I read the same thing over and over again online. People keep on saying that you should always book on the airline’s own website and never use an online travel agency (OTA). But this is completely untrue and I will explain why in this article. There are certain cases when avoiding an OTA is useful, but mostly you should go with the best price.
Why do people say that OTAs are bad?
I think this is such a US statement. If things work in a certain way in the US, people tend to expect that things work the same way in the civilized world as well. US Airline companies are bad – like really bad – and their check-in agents are not the smartest people I have ever met. This is where it gets complicated. If you book through anyone else than the airline’s own website, the ground crew will act clueless either because their IT is bad or mostly because they want to rip you off.
Both American Airlines and Alaska Airlines staff have shouted at me that I need to pay for luggage that was included in my ticket. I had my tickets issued by Finnair, which is not an OTA, but since it’s not American or Alaska, they were completely incapable of understanding what was included in the ticket. With this experience, it is understandable why people say you should not go with an OTA. However, this is very US specific and in most of the other countries customers actually have rights and the concept of “customer is always right” is actually a thing. This being said, I have never had issues with my non-airline bookings outside of the USA.
Why booking through an OTA is actually good?
We live in a capitalistic world, where you as a consumer should vote with your feet and go where you can get the same service for a cheaper price. Most of the time, you only want to get from one place to another and then it just makes sense to book your flight for a cheaper price. If the airline has the cheapest price on their website, go for it. If you find an even cheaper price through an OTA, why not go for that one instead. In the end, it will be the same flight.
Sometimes OTAs mess up their pricing. If you do your research well and find a cheaper price through an OTA than the airline itself, you might even get a better deal than what you were barking for. This has happened to me twice when booking Finnair flights on Kiwi. Kiwi listed Finnair flights for a bit cheaper than Finnair itself – both were selling Economy Light with no luggage included. After I made my booking on Kiwi, I was surprised to see I ended up getting Economy Classic tickets instead, which meant a free bag (that wasn’t even promised by Kiwi) and double Finnair Plus points (when points were still awarded based on regions and fare class).
The other time, I noticed that the e-ticked I got from Finnair showed a significantly higher price than what I had paid Kiwi for my flights. At this point, Finnair Plus points were already given based on how much money I spent on my tickets. This meant that I got way more points for my flights than what I would have had I booked through Finnair.
I have also noticed recently that China Eastern Airlines flights seem to be consistently cheaper on Kayak than on China Eastern Airlines website. I was also recently able to snatch a great deal on Cathay Pacific business class flights that were unbookable on Cathay Pacific’s own website. In fact, I would have ended up paying double had I booked through Cathay Pacific directly. This involved a bit of ITA matrix hacking and booking through an OTA.
When should you avoid OTA?
You should definitely avoid OTA if you have any special needs. Flying with a pet, infant, wheelchair or so on requires special arrangements that can only be done by the airline themselves. That’s why it is better to purchase your ticket from the airline directly in these cases.
If you need flexibility for your flights, it is better to go with an airline. With flexible tickets booked on the airline’s website, you can always get things sorted out through them directly. If you have flexible tickets through an OTA, you must contact them for any changes. This means also that OTA rules apply, not the rules set by the airline.
Although not that common, some airlines may not give you free seat selection even if you were SkyTeam Elite Plus or oneworld Sapphire or Emerald if you have a ticket issued by an OTA. I have once had this issue with Japan Airlines and every time with China Eastern Airlines. For the majority of airlines, this is not even an issue.
Conclusion
There is no reason to categorically avoid OTAs. There are many reputable ones and millions of people book their flights through OTAs every week – and somehow they manage to get on board and fly to their destination happily. If you want the best deal and you don’t have any special needs, just go with the cheapest alternative.
