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Booking With Airline Or 3rd Party Provider


Pdoggg

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A Nottingham man has been left "trapped" in Thailand after his return ticket was cancelled two weeks before the flight.

What are the pros and cons booking with a 3rd Party Provider vs booking direct with an airline?  I feel safer booking directly with the airline but maybe airlines don't want to alienate some 3rd party providers.

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A Nottingham man has been left "trapped" in Thailand after his return ticket was cancelled two weeks before the flight. Paul Henstock, a taxi driver from Mapperley Park, was hoping to have the holiday of his dreams in Bangkok.

But his dream holiday was ruined by a message he received on Wednesday (August 31), telling him that his flight back home was cancelled. The 54 year old, said he "woke up" to the news, and has immediately called the lastminute.com agency to arrange to get on another flight.

He flew from the Gatwick Airport to Thailand on July 5, and was due to return home on September 11 on a flight provided by the Singaporean low-cost airline Scoot. He has spent £524.19 on his tickets purchased on lastminute.com.

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"I booked a ten week holiday to travel Thailand", Mr Henstock said. "I should fly home on September 11, which is just in a few days - but on Wednesday morning I woke up to a text from lastminute.com saying that my flight was cancelled."

And that is when the nightmare started, he said. "I kept buying SIM cards, it took an hour. And then it took 42 minutes to ring in Singapore, and I was basically offered the money back which was about £480 or a travel voucher and again - it would not put me on another flight. They could not do it.

"The cheapest direct flight on that date is £1285. I was angry because I can basically afford to sort it out, but there were also families on that flight.

"If you think of two parents with two children who now need to get back to work, they cannot. They have been dumped on an island."


He added: "On September 18 my visa expires so I have got to be out of Thailand. The only way I managed to do it and get it at a decent price is to fly back on the 18th, the day my visa expires.

"And I have got to fly to Finland and change it back to the UK. And it still cost me just under £800, so £480 does not even cover this flight."

He said he wanted to warn others after his experience. "I am not a millionaire but I will take the hit. But others cannot afford it.


"A family would need to pay £5000 just to get back home for work and they would get only £2000 from the airline to do it. So I am in a much more fortunate position."

He said he saved money for a long time to have his "holiday of a lifetime" in Thailand. It comes after he ended up in hospital in Manila for 14 weeks back in 2018, and that he had to teach himself to walk again.

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/nottingham-man-dumped-thailand-after-7549016

 

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3 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

What are the pros and cons booking with a 3rd Party Provider vs booking direct with an airline?  I feel safer booking directly with the airline but maybe airlines don't want to alienate some 3rd party providers.

I have booked directly with the Airline (Qatar Airways) for the last few trips and for this upcoming trip to Pattaya (Emirates). 

I think this is due to any cancellation that may occur and an instant refund plus seat choices. 

However I would have no hesitation in using Netflights.com again, its a firm that I had used so many times before previously (over 15 years) and without any problems whatsoever, a completely professional outfit :good:

Another little known fact is that the guy who started Netflights.com (before he sold) also owns 'The Venue' in Jomtien Complex, his big mate Scottish Dave (former owner of the Chow Soy Restaurant) is/was also the manager :wink:

For 'Jollies' to Spain and other European countries then Jet2holidays cannot be beat imho, Price wise, Refunds, all their Staff, Service and Hotels are awesome, so much so I've booked another 1 week trip to Benidorm with them in March 2023 B)

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Probably not relevant to those of you still not dealing with draconian measures, but for the past 2-3 years, I switched to booking directly with the airlines flying in/out of HK. Previously, I would have used other sites to find the "cheapest" flights, but since the govt was banning flights and a lot of carriers were cancelling flights, it was much easier to deal with them directly to get a new flight or refund compared to going through a 3rd party.

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I booked my first trip flights to los through a third party 'bucketshop' agent. I didn't get to have any choice of seat, the seats through the agents were at the back of the plane.

Since then I have booked directly with the airline. It might cost a bit more, usually £20-30, but I can change or cancel bookings if necessary. 

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I only use reputable 3rd party like expedia and have had a decent experience but going with the airline themselves is usually safest.

That said the airline themselves can be a total piece of shit (AeroSvit, AeroFlot, Korean Airlines) and you can have a bad experience.

