Snooper Buster has been in touch to ask for advice on online travel agents as he’s keen to book a flight to South Africa later in the year
With all the uncertainty surrounding travel right now due to covid restrictions in general, and it’s resulting impact on the travel industry (specifically the responsiveness and reliability of individual companies), he was keen to get our views.
We don’t have any specific recommendations for this one. So we wanted to open it up to the floor and see what sites other Snoopers have used and approve of…
If you’re happy to help, we’d love you to let us know:
• Which site(s) do you use?
• What’s so good about them?
• Anyone to avoid?
• Any other pointers?
It would be great if the Snooper community could help Buster out with a few tips!
I use thepointsguy.co.uk - it’s a site for member of flyer loyalty programs but they’ve been super useful during the pandemic in providing info on what’s open, what’s not, what you need to comply with, and what you need to know before you go.
I use Jack’s Flight Club. It let’s you select your local airports and sends your great deals on all sorts of flights. A premium membership costs a few pounds a quarter but can save you thousands on flights.
As a general rule, I tend to buy these straight from the airline as they are more lenient with flights booked from their websites, but you can save even further through the suggested agencies.
www.headforpoints.com is usually a go to resource for me! Rob and team cover off all things travel and loyalty related, including hotels, credit cards and travel deals.
As a bit of general advice - I’d say use an online travel agent to do your discovery and comparisons but, wherever possible, you should book direct with the provider and on a credit card. More often than not, booking through an online travel agent (especially the low cost ones) means you’re bound by their t&c’s and not that of the provider, which are often more restrictive/expensive to change or cancel.
I usually use flights.google.com to find the best deals. Their alternative airport finder and calendar views are really great tools. Sometimes, extending or moving a trip by a day or so can save you £000’s!
Recently had a pretty poor experience with Otel.com who have not yet refunded a fully refundable booking after 6 months of requesting it. So I’d avoid them at all costs!
Again - with hotels - you should try to book direct, especially if you collect loyalty points. More often than not, booking through a 3rd party also means you won’t earn on the hotels loyalty scheme.
