4 ms·

I agree with this for _purchasing_ things, but not aggregating. I use a lot of these services to aggregate results and then visit airlines/hotels independently

I agree with this for _purchasing_ things, but not aggregating. I use a lot of these services to aggregate results and then visit airlines/hotels independently to see if the price is reasonable.

walrus01 2y ago
In some places in Canada there's many airports that are served by literally only two airlines. Air Canada and Westjet. It's certainly possible to use a 3rd party booking site to try to find a 'cheaper' price to go to/from those places, but as you'll see when you get your search results for a flight, there's basically no competition. Go directly to the Air Canada or Westjet websites themselves and the prices will usually be the same or slightly better.
- aliasxneo 2y ago
  Sure, of course aggregation makes no sense when there are only two options. But we recently traveled internationally to an extremely populated place with literally hundreds of hotels, and these aggregation services were invaluable in deciding where to stay.
- rescbr 2y ago
  I've seen online travel agencies with better prices compared to the airline/hotel website even with fares at the same changes/cancellation policies. OTOH, I prefer to purchase tickets directly with the airline because dealing with them directly when something happens is way better compared to having the OTA in the middle. Sometimes paying a small difference is worth the peace of mind.
- _puk 2y ago
  Does the air Canada website work nowadays? Last time I tried (admittedly 2 years ago) I found myself literally screaming "just take my goddamn money".. the most painful website I've used for years. And then they lost our luggage (tents and all), but that's another story.
scarface_74 2y ago
For context, my wife and I did the digital nomad thing flying one way trips across the US for 10 months between 10/2022-10/2023 staying in hotels and I was traveling for work and she had conferences so we were staying in two hotels at a time sometimes. Last year, we had around 70 days and this year we are looking at between 60-70 days. At that point, hotel loyalty has benefits - loyalty points for free hotel stays , seat upgrades for flights and hotel room upgrades, lounge access when you fly a preferred airline etc. Right now, if at all possible and the rates aren’t too much different, I’m going to stay in Hilton or Hyatt brand hotels. While I don’t care about 5 star hotels, I’m not staying at a Days Inn.
- rconti 2y ago
  It's worth explicitly stating that you (often?) don't get hotel rewards when your stays are booked through a third party. This isn't the case with airline miles; you get them either way, it seems. But there are often other benefits (eg, you get 5x miles if you book with your airline credit card directly through the airline).
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    That’s true. The issue with airlines is that if you have to make any changes, it’s harder and in the case of st least AA, they charge a fee when you change a flight that was booked through a third party portal that would be free if you book directly.
  - varjag 2y ago
    Third parties often have their own fairly reasonable reward systems. And you are not tied down to a specific chain.

I agree with this for _purchasing_ things, but not aggregating. I use a lot of these services to aggregate results and then visit airlines/hotels independently to see if the price is reasonable.

walrus01 2y ago

In some places in Canada there's many airports that are served by literally only two airlines. Air Canada and Westjet. It's certainly possible to use a 3rd party booking site to try to find a 'cheaper' price to go to/from those places, but as you'll see when you get your search results for a flight, there's basically no competition. Go directly to the Air Canada or Westjet websites themselves and the prices will usually be the same or slightly better.

aliasxneo 2y ago
Sure, of course aggregation makes no sense when there are only two options. But we recently traveled internationally to an extremely populated place with literally hundreds of hotels, and these aggregation services were invaluable in deciding where to stay.
rescbr 2y ago
I've seen online travel agencies with better prices compared to the airline/hotel website even with fares at the same changes/cancellation policies. OTOH, I prefer to purchase tickets directly with the airline because dealing with them directly when something happens is way better compared to having the OTA in the middle. Sometimes paying a small difference is worth the peace of mind.
_puk 2y ago
Does the air Canada website work nowadays? Last time I tried (admittedly 2 years ago) I found myself literally screaming "just take my goddamn money".. the most painful website I've used for years. And then they lost our luggage (tents and all), but that's another story.

scarface_74 2y ago

For context, my wife and I did the digital nomad thing flying one way trips across the US for 10 months between 10/2022-10/2023 staying in hotels and I was traveling for work and she had conferences so we were staying in two hotels at a time sometimes. Last year, we had around 70 days and this year we are looking at between 60-70 days. At that point, hotel loyalty has benefits - loyalty points for free hotel stays , seat upgrades for flights and hotel room upgrades, lounge access when you fly a preferred airline etc. Right now, if at all possible and the rates aren’t too much different, I’m going to stay in Hilton or Hyatt brand hotels. While I don’t care about 5 star hotels, I’m not staying at a Days Inn.

rconti 2y ago
It's worth explicitly stating that you (often?) don't get hotel rewards when your stays are booked through a third party. This isn't the case with airline miles; you get them either way, it seems. But there are often other benefits (eg, you get 5x miles if you book with your airline credit card directly through the airline).
- scarface_74 2y ago
  That’s true. The issue with airlines is that if you have to make any changes, it’s harder and in the case of st least AA, they charge a fee when you change a flight that was booked through a third party portal that would be free if you book directly.
- varjag 2y ago
  Third parties often have their own fairly reasonable reward systems. And you are not tied down to a specific chain.