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I churned credit cards to get miles from sign up bonuses; to redeem I book directly with the airlines.

This November I will fly from Manila to Mexico City, connecting at Haneda and LAX, for the low price of 37.5k American Airlines miles. Whoo- hoo!

When I fly from Manila to Bangkok or other SE Asian destinations I book directly with Cebu Pacific.

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7 hours ago, lance2546 said:

I churned credit cards to get miles from sign up bonuses; to redeem I book directly with the airlines.

This November I will fly from Manila to Mexico City, connecting at Haneda and LAX, for the low price of 37.5k American Airlines miles. Whoo- hoo!

When I fly from Manila to Bangkok or other SE Asian destinations I book directly with Cebu Pacific.

I was contemplating diverting my homeward flight through Manila to check the place out. When checking prices Philippines Air were very exe. Cebu a lot better but had to add baggage.

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27 minutes ago, Woodie said:

Cebu a lot better but had to add baggage.

In general, Cebu Pacific is the cheapest these days even with adding on for luggage.   Woodie, you might also consider checking out Angeles City.  Nice thing about Angeles, is that it is an easy 15 minute ride to Clark Airport if you can get home from Clark.  Peace of mind knowing you won't miss your flight due to traffic.  So you could fly into Manila and fly home from Clark (called Luzon on some websites)

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11 hours ago, Woodie said:

I was contemplating diverting my homeward flight through Manila to check the place out. When checking prices Philippines Air were very exe. Cebu a lot better but had to add baggage.

Yeah Cebu Pacific will nickle and dime you but they get you there.

 

10 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

n general, Cebu Pacific is the cheapest these days even with adding on for luggage.   Woodie, you might also consider checking out Angeles City.  Nice thing about Angeles, is that it is an easy 15 minute ride to Clark Airport if you can get home from Clark.  Peace of mind knowing you won't miss your flight due to traffic.  So you could fly into Manila and fly home from Clark (called Luzon on some websites)

No direct CP BKK Clark flights yet, that I am aware of, but yeah, avoiding Manila is ALWAYS a good idea IMHO (Unless a guy specifically wants to be there)

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I booked in June as the Ukraine thing ramped up and fuel prices kept going higher. Direct with Delta/Korean Air.  $1500 r/t...was not taking any chances on it hitting 2000 if things got worse (it was already 2k or more in many searches on Kayak).

At this point I feel HAD.  American was offering $1048 a few weeks ago and from a closer airport.  AND Delta changed my departure time, moving it up by 3 hours, tho it's no biggie.  At the time I booked I was sure most of the low price options were brokers and those could change or cancel easily and leave ya holding a bag of poo.

I'm not so much worried about what I'll find in LOS as if the airlines get their act together or not. I EXPECT any low priced offering in LOS, especially the cities, to be GONE, out of biz, deceased, etc. or upgraded with doubled prices. Bound to be a lot of scrambling on the ground to fill those budget slots as 2 yrs of Covid pretty much killed em from the Mom n Pop food vendors to the guesthouses with cheap dorm rates. My fave cancelled my reservation in Nov and I see elsewhere they're now charging almost $20 for a DORM BED! Luckily the good side of my high priced airfare is that it drops me in Bkk around NOON (a first, it always drops me there at midnight other times) so I can wander round at my leisure looking at places to flop. Plus use the Airport link to get into town. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

hit Kayak the other night in a "private window" and fares are now closer to 2000 or close to it.  American Airlines too.  I was always suspicious of cheap flights around the time I booked.  Many offered them but there was a lag time between their claimed cheap flight on Kayak and the acual fact.  I'd hit the book flight button, it'd shunt me to the airline that would tell me that flight is no longer an option and offer one 500 bux more. LOTS of flux back in june/july and even after. At this point 1500 is OK with me.  Plus the dollar is pummeling the baht :) 

Piggie...3 hours won't kill me, just get on the plane a little earlier and my ride is fine with it.

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  • 4 months later...

Well, I just proved how dumb I am.

Was checking out websites, trying to book a ticket with paypal funds I had. Some sites said they did, but when it came to payment they did not. Then got onto one which did allow paypal. So filled out all the info, clicked on paypal to make the payment. Nothing happened. Tried again and again. Nothing. So called their customer service. Yes it should go through. Tried while she hung on. Again and again. Nothing. She put me through to a supervisor. Went through it all again. Then she said what currency are you using. I said AUD, the same as what the costings are. Oh no, you have to pay in USD. So back to paypal and change the currency to USD. Still no luck. Oh well she says, it doesnt look as though it will work does it. I told her to go and I would keep trying. No luck.

