Booking air ticket with Expedia

[jeff0728]

Hi guys, I intend to book my air ticket to Shanghai via Expedia as it costs only sgd 405 for a two way ticket (cathay pacific) while the official cathay pacific website charges $694.

Is it reliable to book with Expedia? Or any extra charges?

 

[dilphinus]

Hi guys, I intend to book my air ticket to Shanghai via Expedia as it costs only sgd 405 for a two way ticket (cathay pacific) while the official cathay pacific website charges $694.

Is it reliable to book with Expedia? Or any extra charges?

It is always better to book direct with the airline. Some had issues with websites like Expedia while some don't. The issue with external website is that if you want to cancel, change flights, or flight delays, they don't give a sh!t. Depending on when you are flying into Shanghai. If you aren't expecting typhoon or any 'predictable' issues, then by all means go with the cheapest option. Generally speaking, no external party (website or agent) can offer cheaper than the airline. Fares are pretty transparent these days and agencies earn a service fee, or they bundle with hotels and/or tours.

I don't book via Zuji, Expedia, etc. I book (my flights) either direct with the airline or thru a travel agency even if I have to pay more. I rather travel with a peace of mind.

 

[Solo_Apple]

Reliable.

You can get some token if you use cash back website.

 

[dede1217]

flight normally would book direct with the airline.
in case of anything, you want make changes, can just contact the airline
like seat selection, manage your booking etc.
if u use third party website, you have to contact them in case of your booking, then there might be admin charges that you have to pay them to make changes.

oni use their as a platform to check for full fledged airline ticket.

for budget airline, have checked before jetstar to KL, their price is 50+, but zuji price was like 70+ ... so budget airline pricing, their pricing might not be the cheapest. however, for full fledged airline, if u see there is promo, most likely direct website would be slightly cheaper

 

[lcpteck]

I booked flight tickets with Expedia the past year due to a Citibank promotion. Now there's no more promotion, I just look for the best deals elsewhere. No issues encountered while booking my flights on Expedia.

 

[leogeo]

sometimes airline give online travel agents better deals coz they can reach out to bigger masses. so sometimes expedia may be cheaper than the airline website. where possible, I will book with the airline direct, but if the fare difference is large, like the example you gave, I will book with expedia. Any extra charges like booking fee if any will be spelt out clearly before you key in your cc details. so read carefully.

 

[youhsueh]

I've recently used Expedia to purchase round tickets to Hong Kong. Almost a 50% discount, but different Booking Class, different mile accruals. The price shown was all-inclusive to my understanding (will have to check with my CC bill).

Travel agencies and websites like Zuji, Expedia etc. are able to book booking class normally not available directly on the airline's website.

Sometimes, booking directly with the airline are cheaper as they have "super deals" like Singapore Airlines.

Like what other said, I will normally book directly with airline if the difference is minimal.

 

[dede1217]

I've recently used Expedia to purchase round tickets to Hong Kong. Almost a 50% discount, but different Booking Class, different mile accruals. The price shown was all-inclusive to my understanding (will have to check with my CC bill).

Travel agencies and websites like Zuji, Expedia etc. are able to book booking class normally not available directly on the airline's website.

Sometimes, booking directly with the airline are cheaper as they have "super deals" like Singapore Airlines.

Like what other said, I will normally book directly with airline if the difference is minimal.

travel agencies uses gds , which allow them to book airine tickets at cheaper rates. hence they would still earn , even if they match their price with direct airline prices
however, different airlines uses dif gds, hence, travel agencies have toi purchase those gds... each think is abt 10k

 

[dilphinus]

travel agencies uses gds , which allow them to book airine tickets at cheaper rates. hence they would still earn , even if they match their price with direct airline prices
however, different airlines uses dif gds, hence, travel agencies have toi purchase those gds... each think is abt 10k

Agents do not get cheaper airfares/rates on the GDS. Even airlines uses the GDS.

