RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

Rant:  3 weeks ago I contacted my agent with flight dates, etc.

She was on vacation at the time, so a different agent prices the ticket out three different ways, as I requested, BUT tells me she will forward this on to my agent when she returns from her vacation on 11/21.

Being "polite" I waited for a week after her return to email her, as I didn't get a follow up.

NOW, the tickets have all increased (not news to me, as that is why I contacted her 3 weeks ago), so I will now be paying $400 more for my itinerary :(

I thought some of you would enjoy hearing about my unfortunate situation :)

Rant:  3 weeks ago I contacted my agent with flight dates, etc.

She was on vacation at the time, so a different agent prices the ticket out three different ways, as I requested, BUT tells me she will forward this on to my agent when she returns from her vacation on 11/21.

Being "polite" I waited for a week after her return to email her, as I didn't get a follow up.

NOW, the tickets have all increased (not news to me, as that is why I contacted her 3 weeks ago), so I will now be paying $400 more for my itinerary :(

I thought some of you would enjoy hearing about my unfortunate situation :)

Is buying tickets through an agent ever really any better than buying tickets yourself? I've never understood the need for travel agents in current times when buying tickets is so easy.

I guess it's much like going through a recruiter when looking for a new job.  Those with lots of travel experience you would never expect to do so, no?

Absolutely.  Such a scam when the internet is at your fingertips.

My parents still insist on booking through an agent even though I tell them not to.  They're old I suppose. 

Pecan, exactly how old are you? 

I guess it's much like going through a recruiter when looking for a new job.  Those with lots of travel experience you would never expect to do so, no?

Haha perfect

Rant:  3 weeks ago I contacted my agent with flight dates, etc.

She was on vacation at the time, so a different agent prices the ticket out three different ways, as I requested, BUT tells me she will forward this on to my agent when she returns from her vacation on 11/21.

Being "polite" I waited for a week after her return to email her, as I didn't get a follow up.

NOW, the tickets have all increased (not news to me, as that is why I contacted her 3 weeks ago), so I will now be paying $400 more for my itinerary :(

I thought some of you would enjoy hearing about my unfortunate situation :)

Is buying tickets through an agent ever really any better than buying tickets yourself? I've never understood the need for travel agents in current times when buying tickets is so easy.

Why book direct when you can pay a commission to an agent to find the ticket you could have found yourself on the internet? lol.

The only time i could see a travel agent still being relevant in this day and age would be if you were looking for a package holiday that they could potentially have access and discounts to that the general public would not have.

I guess it's much like going through a recruiter when looking for a new job.  Those with lots of travel experience you would never expect to do so, no?

shots fired

You know what's ruder than blowing your nose? Sniffling every 12 seconds accompanied with the obligatory pig sound.

lol, CO2, is all the stuff about how "rude" you are coming from just one person, or several?

lol, CO2, is all the stuff about how "rude" you are coming from just one person, or several?

Well then you should probably just shock everyone into silence by doing things so heinous and disgusting that they'd be too embarrassed to correct you on any of it.

I've got examples, but they're not fit for public posting. You've just got to use your imagination.

We use a travel agent, because it is cheaper and much more convenient.  Agents get the consolidated tickets at a better price than the Internet/online third party companies, so we typically save $40-60 per ticket, and they can book it as one itinerary (internet would require separate itineraries, which is a major pain when it comes to what "baggage allowance" policy you will be covered under).

When you purchase online, you are NOT able to know the ticketing class you are being booked in, whether it is up-gradable, etc.  More importantly, these are NOT simple RT tickets, but multi-destination/multi-lag tickets (not skip-lag, but same premise).

These things are important, as I have attained top-tier membership (lifetime) status.  When I fly on a date where the economy is overbooked, I get bumped to business or first class, so long as my ticket is booked in one of the "proper" ticketing classes.

If booked online with a "discount" ticket (a booking class that they won't bump you), I'd be SOL.

Not sure about the rest of you, but I quite enjoy being able to fly business and first class when paying for an economy ticket.

With our agent, I have been bumped on more than 50% of my flight in the past 4-5 years :) (such a high-rate, isn't just luck).

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/thrillist/10-reasons-travel-agents_b_5591994.html

For those booking a straight forward routing, why not simply use the airline you are flying?

Booking online through some third party agency isn't going to be cheaper, so I don't get that...

Enlighten me ;)

(the silence is deafening)

For those booking a straight forward routing, why not simply use the airline you are flying?

Booking online through some third party agency isn't going to be cheaper, so I don't get that...

Enlighten me ;)

(the silence is deafening)

Isn't that how some of the online booking sites work anyway? You plug in your times/destination, they give you a list of options, but then once you choose it you're directed to the airline's site?

