Officially Shipping

The big lie in travel is that the internet sites have the lowest prices. There are many times when they do not. Specifically airfares to Asia and Europe are almost always hundreds of dollars lower via CONSOLIDATORS. In order to access a consolidator you must have an IATA number which is what your travel agent has. Your travel agent can then contact one of the 15 major consolidators to provide you with tickets and seat assignments.

Another benefit of using a travel agent is that if your flight is delayed the travel agent can assist you. Try getting assistance from an on line cyberspace ticketing operation.

Further certain adds by Travelocity argue that you get a free night if you book a trip to Hawaii for a certain number of days. The extra night free has been around for over 20 years. It is not a unique benefit. You can get the same deal from any travel agent.

Is the online agency biased? Sometimes it is. Sabre owns Travelocity and was created by American Airlines. Given a choice between flying on Hawaiian Airlines and American Airlines to Hawaii guess which airline you may end up on even if Hawaiian has a non-stop flight.

Have you even been bumped? You may avoid ever being bumped by asking the airline agent to show you their priority boarding list. Ralph Nader asked that question to Allegheny Airlines. Later, in Nader v. Allegheny Airlines, Nader was awarded $25,000 for being bumped. When a flight is oversold the airlines will give free tickets and cash to save the cost of $25,000 per person. Here in California under Weaver v. Pasadena Tournament of Roses, you can file a class action suit. And with California’s unique application of collateral Estoppel you will almost always win. Perhaps that is why the airlines want you to sue in their home state of Illinois, Georgia, etc. But you can always find a good attorney who can circumvent the airlines boilerplate and win for you.

If you have anymore ideas on travel related issues let me know so that we can compare experiences.