[Albion] 3rd party travel sites for euro games BEWARE

[dwayne]

Just a friendly warning

Do NOT book flights via a 3rd party especially ryanair and easyJet. Book direct with airline.

After smugly getting cheap flights just after the draw was announced. It transpired that opodo who I booked it through didn't bother booking the flights I paid for, so I've had to rebook 3 of the 6 flights at vastly higher prices.

I usually book direct with airline so not sure what I was thinking, hangover probably played a large part

 

[Hotchilidog]

Just a friendly warning

Do NOT book flights via a 3rd party especially ryanair and easyJet. Book direct with airline.

After smugly getting cheap flights just after the draw was announced. It transpired that opodo who I booked it through didn't bother booking the flights I paid for, so I've had to rebook 3 of the 6 flights at vastly higher prices.

I usually book direct with airline so not sure what I was thinking, hangover probably played a large part

Thanks for heads up. Just double checked my Athens flights booked through Flight network, I'm all good with Aegean!

 

[dwayne]

Thanks for heads up. Just double checked my Athens flights booked through Flight network, I'm all good with Aegean!

My brother got done as well. It seems to impact the super cheap rates the most (which makes sense !!)

 

[Simster]

Why would anyone do this via a 3rd party anyway? Even if they had pre-booked those flights, you can bet they keep an eye on how demand for those flight tickets is changing. You can also bet your arse that in the small print there is some clause that allows them to cancel (and re-sell) if they they've offered them at under the market rate.

Bottom line - the only reason to ever use an agency for anything is a) if that is the only way to buy what you want or b) they are simplifying what is otherwise a ball-ache.

Booking a flight to Amsterdam fits neither of those categories.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Why would anyone do this via a 3rd party anyway? Even if they had pre-booked those flights, you can bet they keep an eye on how demand for those flight tickets is changing. You can also bet your arse that in the small print there is some clause that allows them to cancel (and re-sell) if they they've offered them at under the market rate.

Bottom line - the only reason to ever use an agency for anything is a) if that is the only way to buy what you want or b) they are simplifying what is otherwise a ball-ache.

Booking a flight to Amsterdam fits neither of those categories.

Basically panic searching flights on that crazy saturday morning. I'll be much better prepared for the knockout stages should we get there.

 

[MattBackHome]

Why would anyone do this via a 3rd party anyway?

So they can come on here straight afterwards and tell everyone how cheap they got them...

 

[dwayne]

Basically panic searching flights on that crazy saturday morning. I'll be much better prepared for the knockout stages should we get there.

Yer same... prices were literally changing by the minute and I kind of panicked.

 

[dwayne]

So they can come on here straight afterwards and tell everyone how cheap they got them...

Ha tbf if I booked direct with airline I would have got the cheap rates as well

 

[Arthur]

Why would anyone do this via a 3rd party anyway? Even if they had pre-booked those flights, you can bet they keep an eye on how demand for those flight tickets is changing. You can also bet your arse that in the small print there is some clause that allows them to cancel (and re-sell) if they they've offered them at under the market rate.

Bottom line - the only reason to ever use an agency for anything is a) if that is the only way to buy what you want or b) they are simplifying what is otherwise a ball-ache.

Booking a flight to Amsterdam fits neither of those categories.

Site like Skyscanner will show third party sites and if those sites haven't updated their prices then they'll show as the cheapest. I was booking Athens on Saturday and they had a return flight for £102 every time I went to book it the site told me the price was no longer available. Ended up paying over £300.

I can see how it could be done.

 

[dwayne]

Site like Skyscanner will show third party sites and if those sites haven't updated their prices then they'll show as the cheapest. I was booking Athens on Saturday and they had a return flight for £102 every time I went to book it the site told me the price was no longer available. Ended up paying over £300.

I can see how it could be done.

The other thing is kayak / Skyscanner show you the full range of options. So you can mix and match quickly. You don't want to be checking every airlines flights separately.

The secret for quick booking is to use kayak/skyscan find the exact flights then go to airline direct.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

The other thing is kayak / Skyscanner show you the full range of options. So you can mix and match quickly. You don't want to be checking every airlines flights separately.

The secret for quick booking is to use kayak/skyscan find the exact flights then go to airline direct.

Not an experienced traveller so would have made the same mistake.
prices were already too steep on skyscanner when i looked so booked direct with eurostar for the Ajax game.

 

[dwayne]

Not an experienced traveller so would have made the same mistake.
prices were already too steep on skyscanner when i looked so booked direct with eurostar for the Ajax game.

Tbf I'm a very experienced traveller .... I have never faced this issue before. But I guess I've never been booking time critical flights in a tight window.

Looking at trustpilot etc looks like this is common practice from opodo / last-minute.com etc.

 

[Garyoldfan]

Just a friendly warning

Do NOT book flights via a 3rd party especially ryanair and easyJet. Book direct with airline.

After smugly getting cheap flights just after the draw was announced. It transpired that opodo who I booked it through didn't bother booking the flights I paid for, so I've had to rebook 3 of the 6 flights at vastly higher prices.

I usually book direct with airline so not sure what I was thinking, hangover probably played a large part

So when you did the big “I am” post you were in fact totally incorrect and had been mugged off ?

 

[dwayne]

So when you did the big “I am” post you were in fact totally incorrect and had been mugged off ?

Yes I had been partially mugged off yes. BA flights all good and didn't pay for any of those , you will be pleased to know. Happy to have egg on my face. I will live.

Thanks for going to the trouble of digging out those old posts Oldman lol

 

[Garyoldfan]

Yes I had been partially mugged off yes. BA flights all good and didn't pay for any of those , you will be pleased to know. Happy to have egg on my face. I will live.

Thanks for going to the trouble of digging out those old posts Oldman lol

No problem

 

[Gazwag]

So when you did the big “I am” post you were in fact totally incorrect and had been mugged off ?

TBF he didn't have to come on here and own up to his cock up

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

I also don’t know why anybody would use third parties to book flights on Easyjet. All you have to do is log into the easyjet website. If there are none available then there are none available. How is using a different website any easier ? Sorry, not a dig. More an observation. We’ve all done stupid things !

 

[Uh_huh_him]

I also don’t know why anybody would use third parties to book flights on Eastjet. All you have to do is log into the easyjet website. If there are none available then there are none available. How is using a different website any easier ? Sorry, not a dig. More an observation. We’ve all done stupid things !

Well that's why aggregator sites exist.
Many inexperienced travellers want a one-stop shop to assess and find the best option.

 

[dwayne]

I also don’t know why anybody would use third parties to book flights on Eastjet. All you have to do is log into the easyjet website. If there are none available then there are none available. How is using a different website any easier ? Sorry, not a dig. More an observation. We’ve all done stupid things !

It's easier to see the whole range of flights available on a flight aggregator. However lesson learnt that once you find the flight you want you should go direct to the airline.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Why would anyone do this via a 3rd party anyway? Even if they had pre-booked those flights, you can bet they keep an eye on how demand for those flight tickets is changing. You can also bet your arse that in the small print there is some clause that allows them to cancel (and re-sell) if they they've offered them at under the market rate.

Bottom line - the only reason to ever use an agency for anything is a) if that is the only way to buy what you want or b) they are simplifying what is otherwise a ball-ache.

Booking a flight to Amsterdam fits neither of those categories.

Quite. Something else to consider is that if there are any issue furter the down the line, e.g. flight is cancelled, it is way better to deal directly with the airline than a third party.