Flight booking

[CAH706]

Hi all

I normally book direct with airline when I’m booking a long haul flight, but looking on some of the flight comparison sites I’m seeing much lower fairs than if I go direct.

For example, UK to Australia is coming up at around £20,000 if I book direct with Emirates. The same flight with Emirates using a flight comparison site is £15,000. Not a saving to be sniffed at!

Are there any disadvantage to using the flight comparison site?
I know the sites link me to a third-party. Is there any way of checking which of these are reliable?

Many thanks

[the-norseman]

Wait till you actually go to book them and realise a lot of the extras that are included direct, aren't through them sites.

[Slow.Patrol]

I must admit we have recently gone old school and use a travel agent.

Being retired we can be flexible on dates and this can often help.

We were struggling to get online to give us a return flight from a different location which the agent sorted in a day.

Mostly we use Travelbag.

[alangla]

If you ve got an Uber One account they re still offering 10% in vouchers for flights booked via them & you can pay with gift cards that are usually obtainable for less than face value. I ve booked a few cheap EasyJet flights and it went ok, vouchers arrived in my account a couple of days after the flight & booking appeared on my EasyJet account immediately. Also had to deal with one flight cancellation which was handled direct with EasyJet online. Whether I d do that for a £20k flight is a very different question though.


EDIT: Looks like the 10% voucher back offer ended on 31/12/25

Edited by alangla on Tuesday 13th January 11:42

[Ezra]

I've recently used Google flights to do a comparison of flights to Portugal. Gave me various options, the one I chose then connected me direct to the airline site anyway. Confirmed the details, paid and all comms were with the airline, not the comparison site.

[CAH706]

Thanks all

I’ll try the travel agents and also look on google flights.

[fooman]

I'd be more flexible with routes and dates to get it under £2k return - Simon Calder the travel journalist has booked the route for just a few hundred this but is doing 3 overnight flights, forget the route but it was via Eastern hubs not traditional Singapore.

[CAH706]

The problem I have is we are fixed on dates due to school holidays.

It’s 3 business class flights.

[Suspicious_user]

CAH706 said:

Hi all

I normally book direct with airline when I m booking a long haul flight, but looking on some of the flight comparison sites I m seeing much lower fairs than if I go direct.

For example, UK to Australia is coming up at around £20,000 if I book direct with Emirates. The same flight with Emirates using a flight comparison site is £15,000. Not a saving to be sniffed at!

Are there any disadvantage to using the flight comparison site?
I know the sites link me to a third-party. Is there any way of checking which of these are reliable?

Many thanks

Here's what some kind person created on Reddit about online travel agents.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Flights/comments/1mr4x7l/...

I will say I had a business ticket with Emirates booked with by my company in December which needed to be reticketed due to a missed connection, and this took about an hour at DXB, an the first 2 people didn't want to help in any way, the third took some pity on me. They got me back to the UK, but wouldn't cover any duty of care expenses, it one reason I'm reducing my flights with EK to zero.

[StevieBee]

the-norseman said:

Wait till you actually go to book them and realise a lot of the extras that are included direct, aren't through them sites.

This!

Comparison sites are useful to find lower cost routes that you might not have spotted by going direct to the airline. For example, if you search for UK to Melbourne, you may find that flights are much cheaper with an additional stop on some routes. Quantas or BA or whoever will may offer such an option. But in terms of comparing like for like prices, you usually end up paying the same or a near as makes no difference than if you booked direct despite the price you spotted on the comparison site.

For very long haul / expensive travel, I've always found bricks and mortar ravel agents to still be the best bet. They do all the heavy lifting and know where to get best value. I spent a day online trying to find an affordable business class fare to New Zealand for a work trip and found nothing under £8.5k. Flight Centre sorted it for £4.5k.

[CAH706]

Thanks for the extra info.

Much appreciated.

[AndyAudi]

Business class you’re likely happy enough with seats, however,

Using a travel agent / some booking sites - payment is not made to the airline until nearer the time & it’s not always possible to select you seats until the airline has been paid.

[CAH706]

AndyAudi said:

Business class you re likely happy enough with seats, however,

Using a travel agent / some booking sites - payment is not made to the airline until nearer the time & it s not always possible to select you seats until the airline has been paid.

