If I know what carriers fly the route I always go direct to them. I might check the Skyscanner type sites to confirm which carriers fly the route but I've never

If I know what carriers fly the route I always go direct to them. I might check the Skyscanner type sites to confirm which carriers fly the route but I've never booked a flight through them. Generally if you book direct it is much less hassle especially if you end up needing to make any changes to your booking. Booking via another party means they control the ticket and this makes flight changes, cancellations, etc much more difficult down the road. Booking direct means I can simply change in the airlines app -- often with no or low fees. And if I end up needing to call, I can call the airline directly or visit their office and change my tickets -- both of which is not possible if the ticket is held by another party. Booking direct also allows you to access a wider variety of fare types. The carrier I fly most often (Air New Zealand) has a complex fare structure that doesn't fit in with most resellers. This means resellers usually only offer the more expensive bag/food/etc-included fares whereas I can get the seat-only fare directly saving quite a bit of money. Really there is no benefit I can see booking with a third party. Always go direct to the airline.