Cheap Airfare Blog

Steven Liew asked:


Most smart air travellers know the one main single reason of buying cheap consolidator tickets over the regular published airfare tickets is huge savings of around 30%-50%.

Most of the time, you are almost likely to find that consolidator airfare tickets beat the regular airfares hands-down.

Of course, there are the rare exceptions when airlines do their own special promotions like a new route or do a marketing promotion for a certain event at a destination.

In these cases, airlines could easily price their airfares cheaper but you still have to book these cheap airfares direct with the airlines either online at their website or offline through their travel agents. In these rare cases, consolidator airfares are likely to be pricier but not much.

Still, pricing is not the only reason why you should buy consolidator airfares for your travel.

Here are at least four other reasons why you are apt to find consolidator airfare tickets useful:

1) Short notice or last-minute travel
Consolidator airfare tickets are almost invariably cheaper and you could get it at a short notice sometimes without breaking the roof for the regular published airfares.

Airlines that find they cannot unload unsold inventories closer to the departure date may opt to discount these airfare tickets heavily to consolidators who advertise them as their own cheap discounted last minute airfare deals.

To the airlines, it is better to fly full at cheaper airfares rather than fly half-empty at the full air ticket fares.

Further, by dealing with air travel consolidators, they don’t risk antagonising those passengers who may have paid full airfares earlier or in advance.

2) Round the world (RTW) multi-stop itinerary
If you plan to travel around the world, your best choice of finding the cheapest airfares for your trip is likely to be those specialist consolidators who are expert at arranging such multi-stop trip tickets.

If you do it yourself, you may find it bewildering to deal with so many permutations of different airlines, routes, flight schedule or airfare levels (though it is not impossible).

These round-the-world (RTW) consolidators could even string you a global trip if you plan to travel to faraway destinations like Australia, Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe and you will be surprised that you may only need to top up a little bit on these consolidator airfares to just one of the location for the price of all.

Most airlines don’t have routing all over the world and thus the RTW air travel consolidators not only are able to tailor make the flights to your schedule but at the same time, make it the cheapest schedule for you.

3) Exotic or long trip travels
If you plan to travel on a long holiday or to travel to off-beaten destinations like Peru or Bulgaria, air travel consolidators may have the edge up their sleeves to get you the best airfare ticket or schedule.

This is because such places or itineraries are likely to be serviced only by few experienced or regular travel agents.

4) Bulk airfare tickets purchase
If you are planning to purchase airfare tickets in large numbers, like for a group or organisation or even for your once-a-year family and relatives gathering, consolidators are likely to be your best bet to get the most airfare savings.

Airlines are not likely to give one-off discounts for such airfare ticket purchases by the normal travellers.

Still, despite all its advantages, one still need to bear in mind the shortfalls of buying and holding a consolidator airfare ticket. Here are four main things to watch out for:

1) More restrictions than regular airfares
Well, it is a trade-off if you want to get the large airfare savings of the consolidators. Consolidator airfares are almost always non-refundable and there could be restrictions like not being able to change seating, to get a free upgrade or change airlines.

Some consolidator tickets from certain airlines may not also entitle you to frequent flyer mileage so be sure to check this point as well before paying.

2) Lack of financial backing
A lot of air travel consolidators operate on thin margins and as such, some have gone bust in the past leaving their customers who bought their airfares in the lurch. Some of them also do not believe in customer service and you may find it hard to lodge any airfare complaints with them.

Still, these problems could be avoided by sticking to the larger and trustworthier air travel consolidators rather than aiming for the cheapest airfare consolidators.

In addition, look only for air travel consolidators that accept credit cards only as you are typically entitled to a refund from the card providers should the consolidator go bust or unwilling to honour its part of the air ticket bargain.

3) Choice of airlines or tickets
Note that you may not get your choice of airlines on consolidator tickets, which may aim for the airline that could offer the cheapest contract airfares to the consolidators.

This could be a problem for travellers who worry about security and customer service of different airline companies especially the foreign ones although note that consolidator airfares nowadays could be obtained on a lot of reasonably good quality foreign airlines.

At the end of the day, you just have to decide whether the issues are worth the consolidator airfare savings.

4) Access to air travel consolidators
Some of the best air travel consolidators may be based in their home countries and do not have a representative in your country.

While you can still pay and ask the consolidator to mail the airfare tickets to you, invariably these may provide timing and commitment risk.

Again, this could be mitigated by always sticking to the larger and longer established air travel consolidators in the market.

Ultimately, the advantageous of consolidator air tickets and their savings do overwhelm that of the drawbacks.

Again, to cut the risk, always stick to the larger-based air travel consolidators to buy your tickets from rather then finding the cheapest consolidator airfares among them all.

Cheap Hotels

George Wood asked:


Searching for inexpensive flights online could prove to be a difficult experience for most people out there because you are going to encounter hundreds of websites that offer discounts on airfare. Many of these websites also offer cheap international ticket rates. You need to know that official international airfares are governed by IATA (International Air Transport Association) and it does not allow direct discounting of airfare. But there is a way of purchasing cheap tickets through consolidators and wholesalers. So lets find out how exactly you can find cheap flights online.
Many low cost carriers are not full IATA members. So they can lower their airfare whenever they want and offer discount packages to their customers. These local companies have set up their websites that not only help to find you cheap flights but also hotel reservations and car rentals. Some airlines also have student discount offers listed on their websites. Some search engines display a list of travel agencies that meet your itinerary criteria. You can then find the best of these sites and book reservations with their supplier. You will be able to find national as well as international travel agencies this way by searching on the Internet.
Airfare Watchdog is an online portal where you can learn about special deals and offers and much more information about other travel arrangements. The address is: www.airfarewatchdog.com. Similarly there are other sites that help you find local and international flight rates in particular seasons and useful information. www.travelzoo.com or www.airfarechoice.com are also two such portals.
Consolidators are sold tickets at very low costs. You can find any air travel consolidator in your area and find out about their pricing structure and other facilities they have to offer. Consolidators allow travelers to compare prices of different travel agencies and also help them in choosing the best time of flight. There are three types of air travel consolidators: destination specialists, wholesale consolidators and online travel consolidators. Destination specialists are able to draw discounts depending on a particular destination. Wholesale consolidators do not sell tickets directly but you can find out more about multi-stop specialists who come under this category. They might be able to help you out in finding cheaper travel agencies.
Online travel consolidators are the best way of finding the cheapest flights, national or international. They might not be the best in providing other services but when it comes to pricing, thats where they specialize. You will find a lot of online agencies like that, such as Travelocity, Skyscanner, Cheap Flights, Expedia, STA Travel and many more. Expedia and Travelocity are two of the most popular online travel agencies. They both offer special flight prices with many airlines all around the world. Consolidator fares can save you up to 70-80% of your airfare. Although they are the best to go around when finding cheap flights, many people still like to consider buying direct airline tickets because they are more reliable and offer more services than the consolidators.
Choosing the right time for booking your flights is also important. Sometimes the best deals are offered at the last minute of reservations. If you are traveling alone you might want to wait until the day of your departure. However, booking in advance is always safer and more reliable and you never know when your luck might take a turn and the airline might offer you tickets at a discount rate when you purchase them. Again, there are online travel agencies that offer discounts if your book in advance. A little search here and there will teach you how this system works. Also get in touch with travel agents to find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of early and late reservations.

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