International Flights - Choice Air or Travel Agent?

[jules815]

Starting to look at flights to Barcelona for next October's Harmony TA. Of course they're high, but Choice Air so far has the best rates.

 

I had some time yesterday, and stopped to meet the travel agent here in our community. They've been there for over 20 years, and a lot of my customers (I'm a pet sitter) swear by them. I told her about our love for cruising, and that for 2017 are looking to do something different.

 

I told her about our upcoming Harmony TA. She told me that she can get great rates on International flights. Can travel agents do better than Choice Air?

[ken_nyc]

Starting to look at flights to Barcelona for next October's Harmony TA. Of course they're high, but Choice Air so far has the best rates.

 

I had some time yesterday, and stopped to meet the travel agent here in our community. They've been there for over 20 years, and a lot of my customers (I'm a pet sitter) swear by them. I told her about our love for cruising, and that for 2017 are looking to do something different.

 

I told her about our upcoming Harmony TA. She told me that she can get great rates on International flights. Can travel agents do better than Choice Air?

 

It depends, we booked through Choice Air because they had the best price than directly through the airlines at the time. I do not think the TA's get a commission anymore from the airlines so I believe they add on a charge for booking (I could be wrong), at least our TA did at the time a number of years ago.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

For me, neither. I do my own. If/when the airline has changes with the schedule that necessitate a change for me, I would rather be the one dealing with them than having to go through a third party.

[cruise wizard]

We booked our air for the Harmony TA last week............Delta wanted $2600 and Air2Sea was $550 - same flights!!!!

 

Come on over to the Harmony TA thread - lots of info on flights, hotels, tours and much more. The thread is very active and has its own website!!!!

[shipgeeks]

The airlines we looked at for one-way flights quoted over $4,000 each; ChoiceAir gave us the same airline and same seats for about $700 each. We've used ChoiceAir twice, will do so again.

[lovesnow]

Where can I find the Harmony TaThread?

[lovesnow]

My sister and I booked our airfare to Rome from Boston yesterday for next Sept. For 1000.00 each thru choice air on Atalia. Their website was 1500.00 each

[cruisenfever]

Where can I find the Harmony TaThread?

Here's the link Harmony of the seas ~ oct 23/16 transatlantic Part 2

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

I guess I'm the weird one. It was the same price regardless of how I chose to book. Maybe because American had the "earliest allowed" departure time of 10am - THAT was cheaper, but I'm not comfortable with the minimum - having a sister who works on a cruise ship (not Royal), I know what all can go wrong on demarcation day to cause delays to be comfortable with their "early" recommendation. Delta was coming out the same either way.

 

Doing it on my own I got to choose my own seat - couldn't see how that was going to happen any other way.

[hun]

We used Choice Air RT to Barcelona in October. Paid $901 each and the same flights/seats were over $1300 not with Choice Air...

[John&LaLa]

We booked our air for the Harmony TA last week............Delta wanted $2600 and Air2Sea was $550 - same flights!!!!

 

Come on over to the Harmony TA thread - lots of info on flights, hotels, tours and much more. The thread is very active and has its own website!!!!

 

Booked Laura on Delta through Air2Sea next fall. Orlando to Rome. $479, Delta wanted $2,700 in web site. Same flights

[suzyluvs2cruise]

I guess I'm the weird one. It was the same price regardless of how I chose to book. Maybe because American had the "earliest allowed" departure time of 10am - THAT was cheaper, but I'm not comfortable with the minimum - having a sister who works on a cruise ship (not Royal), I know what all can go wrong on demarcation day to cause delays to be comfortable with their "early" recommendation. Delta was coming out the same either way.

 

Doing it on my own I got to choose my own seat - couldn't see how that was going to happen any other way.

 

We've found that for one way fares.....especially for International Flights....Choice Air can't be beat. You can choose your seats with flights booked with Choice Air. You get a record locator number. When you go to the airlines website and use this number you can choose your seats just like you would do if you purchased directly from the airline.

[cruisenfever]

I guess I'm the weird one. It was the same price regardless of how I chose to book. Maybe because American had the "earliest allowed" departure time of 10am - THAT was cheaper, but I'm not comfortable with the minimum - having a sister who works on a cruise ship (not Royal), I know what all can go wrong on demarcation day to cause delays to be comfortable with their "early" recommendation. Delta was coming out the same either way.

 

Doing it on my own I got to choose my own seat - couldn't see how that was going to happen any other way.

