Brisbane to London, UK on China Eastern from $730 Return (Some Summer Dates Included) @ BeatThatFlight

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• 

  madster09 on 12/02/2019 - 12:14

  With the recent Bestjet and HotelQuckly problem, one will hesitate to book under third parties booking system.

  • 

    Associatedbeatthatflight @ Beat That Flight on 12/02/2019 - 12:20

    +3

    One might. Others might not.

    • 

      Bellpop on 12/02/2019 - 12:41

      Do these sites get cheaper flights than booking directly with the airline?

      • 

        dazweeja on 12/02/2019 - 13:56

        In my experience for international flights, they are regularly cheaper than booking directly. That's why people use them. As to how they make money, I don't really know. It's possible that the airlines offer them a small discount and they make most of their profits on change/cancellation fees. For example, with some of them changing a name on a booking costs hundreds of dollars.

        • • 

            dazweeja on 13/02/2019 - 10:48

            @JamesSmart: Yes, but it's an unusual situation where a provider has a pricing structure to third parties that allows their own retail service to be undercut by so much. In the hotel industry, you can usually get the same price by booking directly with the hotel while the third parties sell for the same price and keep the discounts/commissions. That doesn't happen in the airline industry - none of the airlines will price match the cheapest third parties for international flights that I'm aware of.

            Regarding change fees, of course the airline charges these. I was referring to the additional fees charged by the third parties which are significant. For example, these are Aunt Betty's (in addition to supplier fees):

            Changes to Domestic bookings will incur a fee of $55 per passenger per booking in addition to supplier fees.
            Cancellations to Domestic bookings will incur a fee of $55 per passenger per booking in addition to supplier fees.
            Changes to International bookings will incur a fee of $140 per passenger per booking in addition to supplier fees.
            Cancellations to International bookings will incur a fee of $170 per passenger per booking in addition to supplier fees.

  • 

    dazweeja on 12/02/2019 - 12:34

    +1

    I agree but there's some like Aunt Betty and BYOJet that are owned by Flight Centre and so at least not likely to go broke without warning. You might not want to use them for other reasons though. I've used STA Travel which has pretty cheap prices and physical stores but I've never had to make a change with them so that could be an issue.

    • 

      sistermay on 12/02/2019 - 13:09

      +1

      To add my own experience, have used skiddoo a couple of times now, never need a change of anything once booked, process was really smooth, got my e-ticket like within half an hour, cheaper than booking direct and so far happy with it.