Always Book Flights on Airline Websites

Third-party ticket issuers are often promoted on flight search platforms, sometimes with attractive fares they get through aggregation deals. Using platforms like Booking or Expedia comes with significant risks, especially in case of change or cancellation. In most situations, you should favour booking directly on airlines' website after comparing options on a meta-search engine.

Don't buy flights with OTAs

In short, if everything goes smoothly, booking through an OTA might save you a few bucks. But if anything goes wrong, you're in for a world of pain.

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) often introduce complications. Notably, their customer support is slow and unresponsive, especially when changes or cancellations are involved. Even when booking through a trustable platform, you still have to go through them for any changes to your booking. Say you are already at the airport, your flight is delayed, but there is another flight leaving earlier. Even if you are talking directly to an airline representative, they will most likely be unable to bring any changes to your booking and refer you to the OTA. In most cases, you will never have your issue resolved in time if you try with the OTA.

Things get worse if you are dealing with unreliable OTAs, some don't operate any customer service. This is a common issue with smaller or less reputable platforms, where the savings might not be worth the risk. They might withhold details about fare restrictions, baggage allowances, and cancellation fees until after the booking is complete, leading to unexpected expenses. Even when prices appear competitive, hidden charges for extras like credit card fee, baggage or seat selection can inflate the total cost significantly.

In some cases, tickets issued through OTAs fail to integrate seamlessly with airline systems, resulting in problems with online check-in, seat selection, or upgrades. For frequent travelers who value efficiency, these disruptions are a major drawback.

Book directly with airlines

Booking directly with airlines addresses these challenges. Most airlines have a dedicated customer service team available 24/7 to assist with any issues, from flight changes to refunds. Sure, some might make you wait on the phone for a while, but they'll eventually help you out. Ever waited in line at the airport after a canceled flight? You could actually have been on the phone with the airline, getting rebooked on the next flight. See a flight leaving earlier? You can walk directly to the gate and ask to be put on standby.

You may find it slightly more cumbersome having to familiarize yourself with each airline’s website, but the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience.

Read more on when you should Call the Airline

When OTAs are okay (it's rare)

Sometimes the savings are good enough to justify the risks, particularly when the platform is reputable (like Booking or Expedia) and the itinerary is straightforward, such as a short non-stop flight.

OTAs may also provide an advantage when regional fare differences come into play. For instance, some airlines, like LATAM, charge higher fares for international customers on their websites, whereas OTAs can secure these local rates. This can result in meaningful savings for certain routes.

In some cases, poorly designed airline websites might leave you with little choice but to use a third-party platform (some airline websites can truly be terrible). It's not that common, but after 1 hour headaching with a failing payment system you might want to give up and try with a trustable OTA.

We need more NDCs

One significant innovation in direct booking is the New Distribution Capability (NDC), a standard developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to modernize the way flight tickets and related services are sold. NDC allows airlines to bypass traditional Global Distribution Systems (GDS) used by OTAs and travel agents, giving them more control over the booking process.

Basically, you can book through a third party platform, but the ticket remains issued directly by the airline. If you've ever seen the option to directly book a flight on Google Flights (it's rare but shows up every now and then), that's what's happening. Keep in mind that this channel is relatively new, so you might end up with an airline representative who thinks they can't help you - especially if you tell them you booked on a third-party platform. Make sure they don't falsely assume that they cannot handle your case.

Keep using metasearch engines to compare prices and options, but always verify that the final booking is completed on the airline’s official website.

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