I suppose they might not all be like that, but that's what has happened the last two times I used Orbitz to look for flights. I looked up the info, then was sent to the American Airlines sight for all the booking. Maybe it depends on the airline, too?

I fly Asiana, so how would a site like Orbitz help me?

I still don't get it.

What am I missing?

I fly Asiana, so how would a site like Orbitz help me?

I don't still don't get it.

What am I missing?

Asiana is one of the airlines that comes up in flight searches when I use Orbitz. Is that not the case when you've tried?

I'll add that if you ONLY use one airline ever, then sure, a sight that compares prices on available flights won't be of any help to you, obviously.

For people looking for the best deal, it's a handy thing.

I'll add that if you ONLY use one airline ever, then sure, a sight that compares prices on available flights won't be of any help to you, obviously.

Exactly, plus all the things I mentioned in my initial response.

For those booking a straight forward routing, why not simply use the airline you are flying?

Booking online through some third party agency isn't going to be cheaper, so I don't get that...

Enlighten me ;)

(the silence is deafening)

Because the third party often has cheaper prices.

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on airline ticketing systems, but I have flown a lot.

I always shop around before buying a ticket. Sometimes the airline's listed price is exactly the same as third party websites. Other times the third party website (expedia, kayak, skyscanner etc) is considerably cheaper. Yes, often the tickets bought on these sites have certain restrictions, but for most people, price is the deciding factor.

I flew Air India a few years back to Hong Kong. I needed a Chinese visa too as I was going on into China from HK. So I thought I'd give a travel agent a try as they could deal with the visa too. He quoted me an absolutely outrageous ticket price. I showed him the Air India site and he babbled some reason why his was like over double that price. Later by myself I used skyscanner and found a ticket that was non-refunable that was 30% cheaper than the air india site.

I'll add that if you ONLY use one airline ever, then sure, a sight that compares prices on available flights won't be of any help to you, obviously.

Exactly, plus all the things I mentioned in my initial response.

But I was initially responding to your question of why people doing straight booking would us a 3rd party site rather than going through an airline. Not everyone starts with an airline in mind. In your case, there'd be no point. For people who don't care and are just looking for the cheapest ticket, there is a point.

So...my school offered me renewal and a raise but then I found most of the school knows about my request for a raise  and they don't like it...suddenly, people are less friendly than before and avoid talking to me, some are even downright rude when I greet them. Yeah, so after realizing that my communications with my boss about that and reference letters was being shared with many other people, I sent a formal letter of non-renewal...just to be very clear...since apparently everything I send gets shared with the vast majority of the staff here. Ridiculous. I on edge about not renewing without a job waiting in the wings, but unfortunately, at this time of year that is generally how it goes.  Got some leads, but for now...the anxiety is building.

I'm often surprised by the lack of business sense amongst co workers. We are at work to make money not be all happy families and keeping the boss happy by accepting the bare minimum. I've seen it many times with Koreans who stay for hours after work for half normal pay or even nothing and I say to them why don't you just go home? You aren't getting paid and you're being taken advantage of by your 'rich' employer. They say it's Korean culture and I say yeah but you don't have to be a sheep. Imagine bitching about travelinpants girl asking for a pay increase at a job where money is provided for services? Not even conceivable in the west.

I love that I have gone several contracts without a raise until I was just...done. Then they...as they always do, try this argument...
"But Chinese teacher and Japanese teacher teach more than you and get paid less."
Me(What I've always wanted to say but never have): And you're bragging about that? You don't feel even remotely bad about that and the fact that you are sharing that information with me to get me to back down? That's your strategy? Okay, then.
Also, our teaching hours are out of our control so stop bringing them up. How about leveling the playing field and hire another Japanese/Chinese teacher? No? Of course not. Then stop comparing us. It's not fair to them or me.
I really wish they would quit or stand up for themselves but that's never going to happen I think. Neither of them are reliant on a visa, so really they could leave whenever. Why don't they know their power?

I'll add that if you ONLY use one airline ever, then sure, a sight that compares prices on available flights won't be of any help to you, obviously.

Exactly, plus all the things I mentioned in my initial response.

But I was initially responding to your question of why people doing straight booking would us a 3rd party site rather than going through an airline. Not everyone starts with an airline in mind. In your case, there'd be no point. For people who don't care and are just looking for the cheapest ticket, there is a point.

When they use the third party site, are they able to know their ticketing class, like Q, Y, S, V etc. before they purchase?

Every ticketing class has a different fare price along with different restrictions regarding stopovers, mileage, etc.

I could buy a non-refundable, no date change permitted, 75% mileage ticket for dirt, but...