Air Travel Consolidators: Are They a Better Choice?
Posted on | November 28, 2009 | 9 Comments
Consolidators or wholesalers are companies that buy airline tickets at very low prices in bulk and then sell them off to public at a discount rate than the original price set by the airline. They are the cheaper means to buy airline tickets from, because even after they have deducted their profit on the tickets, they are still cheaper for normal people like us. You must be wondering why airlines sell tickets at low prices. Actually, not all flights are booked seat-to-seat by the passengers. Because of this reason the airlines or air travel agencies have to sell tickets in order to make a full flight. And of course everyone involved in this game makes a profit this way.
You might have heard of brick & mortar travels or B&M Travels as they are commonly called. They are the offline consolidators specializing in providing cheap airfare to their customers whenever the demand for a certain flight grows. Online consolidators are also available and they are becoming increasingly popular these days. They are called online travel consolidators. Many websites that you will encounter while searching for cheap airfare are of these consolidators or air travel agencies. They are there to help you out in finding the cheapest flight, whether it is national or international, and they also advise you on choosing the right time for booking these flights.
Consolidators in the field of international air travel are the most helpful and useful source of saving a lot of money on airfare. Of course people are always looking for these consolidators or online cheap travel agencies to benefit from the services they have to offer. However, there are some points you should keep in mind before booking with one of these agencies. First of all, keep your options open. Consolidators all around the world offer different discount rates. Sometimes, you save only 10% and at other times, if you are lucky, you can even save up to 70% on your airfare! But it needs a little research and careful investigation before you can find such a consolidator. Furthermore, it also depends on the time of your flight and some other considerations including the destination location and the popularity of an airline.
Secondly, check the price of the airline ticket offered by your consolidator and see if it is inclusive of tax and other fees. Sometimes these companies list only the ticket cost and exclude taxes until the time of payment. This way they can advertise themselves quite cleverly, but do not fall in their trap. Check with other companies and compare their prices. Some websites let you compare prices only through a few clicks and a little information you provide. If possible, wait for a whole season and then see if the ticket rates have reduced. Then book yourself in advance to enjoy affordable and cheap airfare when the time is ripe.
You can tell the agent about the frequent flier program if you are enrolled into one. The consolidator will see if they find a matched price on one of the flights and will book you on it. If time is not of importance then tell your consolidator how flexible your dates are. They can find a good flight for you at the lowest possible price on a weekday or when there is little rush. This way you can travel safer and cheaper. Last but not the least, always check and double check you name and date of the flight and reservation after you have been handed over the ticket by your consolidator. Like every other business, there are traitors and dishonest persons out there so you need to keep an eye open.
Follow these steps and you will find a good consolidator very soon whether you are planning to fly national or international. Here are some consolidator websites to help you start your search from: Travelocity (travelocity.com), Hotwire (hotwire.com), Expedia (expedia.com), Cheap Travel (cheaptravel.com), and Airfare Choice (airfarechoice.com). However, do not rely on just these sites, as already said, keep your options open and keep looking for better and more reliable websites and consolidators to fly cheaper on your next trip.
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9 Responses to “Air Travel Consolidators: Are They a Better Choice?”
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November 28th, 2009 @ 11:06 am
1. Encashing frequent flyer miles is one of my favorite methods to get discount air tickets on subsequent purchases.
2. Online travel services like Orbitz, Travelocity and BookingBuddy allow customers to choose selected flights whenever deeper discounts become available. Other services such as Priceline may allow customers to bid for lower price airline tickets, but they can also require immediate purchase of those tickets or a much more flexible schedule.
3. If you belong to an auto club, or to Sam’s Club or Costco, it is helpful to compare rates there too. Companies like AAA or Costco sometimes offer the best prices for plane tickets online or offline.
4. A travel agency is a time-tested source for discount air tickets. Here the agent can negotiate a package deal to lower the price of airline tickets as long as a specific hotel or car rental is booked.
5. A major airline sometimes uses discounts to encourage the use of its low-price commuter service. Occasionally airlines compete for business through 'fare wars', which may lower the price of tickets by as much as 40%.
The key is to look out for those little-known ways you can travel for cheap without having to forgo the 'luxuries'.
November 28th, 2009 @ 11:39 am
From where? Greatly affects how I would answer your question. Please edit your question to add this key detail; I'll check back later.
November 29th, 2009 @ 2:06 am
Try Expedia.com . I fly to Europe several times a year and they usually have the lowest prices when I'm looking. Other things you can do to get a lower price…try to fly between Tuesday and Thursday. Weekends are higher. Avoid traveling near a major holiday, if possible. Search for tickets at any time of day if you can be flexible. Certain times of day are more expensive than others. Are you heading to a particular city in Europe or just anywhere cheap? London often has very good flight prices but it's expensive once you get there. There are some budget carriers in Europe that you might be able to use if you are planning to travel around after you arrive. Check out http://www.ryanair.com , http://www.easyjet.com and http://www.bmibaby.com These might allow you to fly to whatever European city you find good fares to and then cheaply move to another location. It's often cheaper that way than booking a US carrier into a less-traveled destination.
November 29th, 2009 @ 1:18 pm
Priceline.com is the best!!!!
November 29th, 2009 @ 8:39 pm
cheaptickets.com…. travelocity.com…. expedia.com..the old standby, priceline.com
CAREFUL… cheap means no changes or you pay huge fees to adjust your travel days! Make real sure the schedule you're buying is one you can actually use…
November 30th, 2009 @ 4:13 pm
I have found that the cheapest way is generally by check the airlines page or hotel page, and yahoo travel seem to be the cheapest.
November 30th, 2009 @ 11:23 pm
For the purposes of buying airline tickets, those kids are considered adults. You did not indicate your origin or destination city but check the following sites:
southwest.com
jetblue.com
orbitz.com
kayak.com
December 1st, 2009 @ 5:02 am
December 1st, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
You don't really have much of a choice for domestic air travel in Vietnam, either Pacific Airlines or Vietnam Airlines are your best (and only) options. Air Asia, a large budget airline in Asia is planning on beginning domestic service in the future, but it's still a ways off, but that should help to bring down the costs and provide more options, but for now there isn't much of a choice. You can check online, but is easily arranged once you get to Saigon.