Book airfare online or through agent?
What is the historically proved-cheaper method of booking a long distance international flight? I came to know of www.yapta.com and for mid may I booked a return from Toronto to New Delhi with flexible dates.
Now the price was 1206 and a wek or so has gone by, still no price drop alerts.
While my agent says, book it with me for 1150.
Even if price drops on Yapta, will it go below 1150?
Has yapta price-drop alerts proved cheaper than booking through an agent?
Also, when you book with agent, do you collect frequent flier miles or does the agent pockets it?
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Read an interesting article in the WSJ that says you should only buy airline tickets on a Wednesday:
When airlines want to push through a
fare increase, marking up their basic
prices across the board usually by
or , they often do that on Thursday
night, then watch to see if
competitors match and if the higher
rates stick over the weekend. If
competitors balk, prices can be rolled
back by Monday morning.
In addition, airlines don't manage
their inventory as actively on
weekends, so if cheap seats sell on
some flights, prices automatically
jump higher. Fare analysts may decide
later to offer more seats at cheaper
prices, but not until they come back
to work on Monday, according to
airline pricing executives.
These are all questions for your agent directly (do you still earn FF Miles, etc.)...
Historical pricing patterns have no bearing on the future so you can't use that as a sole factor. The future is anyone's guess and history is full of those who have failed at predicting it.
You are better off making the best decision today. That means comparison shopping at the trustworthy online ticketing places as well as seeing what your agent can offer. I recommend you ensure you are evaluating all of the costs (not just the ticket cost) associated with all the comparative choices.
Once you have done that the choice becomes clear easily.
Remember just because the stock market average has been around 8% for the last 100 years or more that does not mean you'll get 8% returns this year.
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