When booking through ChoiceAir, you get to select your seats at the time of booking. Once you have your Airline Confirmation number, you can go onto their website and change them and manage your itinerary until it's time to print your boarding pass.

 

Yes, debarkation can be either very well organized or very chaotic and all that is dependent on how quickly the Port Authorities clear the ship and how many Customs Agents they provide. We've learned that booking a much later flight in the afternoon, even if it means spending a little down time at the airport, is much less stressful after a great cruise.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

When booking through ChoiceAir, you get to select your seats at the time of booking. Once you have your Airline Confirmation number, you can go onto their website and change them and manage your itinerary until it's time to print your boarding pass.

 

Yes, debarkation can be either very well organized or very chaotic and all that is dependent on how quickly the Port Authorities clear the ship and how many Customs Agents they provide. We've learned that booking a much later flight in the afternoon, even if it means spending a little down time at the airport, is much less stressful after a great cruise.

 

I guess I didn't get far enough into it. Like I said, the only one I found that was somewhat (I'm talking less than $100) less expensive was the American one with the 10am departure. For a later departure on any airline, for me, it was the same or even more via ChoiceAir.

 

Bottom line, it pays to do your due diligence. It *may* be cheaper to go through ChoiceAir, or it *may* be cheaper or the same price to do it on your own. It's SOOOOOOO easy to check and book airfare on your own now I honestly don't know why people bother with travel agents anymore.

[Clarea]

I guess I didn't get far enough into it. Like I said, the only one I found that was somewhat (I'm talking less than $100) less expensive was the American one with the 10am departure. For a later departure on any airline, for me, it was the same or even more via ChoiceAir.

 

Bottom line, it pays to do your due diligence. It *may* be cheaper to go through ChoiceAir, or it *may* be cheaper or the same price to do it on your own. It's SOOOOOOO easy to check and book airfare on your own now I honestly don't know why people bother with travel agents anymore.

Were you looking at domestic flights? Choice Air is not competitive pricewise on purely domestic flights. However, I've never seen their prices beat or even close to other websites for one-way international travel.

[emeraldcity]

I drove myself crazy trying to get decent airfare for my TA when searching on my own. And when I tried the website pricing for Choice Air, it wasn't much better. So I called Choice Air finally, because I was on the verge of cancelling the cruise. They ran the two flights separately (apparently the web programming lumps them together). When she did that, I got Cleveland to Tampa and then Barcelona to Cleveland for $561. SOLD! What I haven't done yet is go pick my seats ... guess I'd better do that.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Were you looking at domestic flights? Choice Air is not competitive pricewise on purely domestic flights. However, I've never seen their prices beat or even close to other websites for one-way international travel.

 

International. And for that I only look round trip.

[searoses]

I'very been reading about this for a few months....there are different classes of tickets and the ones you buy from the airlines will be more useful if you need assistance with a missed or cancelled flight.....read carefully before you purchase....

[Clarea]

International. And for that I only look round trip.

I've read that some have found much cheaper fares on Choice Air if the trip is structured as two one-way tickets,

Edited December 7, 2015 by clarea

[ken_nyc]

I've read that some have found much cheaper fares on Choice Air if the trip is structured as two one-way tickets,

 

Did good with the round-trip tickets through Choice Air.

[critterchick]

When booking through ChoiceAir, you get to select your seats at the time of booking. Once you have your Airline Confirmation number, you can go onto their website and change them and manage your itinerary until it's time to print your boarding pass.

 

Yes, debarkation can be either very well organized or very chaotic and all that is dependent on how quickly the Port Authorities clear the ship and how many Customs Agents they provide. We've learned that booking a much later flight in the afternoon, even if it means spending a little down time at the airport, is much less stressful after a great cruise.

 

Although I was able to select seats on Choice Air for our TA next year, it only "stuck" with AA. I will have to call BA or go on their website to choose our seats. The price difference in BC for a one way flight was about $3000pp less using Choice Air than booking directly. It's the only time I've ever seen a lower price than booking directly, which is my preference.

 

And to the OP's original question, a TA can often work with a consolidator to get very favorable pricing. But there are good and bad consolidators, so one should work with a TA who is experienced in that arena. And always compare the price to other options.

Edited December 7, 2015 by critterchick

[Clarea]

Although I was able to select seats on Choice Air for our TA next year, it only "stuck" with AA. I will have to call BA or go on their website to choose our seats. ...

You may find that BA does not allow you to select seats in advance, depending on the type of ticket that Choice Air purchased. We had that issue a couple of years ago.