Thank you that’s helpful to know

[Griffith4ever]

we fly a lot, both eco, premium and business. I just go with the cheapest 3rd party on skyscanner that has a reasonable amount of stars. You get your PNR from the company so you can still manage your flight through the airline's portal, i.e. book seats, extras etc.

With Economy it makes zero odds, there are no extras to miss out on (unless you mean luggage, leg room seats, "speedy" boarding..... in which case its a short haul flight and you'd be booking direct anyhow). You need to be more careful with Business class as you could theoretically book a Business "basic" seat instead of "regular" though I've found so far that 3rd parties tend to sell the full fat regular business seats. Either way, they make it clear before you pay.

For those that don't know (most people one would assume) - airines have broken up Business class into 3 tiers - "eco" - no lounge access and less luggage, starndard/premium - this is your regular full fat ticket, then super duper/flex - same same, but you can change your flight dates and times.

Regular business flyers swear by direct bookings with airlines to cut out the middle man if there are flight problems, but for holiday makers like me, I just don't care - I just want my comfy seat on the plane at the smallest cost. It's coming out of my wallet.

[AndyAudi]

Griffith4ever said:

You get your PNR from the company so you can still manage your flight through the airline's portal, i.e. book seats, extras etc.

I’ve also flown a lot, usually booked normally , but have fallen fowl with holiday package deals & travel agents.
In some cases with a third party / travel agent where you get the PNR , going onto Airlines website lets you see flight details but you can be limited to what you can select. (Eg you can’t pay extra to select your seat months in advance you get a message saying “contact agent” or this ticket was booked offline - no changes can be made”. , this can change nearer the time after the airline is paid in full by the agent. (a pain if trying toto sit together in premium economy or bag a pair as they usually fill pretty quickly)

[Griffith4ever]

AndyAudi said:

Griffith4ever said:

You get your PNR from the company so you can still manage your flight through the airline's portal, i.e. book seats, extras etc.

I ve also flown a lot, usually booked normally , but have fallen fowl with holiday package deals & travel agents.
In some cases with a third party / travel agent where you get the PNR , going onto Airlines website lets you see flight details but you can be limited to what you can select. (Eg you can t pay extra to select your seat months in advance you get a message saying contact agent or this ticket was booked offline - no changes can be made . , this can change nearer the time after the airline is paid in full by the agent. (a pain if trying toto sit together in premium economy or bag a pair as they usually fill pretty quickly)

Understood - I never pay in advance for seats - well, with one exception - Premium economy - as you say. Its long haul and I don't want to share elbow space with a stranger after payng double for my seat. In fact I won't book PE unless we can have a pair of window/side seats, and yes, for that, it's direct - I've used BA and Vietnamese air for my PE flights, direct.

For Business class, I don't care - and to be fair, they've always put us together. The idea of paying for seat slection in BC is laughable. You've already paid at least 3 times economy - usually more. ALL the seats are great - well, with the exception of the one right by the toilet - getting bashed by the staff all the time. But I'm usually so happy sipping something cold and fizzy or red and fantastic I just don't care :-)

[gotoPzero]

I would be booking direct. Also that sounds cheap for 3 people? What is the route?

[Griffith4ever]

gotoPzero said:

I would be booking direct. Also that sounds cheap for 3 people? What is the route?

Say what!? You'd pay £20k over £15k ? for the same flight?

[gotoPzero]

Griffith4ever said:

gotoPzero said:

I would be booking direct. Also that sounds cheap for 3 people? What is the route?

Say what!? You'd pay £20k over £15k ? for the same flight?

Probably yeah but each to their own.

[ExBoringVolvoDriver]

AndyAudi said:

Griffith4ever said:

You get your PNR from the company so you can still manage your flight through the airline's portal, i.e. book seats, extras etc.

I ve also flown a lot, usually booked normally , but have fallen fowl with holiday package deals & travel agents.
In some cases with a third party / travel agent where you get the PNR , going onto Airlines website lets you see flight details but you can be limited to what you can select. (Eg you can t pay extra to select your seat months in advance you get a message saying contact agent or this ticket was booked offline - no changes can be made . , this can change nearer the time after the airline is paid in full by the agent. (a pain if trying toto sit together in premium economy or bag a pair as they usually fill pretty quickly)

This is what I found as well - the advantage of using a TA is that you don’t have to pay for the flights (anpart from a deposit) until later on rather than up front if you book direct.

Some friends of ours who use the same TA as we do got a better deal using him than booking direct.