Booking Flights Online or with a Travel Agent?

Question

I was just wondering if anyone new if booking online was cheaper than booking through a travel agent? I am talking about long flights eg. to New Zealand (so not ryainair, easyjet etc)

Answer 1

it cost me £300. less to fly to new zealand last year than it did 10 years ago, i think it was about £820. on cathay pacific and that was  in january, that was on line, really straight forward, dropped my bags in manchester picked them up in aukland, always try and get a reputable company with no hidden extras

Answer 2

If you are talking about comparing prices when booking airline tickets, obviously cheaper to do it online.

As our most contributors had said, destinations which require settling of accomodation, visa and hiring pick-ups, the best you get experienced travel agent to do it for you. Bear with higher cost.

Get some ideas how to get cheaper air tickets and then find more search at the net for your destinations.

http://www.squidoo.com/air_tickets

Answer 3

It really depends on the type of trip you are looking into.

For a quick easy flight its probably cheaper and easier to book online.

For something more complex like a trip to New Zealand, it many benefit you to book with a travel agent. Because even though they charge higher booking fees, they might find you a better deal then you could find on your own. Plus they will help you with any other issues that may come up.

Answer 4

We booked our flights to Australia with Thomas Cook, they do your travel visa straight away too as long as you remember to take your passport with you, the second time we went to Australia we booked online and it was a palaver sorting our visa out, it actually ended up costing us more to book online so next time we go it will be via a travel agent.

Answer 5

It may be cheaper to book online, but cheapness isn't everything....travel agents have lots of knowledge about destinations, what visa's you may need etc...plus car hire, accommodation, and special deals which may be available...so don't just think cheap....you only get what you pay for....

Answer 6

I tend to The Flight Centre as my travel agent and they tend to be a lot better than most travel agencies (simply because most are geared towards family package holidays).

I find for the long haul flights, there is not really much of a price difference between the cheapest internet fare and the cheapest fare The Flight Centre can get me.

Answer 7

I'm guessing you're from the UK (like me) so I'll answer from that perspective.

Travel agents in the UK rarely know anything about long haul destinations. They're there for your average adults and 2.4 children travelling to Majorca where that agent might have actually been.

But when it comes to far away destinations, the chances are that the agent knows less than you. My local travel agent - an independent, not a chain, and allegedly ranked one of the best in the UK - was not able to help with my plans for Latin America. All they managed to do was look up an airfare online which I later bought at home for £500 instead of the £700 they wanted to charge - for the same fare basis. Everything else was read out of generic brochures, not from personal knowledge.

In such situations the Internet is far more likely to be useful. You can search and play with dates to get cheap fares (eg midweek is cheaper than weekends). You can read real reviews from real people who have actually stayed at the hotel you're thinking of.

Is it more hassle? It can be. But you know exactly what you're getting and you're not paying somebody to mess up your plans for you. If you want a tailor-made holiday where you know what's happening and accept doing some research then book itself. If you want a pre-packaged where everything is (hopefully) sorted for you then pay the extra and get an agent to do it for you.