Ok, back to the drawing board. Finally found a site that had an ofice in Aus. Found the fare I wanted, (or so I thought). Paid for it and I was a happy man. Well for about 30 minutes until I read the booking that had come through. I had booked the wrong fucking flight!!!!. There were two flights with that airline. Different departure times but same arrival at the time I wanted. I picked the one that took two days and not one day which is when I was to meet my friends. KHGRVVHHHB!!!!!!!!. Normally on other sites like Skyscanner (which I use a lot), they have a plus sign with 1 or 2 beside the arrival time to designate whether the trip is 1 or 2 days. This did not.

Then comes more fun. Have you ever tried to make contact with a website that has only chat contact?. Bloody stupid. Gave up and sent an email to head office. Got a reply back saying yes we can do something for you, but it will cost, They went through the likely costs. I asked for the cost and how I go about buying the correct ticket.

Think I am wasting my time. The reviews of this ticketing site are not good.

Just have to suck it up and hope I can bludge a ride of about 2 hours from Rome to the lake.

Old age is a bastard!.

Mind you it is the first time it has happened.

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12 hours ago, Woodie said:

Old age is a bastard!.

Mind you it is the first time it has happened.

No, it's not. 
The bastards are these guys unable to program a website properly. 

I used such websites a long time ago for flights between European countries. I also use VietJet Air website in VN. But for long range flights, I use the services of a travel agency with an official exitence and "with storefront" as we say here. They are more expensive than prices offered in websites but they are also able to organize trips that I wouldn't get on Internet. Above all, they guarantee the tickets. This has no price. 
For example, they sold me an airline ticket with a train fare to reach the airport and go back home after my return flight. Vietnam Airlines was late (god f... this company). An employee helped me find the right office and change my booking to go back home (under the snow). I can't imagine this company letting their customers down. 
They don't overcharge too much. They found Emirates for me. I would have never flown Emirates without their advise. When  I checked to get tickets direct from Emirates, Emirates was more expensive. Fair enough. 

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12 hours ago, Pulci Gorgon said:

No, it's not. 

I meant it is the first time that I have screwed up.

I had another 2 hour session with them today. Finally got to the point of changing the flight, only for them to tell me there were no more seats on the new flight!!!. Shit.

So now I stay with the ticket I bought.

Just for your info. The website was Budget Air. I think the name sums it up. Their reviews say a lot. Nearly all 1 out of 5 stars.

I am going to call Etihad tomorrow to see what the situation is with a 21 hour stop over in Abu Dhabi. It is a long time to sleep on the seats in the terminal!.

By the way I learnt something today. The booking sites have now developed the habit of charging for seat slection. It appears that if you wait until the check in time opens, two to three days before the flight, you can choose your seat without charge which used to be the way it worked.

Hey at the end of the day I will get to Italy, then on to LOS and CIB. That can't be bad?.

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Today, I experienced something I had already noticed in the past. I checked prices in several booking sites. Best prices were around 790 to 850 € (round trip). Then I started seeing adds on the same destination giving Bangkok (round trip) at 389 € and my destination above 500. But I click on the website, I would never find again 389 € for Bangkok nor 500 something for the other one. If you're experienced in such websites, do you have a tip to get the low price ? 

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20 hours ago, Woodie said:

Etihad tomorrow to see what the situation is

Well I called them and the news is good. I can book a hotel and Etihad pay for it. So in some ways my balls up has not worked out too badly. I get to have a stopover on a long trip.

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2 hours ago, Woodie said:

Well I called them and the news is good. I can book a hotel and Etihad pay for it. So in some ways my balls up has not worked out too badly. I get to have a stopover on a long trip.

I find this quite surprising that Etihad will pay for the hotel.  I would get this in writing.

What happens with your luggage?

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17 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

I find this quite surprising that Etihad will pay for the hotel.  I would get this in writing.

What happens with your luggage?

Etihad pay for a stopover of between 10 and 24 hours. MIne is 21 hours. I checked with the customer service team

I am guessing they store the luggage until the next flight.

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