the airline website post booking, checking for changes regularly.