The various GDS systems are Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Abacus, etc. Singapore Airlines uses Abacus.

All airlines load their fares onto the GDS. Theoretically speaking, all GDS should have the same fares (except for system/full fares).

Example, SQ has a promo fare, GV2 Singapore to Bangkok for $200. SQ will send these fares to the different GDS and this fare will be uploaded. All GDS will have the same fare. The only difference may be the taxes due to exchange rates and different GDS. This same fare, will be available on the official SQ website as well. This works for majority of the airlines. A lot of airlines have moved to 'transparent' airfares, meaning airlines offer this fare X, agencies/3rd parties will offer the same X fares too. No commission for agents/3rd parties selling on behalf of airlines. My understanding is that even the Chinese carriers/airlines don't offer bulk and discounted tickets any more.

GDS are (usually) based on rental.

I was from the travel/aviation industry. Worked inside an airline before.

 

[runeruin]

confirm whether the 3rd party site includes baggage fare,some websites don't and you need to pay extra at the airline website or airport

 

[dilphinus]

confirm whether the 3rd party site includes baggage fare,some websites don't and you need to pay extra at the airline website or airport

All full-fledge airlines includes baggages and meals. Only budget airlines have 'extras'.

 

[runeruin]

All full-fledge airlines includes baggages and meals. Only budget airlines have 'extras'.

from what I remember some websites don't include baggage in quoted fares like ebooker as example
there are a few more like ebooker
of course in Singapore,zuji and Expedia are more commonly used,they are more straight forward

 

[dilphinus]

from what I remember some websites don't include baggage in quoted fares like ebooker as example
there are a few more like ebooker
of course in Singapore,zuji and Expedia are more commonly used,they are more straight forward

Baggage, meals, are all set by the airlines, not something a 3rd party, ie, agent or website can add or take out as and when they fancy. This excludes budget airlines. Budget airlines will have the bare min, meaning seat only, no check-in bags and meals, etc.

You buy say SIN-PER-SIN ticket on SQ, say the fare is a YRA fare, the baggage allowance is 20kg, it's set by the airline, regardless you buy agent A or B or website C or D, the baggage allowance will not change. You can't opt to buy more baggage allowance from the airline. Don't talk about priority members who get additional baggage, etc.

 

[runeruin]

Baggage, meals, are all set by the airlines, not something a 3rd party, ie, agent or website can add or take out as and when they fancy. This excludes budget airlines. Budget airlines will have the bare min, meaning seat only, no check-in bags and meals, etc.

You buy say SIN-PER-SIN ticket on SQ, say the fare is a YRA fare, the baggage allowance is 20kg, it's set by the airline, regardless you buy agent A or B or website C or D, the baggage allowance will not change. You can't opt to buy more baggage allowance from the airline. Don't talk about priority members who get additional baggage, etc.

do check ebookers before insisting full fledge airlines blah blah
blah
I took the effort to ss and upload
hope it is big enough for you to see and for TS to take note of such practice.
of course like I said,booking with zuji/Expedia for non-budget airlines is generally straight forward baggage allowance is stated upfront on the itinerary

 

[dilphinus]

do check ebookers before insisting full fledge airlines blah blah
blah
I took the effort to ss and upload
hope it is big enough for you to see and for TS to take note of such practice.
of course like I said,booking with zuji/Expedia for non-budget airlines is generally straight forward baggage allowance is stated upfront on the itinerary

Baggage fees are not charged becos the baggage allowance is inclusive in the fares

You can make a tad bit more effort, click on the Baggage fees (as in your screenshot) and see what it says.

http://www.ebookers.com/shop/airlineFees?carrierCode=QF

You dont have to pay for baggage allowance of 23kg (economy) as stated therefore babbage fees are not charged.

