Cheap Flight International

Why can a travel agency issue a cheaper airfare than the same ticket price online?

I searched the international airfare online. Some websites show the cheap airfare. But, the total price after adding the tax and fees will have no much difference on all websites. I called a local travel agency for the same ticket. It can be lower than about $150. Why can the travel agency issue the cheaper airfare than the same ticket price online? Is it possible to know the invoice airline ticket price?

Public Comments

1. The agency might be a bucket shop. These operations purchase bulk space at a deep discount and then re-sell it. Having said that, odds are they are not a bucket shop and that you are being baited and/or don't have a complete understanding of the transaction details. Caveat emptor is latin for 'let the buyer beware'. Be careful and make sure of all details before handing over your money or credit card info. Your ticket, regardless of who sells it to you, will be issued on the airline's ticket stock and have the value shown on it. You will not get a voucher that just says 'good for one trip". RJ
2. Or the discount airfare may have more restrictions than the one you purchase online. Most folks know that most of your online ticket purchases are non-refundable, non-transferrable (you can't get your money back and you can't change the name of the passenger). But there's even more restrictions that can be applied to the ticket and the more restricted the ticket is, the cheaper it is. You may be purchasing a ticket that isn't eligible to earn airline miles (which might not even be important to you) or one that you can't upgrade (which may be very important, if the plane isn't full and you have the chance to pay $100 or $200 more to get into first class). There's a lot of other possible restrictions so you should check carefully with the travel agent before you buy.
3. Where you buy your ticket from is always a bit of a lottery which is why I advise people to shop around, online, at an agency and at the airline's own website. Frankly I have known each one to be cheaper on different occasions for similar itineraries. Always shop around and always buy as far in advance of the flight as you can. This not only gives you time to look around but also gets the cheapest tickets as airlines release tickets in batches. Cheapest are about ten months prior to departure and when those are gone another batch comes out at higher price. Sometimes they overlap and one outlet can still sell at the lower price. All tickets, other than full priced ones are very restricted. Usually no changes and no refunds. You need to be aware of this.
4. We don't know what country you're in, so it's difficult to know how travel agencies operate in all the different countries in the world. In the USA, this does not happen with US domestic flights. But for international flights originating in the USA, what you described does happen with foreign carriers. They operate differently and they maintain more control of their ticket inventory. Their reservation system is under their own control, with the main office in the foreign country. These airlines make deals with the travel agents to book tours, and in turn the agents can deal with the airlines on your behalf. If this is your situation in the USA, you might even shop around different agencies because some are cheaper than others. By the way, one time on an EVA Air ticket, the travel agency invoice showed the fare at about $2,000. But I only paid about $1,000