Is it cheaper to buy air tickets from the airline itself or from a travel agent or travel website?

Question

I'm visiting my friend in Australia and will be staying with him, so I won't be requiring one of those flight+hotel packages. Will it be cheaper if I just purchase my tickets from the Qantas website?

Answer 1

Anytime I find a good price on Expedia or another website like that, I ALWAYS compare that price to the price I would charged from the airline direct. If it's the same price direct from the airline, buy it from the airline website. Sometimes those travel agency websites can cause some real headaches.

Answer 2

I will generally search on orbitz, kayak, etc to find a flight I like, and then go look on that airline's website for the exact same flight, and buy it from there.

Answer 3

The airlines want you to purchase their tickets from them instead of the travel websites.  Sometimes the airlines will have specials that the travel websites do not have.  The reason is that each time someone purchases their ticket from the travel website, the airline has to pay the travel website a commission.  Some airlines guarantee the lowest fare on their website stating that you will not find a lower fare elsewhere.

Answer 4

book on the week day    it is cheaper  than weekends

http://asianairfares.com

Answer 5

Most airlines have eliminated commissions on tickets, so you will pay a service fee to any outside agency to book your tickets for you.  In this regard the least expensive tickets are generally on the airline websites themselves.

That being said, it's not a bad idea to check with an agent first.  This is because some have contracts with airlines that allow them access to more favorable airfares.  They also may have access to consolidator fares which can be less expensive than what the airlines are selling the same tickets for.

Long story short, most of the time you're going to get the best price dealing directly with the airline, but every so often the right travel agent can save you some money.

Safe travels!

Answer 6

Agree with first answerer but also I always purchase directly from Airlines since the more people you have inbetween ( agencies, booking agents who might make a mistake)  the more people you have to call if something is wrong. So it eliminates middlemen.

Answer 7

In general its a better idea to head straight to the airline website for better deals. I find its better dealing directly with the airline rather than another company.

Not sure where you would be flying from but you may want to have a look at Jetstar for some great deals on cheap flights to Australia.

Answer 8

If cheap air tickets is every thing you like then its always better to go for for the cheap consolidators' airfares rather than that of the airlines' own published airfares themselves.Some websites offer inexpensive last minute deals on flights and flights, hotels  & car rental rates.

Answer 9

Hey, well I heard that its cheaper to buy tickets frmo the airline website itself.. cuz when you book tickets on places like yahoo travel, expedia..etc they (airlines) have to pay to have their bookings posted up on those sites.. and so u will have to pay more for your ticket. the airline websites are more likely to have a deal, but i would try different sites anyway and compare the prices!! good luck