You may not get the best deal/least troublesome flight from here. Well, at least for international flights.
I was trying to book a flight from Chicago->Seoul, and the options showed at least $2000 for the cheapest flight, which involved a 33hr total journey through China and Japan. I then asked my Korean friends, who recommended a travel agent and they got me a $1700 ticket with only 17hrs direct flight
Same here. My travel agent can always find me cheaper international tickets than what I could find on the internet. Does anyone know exactly how this works?
The best part is they can put me on a wait list for cheap tickets!
Most travel agents on long-distance, well travelled routes work through consolidators. These consolidators buy tickets (or promise to buy tickets) in bulk far in advance, and then re-sell them later. This is what I've heard about segments like USA <-> India.
> Same here. My travel agent can always find me cheaper international tickets than what I could find on the internet.
Funny, I've always had the opposite experience: every time I've used a travel agent, they always found more expensive flights with worse timings (time of day, layover, etc), and I end up requesting specific flights based on what I've found online.
I've used a travel agent once; she found me a trans-continental flight for about $200 less than I could find anywhere else, but for some reason I've never tried calling again.
I was trying to book a flight from Chicago->Seoul, and the options showed at least $2000 for the cheapest flight, which involved a 33hr total journey through China and Japan. I then asked my Korean friends, who recommended a travel agent and they got me a $1700 ticket with only 17hrs direct flight