Is it cheaper to buy tickets online directly from an airline or from the travel agent??\?

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FnK

It depends. If you buy tickets online directly from an airline several months in advance, you can usually find them cheap. If you end up waiting until the last minute, a travel agent might be able to help you find something cheaper that what you'd find online. Travel agents charge fees for their services, though, so I suggest you try to plan your trip as far in advance as possible and just purchase them online directly from an airline. Try not to purchase the first ticket you find (unless it is ridiculously cheap), because ticket prices fluctuate daily (sometimes more often than that).

Also, a lot of airlines offer free memberships to earn "points" or "miles" for flying often with them. This earns you free tickets. I am a member of NWA's WorldPerks, because I usually found the cheapest tickets for my flying destinations through them. Some require you to apply for their credit card, some don't. NWA doesn't. I'm giving you links for several different airlines' programs to look into, in case you find tickets to your flying destination cheaper through another airline. :) If I left an airline that you would like to fly through, just Google it and look for their frequent flyer program on their main page. Hope this helps.

FYI, websites like Orbitz and CheapTickets may help you find cheap tickets, too, but they charge fees for using them.

jwbyrdman

It depends, both may have a special that you might could take advantage of.

simplysassy

YES ITS CHEAPER ONLINE BUT BE READY FOR THE CONSEQUENCES

I JUST BOUGHT 2 ROUND TRIP TICKETS TO JAMAICA 2MTHS AGO AND FOUND OUT THE SITE WAS NOT SECURE SOMEONE GOT AHOLD OF MY CREDIT CARD INFO AND BOUGHT A STEREO, TIRES, JUNK WITH MY INFO THANK GOD I DIDN'T HAVE NOTHING IN THAT ACCOUNT I CLOSED IT OUT AND ONLY USE THE PREPAID MASTERCARD/VISA YOU CAN BUY FOR LIKE 10 FROM CVS OR RITE AIDE

BE CAREFUL

tech_fanatic

Because of the financial problems of airlines right now, it is usually cheaper to buy your air with the airline. It used to be the travel agent was always lower. But now, for just air, you should buy with the airline to save money.

â™¥~Nikki~â™¥

I recently bought tickets on yahoo travel, and those were cheaper than if I were to go on the airplane's site and buy it. Way cheaper

DC Bob

It used to make no difference, now you must pay a travel agent a fee.

loubean

travel agents have fees....go to cheaptickets.com, or a site like that. Buy early, and travel during the week if you can.

Salman

I think it is going to be cheaper if you directly buy the ticket from an airline because that way you will not have to pay the extra money to the travel agent for his service.

tonalc1

Online is always cheaper, as travel agents now charge a fee.

And some travel sites have special deals that the airlines won't post; however, sometimes the opposite is true--the airline will have a special internet deal on its own site.

tamtamgp7

Not always. But a travel agent will make things a lot easier on you. They also buy tickets in bulk so they get cutt a better deal.

IndyMM

it depends on where you are going and is it far away date or a close one. if you have 3 to 6 months travel agent/ the airlines. under 3 months on line and airlines. sorry for not giving you a direct answer this is what i have notices when i am looking to travel. everyone has fees.

askmeguru21

I work for an airline it is definitely cheaper to get tickets online. Next best thing is to buy as far in advance as possible, travel agents are a rip off the airlines give them estimates of seats they think will not sale if you do go through a travel agency check online first print it out and tell them what the online price is and to match it.

Shopaholic Chick

online - check with the airline directly also check orbitz.com & expedia.com I fly a lot - i will use orbiz & expedia - then i will go to the individual airlines - i saved over $100 on round trip non-stop flights to africa & europe this way!!

for going to south africa i tried several places

AAA (travel agency) it was $1820 to book thru them

$1790 on orbitz.com on delta airline includes fees & shipping

so i went to the delta airline site they wanted $1760 including fees & shipping - and their site said it was a "code share" flight with south african airlines

so i went to south african airlines web site - they did not book online but had a 1-800 phone number - so i called it to see thier price - i booked it though them for $1670!!!

it took me all of about 25 minutes to check these sites and speak to the lady at AAA on the phone - for my $25 minutes of time i got the price from $1820 down to $1670!! i saved $150!!! that is close to 10%!!!

ANNABETH

YES!!!!

southrntrnzplnt

Travel agents no longer recieve commission from the airlines, so they have fee's for booking travel. Airlines charge ticketing fees if you call the 1-800# or pay at the ticket counter. Be careful booking on websites like Cheap Tickets, Priceline and Hotwire etc. Bulk websites like these sell you restricted fares that you can not change or cancel for any reason. Make sure you always read all of the fare rules before purchasing any ticket on any website. Orbitz.com is owned by the airlines and the one I recommend as an airline employee. It has the best prices and the same fares available at the airlines. You can price compare there, then go directly to the airlines website for better schedule options. Cheapest is not always the best. Also be wary of the no name websites, they add on their own fee's. I have seen several passengers pay $50 or more than what the price of their ticket was. And they get really upset when they tell me they paid $450 for a ticket, when the price of the ticket sold by the airline to the company was much cheaper than that.

With the internet, you can do everything yourself now, which has really been like the plague to the travel industry as a whole in a way. It's like Wal-Mart taking over everything. It is more consumer friendly if you know what you are doing. But there are a lot of traps that people fall into that they have no idea about.

Bulk consolidator websites lock you in. Airlines can not and will not be able to change those tickets for any reason. You can not change the flight, the date, or anything about that ticket. When a schedule changes with the airline, it is up to that website to notify the passenger, most times they dont. So always check your itinerary with the airline before travel.

solidstateonline

online. with a travel agent you pay a fee for their services, whereas for a website, you do not. also, websites can get you better deals on tickets and such.

Max

Check which might be better or faster. But i really prefer buying tickets by the airline.

Nathan

yep.

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