BA and Price Comparison Sites
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 421
Likes: 38
From: London, UK
BA and Price Comparison Sites
Just booked London - Istanbul on Expedia for GBP 120 less than on the BA website. Same day, same flight. The confirmation email is from BA internet Sales.
Thats 33% off.
My son booked from switzerland one leg only on the same flight from IST to LhR and also paid significantly less.
i guess I’m naive. I’ve always assumed booking direct was the lowest cost option.
A strange way to treat loyal customers. Is this caveat emptor or moral bankruptcy?
Thats 33% off.
My son booked from switzerland one leg only on the same flight from IST to LhR and also paid significantly less.
i guess I’m naive. I’ve always assumed booking direct was the lowest cost option.
A strange way to treat loyal customers. Is this caveat emptor or moral bankruptcy?
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 124
Likes: 21
From: Brisbane
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 421
Likes: 38
From: London, UK
I saw their price promise. I also took a view on how likely it was I would get the voucher, how likely it was I’d be able to redeem it and how much I wanted to fly with them.
Whenever I think they can’t go any lower……
Whenever I think they can’t go any lower……
Joined: Oct 2018
Aviation Qualifications: PPL
Posts: 12,221
Likes: 1,649
From: Ferrara
There is a possible issue when booking through price comparison sites - it can be hard to discover what is in the small print on refunds/changes etc
I've also discovered it much harder to get any redress if anything goes wrong - the attitude of the airlines is " you chose Booking .com - go to them"
I've also discovered it much harder to get any redress if anything goes wrong - the attitude of the airlines is " you chose Booking .com - go to them"
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 596
Likes: 37
From: France
Is there not a danger that if your flight goes 'pear-shaped', you will not be able to do anything useful unless you go through the third party with whom you originally booked and paid for your your ticket ... this losing time (especially if you're in a suitably-different time zone) and flexibility to chase what seats are available from the company you were due to fly with or their competitors?
Joined: Jul 2007
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 1,090
Likes: 83
From: Germany
The comparison sites can be a bit misleading regarding hold luggage and terms and conditions. Often they try and upsell with flexibility and enhanced customer contact options. I have heard these are allegedly not always easy to use. Certainly one of the got you’s with almost any flexible ticket is that the airlines are somewhat opaque with fare classes and when you rebook the cheapest available fare class ends up costing significantly more.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 421
Likes: 38
From: London, UK
The choices for baggage were exactly as the BA website. The confirmation was from ‘BA internet sales’.
In my experience (with tickets bought from BA) if things go wrong they are totally inflexible. And they will jump through any hoop to avoid paying compensation to which you are legally entitled.
In my experience (with tickets bought from BA) if things go wrong they are totally inflexible. And they will jump through any hoop to avoid paying compensation to which you are legally entitled.
