There seems to be two schools when it comes to buying airlines tickets; one group prefer always booking using the airline’s own websites and the other uses travel agents like Expedia.
I belong to the latter group and here is why:
1. Easier to compare prices among several airlines.
2. Agents are often able to offer more combinations than airlines.
3. You can easily ticket from different country than where your credit card is issued.
4. No need to present a credit card at check in.
5. I can get some cash back for my purchase.
6. I can choose the country where the ticket is issued.
7. I don’t have to go through the process of declining all the “extras” that the airlines are trying to sell in addition to the air transport.
8. The agent, the ticketing carrier or the operating carrier can fix and help in case that there are problems along the way.
9. Automated ticketing. Some carriers still queue some reservations for manual review before the electronic ticket is issued.
There also some drawbacks to consider as well:
1. The agent should do all the changes before the travel begins.
2. There could be a charge for using the agent’s services.
3. Sometimes it is difficult to pull up the exact fare rules.
Conclusion:
Unlike with the hotels, I rarely see any benefit of booking directly with the airline compared to online travel agents like Expedia. I prefer having a greater number of options
