How can someone purchase tickets directly from the airline? The disadvantage of dealing with airlines directly is that they're not equipped to deal with complicated, out of the box travel arrangements.
Patricia Blanche, owner of La Cañada Flintridge Travel in La Cañada, California, laughed when I posed this question. "We'd rather have you purchase your tickets from us," she says, "but we also realize there are lots of do-it-yourselfers out there who want to handle everything from start to finish."
"If you decide to call an airline directly," she explains, "there's a fee these days that's between $5 and $15 to talk to a live person. There is also a fee on the Internet for booking reservations. Generally this is spelled out on the various websites but sometimes it isn't. Because the airlines are no longer paying commissions, that's why fees are being charged to begin with."
"The disadvantage of dealing with airlines directly," she points out, "is that they're not equipped to deal with complicated, out of the box travel arrangements. They're fine if you're doing something really simple like New York to Heathrow or Los Angeles to San Diego. If your plans include multiple stops, though, or if you're utilizing multiple carriers for a trip overseas, it's going to cost you a lot in terms of time and frustration."
Identity theft is also on the rise where passengers are utilizing airlines' online ticketing and making credit card purchases. "Almost every day we hear about people who discover that all these tickets have been issued in their name and with their credit cards. It's not just the airlines, either. I had someone in the other day who had booked a fabulous car rental in Ireland. They sent them $1,500 right off the bat. Lo and behold, they arrived in Ireland, went to get their car, and discovered that the rental car company didn't even exist!"
Poor typing skills or haste, she says, account for even more problems. "They punch in the wrong numbers or the wrong departure dates and then discover that they suddenly own a ticket that isn't of any use to them. On their own, there isn't a lot that they can do about it. As travel agents, however, we've developed outstanding relationships with our sales people, our reps, and with the carriers. Accordingly, we can call them up, explain that an honest mistake was made and see if there is anything they can do to assist. Generally they'll work with us to get it resolved. If you're working on your own and you don't have that kind of rapport, though, you're stuck with what is often a very expensive mistake."
Blanche reflects that within the last few years, many of the airline city ticket offices that used to exist have been closed. "That leaves the customer with the choice of physically going to the airport, spending a lot of time on the phone - and customer service for many airlines these days has been outsourced to Pakistan - or sending copious emails to try to solve their problem. None of these options will get you what you want more efficiently - and less stressfully - than simply working with a travel agent from the outset."
In closing, she explains that while many people use the Internet to scope out potential flights and fares, then call the airline to book the reservation based on what they've found, they don't realize how rapidly flights can fill up and fares can turn over. "Even if you delay calling the airline by as little as an hour, that really great fare you found will already have been grabbed by someone else."
