If you are like me, when you are planning a trip, you probably spent a good chunk of time searching for the best airplane ticket prices. So often you will find what seems like an amazing deal and then notice that for some reason that price is only offered through a third-party vendor. Or maybe you like to use credit card points (See Budget Luxury Travel Doesn’t Have to Be An Oxymoron) to elevate your travel game, so you are booking through a travel portal.
There are many third party vendors (usually travel agencies) like Expedia, Trip.com, Kiwi.com, etc. that offer some steeply discounted flights.
Does it really matter if you book with the airline directly? Are those extra $50-$100 savings worth it?
Add-Ons and Upselling
The first hurdle you’ll need to clear when booking with a third party is the upselling and add-ons that they will market to you. From travel insurance to seat and bag bundles, prepare to be upsold. Although airlines are increasingly marketing add-ons for flights on direct bookings as well, you may find that thrid party vendors are more insistent and more expensive.
When Something Goes Wrong
Everything might be peachy with your third party purchased flight until something goes wrong or you need to make a change. That was the case with our flights to Europe on American Airlines that we booked through the Chase Travel Portal.
At the time we booked the tickets, booking through Chase seemed like it made a lot of sense. We had a large pool of points saved up and Chase points are worth 1.25x when used for travel through Chase. But in the end we regretted those tickets for a lot of reasons. See our post Our Nightmare Flights to Europe: Why American Airlines is Out for more about what went wrong.
Ultimately, because we had booked through a third party it was much harder for American Airlines to make any changes to our reservations. When we ended up missing our connecting flight to Paris and being stranded in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport overnight, Chase said there was nothing they could do for us. Meanwhile, people on the same flight who had booked directly with American Airlines were automatically rebooked. We waited in line (and on hold) for over two hours just to get seats on a flight the next day that weren’t even next to each other.
When You Need A Refund
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, I was living in Taiwan and making visa runs every 90 days. Suddenly, flights everywhere were being canceled. My flight to Korea on T’Way Air was one of many. There was chaos.
Interestingly, I had a direct comparison between booking my flight direct with the airline and booking with a third party. My flight to Korea was booked directly with T’Way but the returning flight, on the same airline, was booked through Kiwi.com. For the flight booked directly I was able to apply for my refund through a simple online process and received it within a few days.
Trying to get a refund from Kiwi.com though was an ordeal. Communication was almost non-existent. It took almost three years (not a typo) to get the $95 refunded. At that point, my credit card had changed and they insisted they could only wire me the money, so I also lost $25 in wire transfer fees. I could only imagine the nightmare if I had been waiting for a larger refund.
Collecting Credit Card Points
Our AMEX Platinum card and Chase Sapphire Preferred cards are super stars when it comes to collecting points on flights. 5x rewards means the valuable points stack up fast! But only if you book directly with an airline. If you book through a travel portal or or a third party you’ll collect significantly less. Only 1x points for AMEX and 2x points with Chase. AMEX and Chase points are among the most valuable for travel power. See our post Budget Luxury Travel Doesn’t Have to Be an Oxymoron to learn more.
When It’s Worth Risking
So, is it ever worthwhile to book your airline ticket through a third party? Everyone has different opinions, but for us, sometimes the cost difference makes the risk worth it.
To Be Continued …
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