Again, I repeat, full-fledged airlines do not charge for baggage allowance. Baggage allowance is inclusive in the fare. If any agent or website charge anyone for checked baggage, dont be scammed

 

[runeruin]

Baggage fees are not charged becos the baggage allowance is inclusive in the fares

You can make a tad bit more effort, click on the Baggage fees (as in your screenshot) and see what it says.

http://www.ebookers.com/shop/airlineFees?carrierCode=QF

You dont have to pay for baggage allowance of 23kg (economy) as stated therefore babbage fees are not charged.

Again, I repeat, full-fledged airlines do not charge for baggage allowance. Baggage allowance is inclusive in the fare. If any agent or website charge anyone for checked baggage, dont be scammed

https://disqus.com/home/discussion/telegraphuk/expedias_confusing_website_cost_me_180_in_bag_fees/
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-a...onfusing-website-cost-me-180-in-bag-fees.html
www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_n...RE-buying-tickets-direct-budget-airlines.html
www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jun/10/lastminute-surprise-ba-baggage-costs

 

[dilphinus]

https://disqus.com/home/discussion/telegraphuk/expedias_confusing_website_cost_me_180_in_bag_fees/
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-a...onfusing-website-cost-me-180-in-bag-fees.html
www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_n...RE-buying-tickets-direct-budget-airlines.html
www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jun/10/lastminute-surprise-ba-baggage-costs

Did you read the links you have posted?

I hope you are aware that one of the articles is on budget carriers. And those on BA are for short haul flights, hand baggage fares.

http://www.britishairways.com/en-sg/information/baggage-essentials/hand-baggage-allowances

These stories is the reason most people prefer to buy direct from airlines. No nasty unexpected surprises.

My bad on the hand baggage fares. They were launched in Europe in 2013. Wasnt aware of this.

 

[Henabi]

Hi guys, I intend to book my air ticket to Shanghai via Expedia as it costs only sgd 405 for a two way ticket (cathay pacific) while the official cathay pacific website charges $694.

Is it reliable to book with Expedia? Or any extra charges?

What other extra charges? Credit card fee?

Expedia will list out all the surcharges at the payment page.

If you book air ticket thru expedia, they will still make the booking to cathay.
For CX... economy is 20kg. Premium economy is 25kg.

all my business trips are booked thru expedia. Flight+hotel room.
never had any issues at all. even if I miss the flight. I have no issues changing flights. Just pay a bit.

Once flight change n payment is done, expedia will immediately email me the latest flight details.

 

[Fact]

From my experience, sometimes you cannot get the best price from direct purchases, recommend to try all sources.

For air tickets, besides direct purchase from airlines, you have to try zuji or expedia, budget airlines or even price beat guarantee. Sometimes you can get very good price using these, so you must try all sources.

For hotels, you really have to try using third party online agencies, some hotels give very good prices to these online agencies, so far most reputed ones are pretty safe. I tried agoda, ctrip, booking.com, hotel quickly, tiket.com, trivago.com, all are okay. The most worrying one for me was using tiket.com, due to bad online reviews, but the hotel receptionist assured me that tiket.com is a reputed agency and they do recognised rooms booking using it, and thus also no issue for me too. If you are in doubt, call and ask the hotel directly. Again try all sources.

 

[dede1217]

From my experience, sometimes you cannot get the best price from direct purchases, recommend to try all sources.

For air tickets, besides direct purchase from airlines, you have to try zuji or expedia, budget airlines or even price beat guarantee. Sometimes you can get very good price using these, so you must try all sources.

For hotels, you really have to try using third party online agencies, some hotels give very good prices to these online agencies, so far most reputed ones are pretty safe. I tried agoda, ctrip, booking.com, hotel quickly, tiket.com, trivago.com, all are okay. The most worrying one for me was using tiket.com, due to bad online reviews, but the hotel receptionist assured me that tiket.com is a reputed agency and they do recognised rooms booking using it, and thus also no issue for me too. If you are in doubt, call and ask the hotel directly. Again try all sources.

got tried before amoma mah ? their rates always very cheapp ...
review like not so good lol ...
ticket.com think is from indonesia rite ?