> We didn't have any issues, but if we did I don't know if I'd worry about Expedia's customer service being much worse than an airline's own service.
The problem (speaking as someone who has to deal with Travel Agents many, many times) is that Expedia will say it's Cathay's problem, and Cathay will refuse to speak to you and tell you it's Expedia's problem.
This has happened to me so many times with both flights and hotels. Now I very rarely book through third parties (only search) unless the discounted rate is compelling enough.
It just happened to me 2 weeks ago. I booked a resort in Cancun through Chase Travel at a heavily-discounted rate and made an error in booking, for one person versus needing two. Chase said they couldn't change it and to call the resort, their middle agency said they couldn't change it, and the resort said they couldn't change it and to call the agent! It eventually got fixed after hours of calling and essentially pleading.
I'm very late to this, but actually it was the resort in this case. The whole process was clearly very undocumented and had a very backroom-y feel to it but they made it happen.
The problem (speaking as someone who has to deal with Travel Agents many, many times) is that Expedia will say it's Cathay's problem, and Cathay will refuse to speak to you and tell you it's Expedia's problem.