advantage of using travel agent for long haul

coleen

I am looking at booking flights to Panama in January or February. I can see them on sky scanner with KLM Dublin to Amsterdam then direct from Amsterdam to Panama city for €684 . I have also contacted a travel agent and the cost is €830 these are the same flights.
If you book direct with KLM via their website if the first leg is delayed for any reason do they still put you on the next available flight ?
I think there is no bag with the sky scanner price when I said to one travel agent ie Flight centre who gave me a price with and without bags that 1 check in bag would be ok I was told that price could only be given for 2 people to take bags. This was €85 per person.
What travel agent would give a give a price closer to the skyscanner 1?
The best I have got is trailfinders which is €830 that is €146 per person dearer that going direct.
I am just a little worried about booking direct for long haul even though I do it all the time for European destinations.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

JohnCleary

I *always* book my flights direct with the airline. In the event of any hiccups etc, your contract is direct with the airline, rather than a 3rd party.

All good (possibly) saving a few quid if everything goes smoothly, but personally I prefer to pay the extra for the reassurance.

dennyk

If you book the full route directly with the airline on one booking, then they will be responsible for getting you to your ultimate destination in the event of any delays that cause missed connections. If you book through an agent, they might book it that way, or they might book separate flights on different airlines because it costs them a bit less and then you'll be screwed trying to reach their nonexistent "customer service" from some foreign airport at 3AM because you missed your connection and the airline won't help you because it ain't their problem.

By booking direct you can also read the rules carefully and make certain you are booking the correct tickets, dates, extras (like checked bags), etc. instead of relying on an agent not to screw it up (which will leave you stuck when you get to the airport and end up having to shell out a hundred quid for a last minute checked bag or something...).

Personally I'd never book any air tickets through any third party agent, even if they were cheaper, and paying more to book through an agent is pure madness.

Kevski

Just had a quick look on the KLM site for dates in Feb and it costs €694 for their ‘Light’ fare which includes hand luggage only and no checked baggage. Their ‘Standard’ fare includes a checked bag each way and costs an additional €40 each way so €774 total for the trip (return leg of the trip I looked at is via Paris with Air France but booked through KLM).

Like previous posters, I would recommend booking with the airline directly rather than through a travel agent. You have more control over your travel arrangements and cut out the middle man in communications with the airline. And in this case it sounds like it works out cheaper too.

coleen

yes it is definitely cheaper to book direct and I was just wondering if there was any advantage to book with travel agent but there does not seem to be .
Thanks

jack presley

coleen wrote: »

yes it is definitely cheaper to book direct and I was just wondering if there was any advantage to book with travel agent but there does not seem to be .
Thanks

If you’re on a major carrier you’ll be alright but I had a trip once with about 6/7 flights and a couple were with smaller airlines, one of which went bust* before we flew. But as we had booked the trip with the travel agent it was up to them to find a replacement (which they did) whereas we would have had to book and pay for new flights ourselves and then chase down the money we lost with the airline that went bust

* Aloha Airlines