Complicated airline ticket purchase - advice needed
Jun 18th, 2009, 01:31 PM
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Complicated airline ticket purchase - advice needed
I'm helping my BIL get tickets to Cambodia from RDU (raleigh durham in NC, USA). He is going with his parents to/from Cambodia (so round trip tickets). He is returning with his wife to be, so she will need a one way ticket from Cambodia back to the US.
They all need to be on the same return flight from Cambodia to the USA. Therein lies the problem - it is really hard to find the cheap roundtrip tickets and then match a one way return ticket with it on the return leg. I asked the orbitz representative if we could just buy a round trip ticket for the fiance and throw away the first half and only use the return ticket from Cambodia to USA. He said "no go" since they would cancel the whole ticket if the first leg was not used.
It baffles me that one way tickets are more expensive than round trip tickets. I have considered buying a slightly more expensive roundtrip ticket (ie more than USA-CAmb-USA) from Cambodia to US and back to Cambodia since it is still cheaper than one way (if I can even find it).
I find using the orbitz/travelocity/farecompare/expedia services great for most airfare comparison shopping, but this is a special situation that is "above my paygrade". Is this something that is going to be most easily/cheaply solved by using a travel agent. Do they still exist? How do you go about finding a good one? What is the compensation structure for them/how much more are they going to charge me?
Thanks for the help!
They all need to be on the same return flight from Cambodia to the USA. Therein lies the problem - it is really hard to find the cheap roundtrip tickets and then match a one way return ticket with it on the return leg. I asked the orbitz representative if we could just buy a round trip ticket for the fiance and throw away the first half and only use the return ticket from Cambodia to USA. He said "no go" since they would cancel the whole ticket if the first leg was not used.
It baffles me that one way tickets are more expensive than round trip tickets. I have considered buying a slightly more expensive roundtrip ticket (ie more than USA-CAmb-USA) from Cambodia to US and back to Cambodia since it is still cheaper than one way (if I can even find it).
I find using the orbitz/travelocity/farecompare/expedia services great for most airfare comparison shopping, but this is a special situation that is "above my paygrade". Is this something that is going to be most easily/cheaply solved by using a travel agent. Do they still exist? How do you go about finding a good one? What is the compensation structure for them/how much more are they going to charge me?
Thanks for the help!
Jun 18th, 2009, 02:24 PM
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Why not buy a R/T USA-CAM-USA for you BIL and buy CAM-USA-CAM for his fiance? using the same return flight? Throw away her return.
If that does not work, open up your local Yellow Pages and look for a TA. Call few and ask what their charges would be. Depending on where you live, there may be 1 or 2 agents specializing in US-Asia travel. That would be your best bet. These agents usually have special deals with some of the airlines, deals you and I will never find on the internet. Usually the big west coast cities have few agents, New York may have few and large cities in midwest will also have few. Wherever there is a large Asia-American population you should have no problem with finding a TA that specializes in Asia travel.
If that does not work, open up your local Yellow Pages and look for a TA. Call few and ask what their charges would be. Depending on where you live, there may be 1 or 2 agents specializing in US-Asia travel. That would be your best bet. These agents usually have special deals with some of the airlines, deals you and I will never find on the internet. Usually the big west coast cities have few agents, New York may have few and large cities in midwest will also have few. Wherever there is a large Asia-American population you should have no problem with finding a TA that specializes in Asia travel.
Jun 19th, 2009, 05:36 AM
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Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll plan on following AAFreqFl's advice: "...buy a R/T USA-CAM-USA for you BIL and buy CAM-USA-CAM for his fiance? using the same return flight? Throw away her return." I may also contact a travel agent or two to see if they can beat what I put together myself from one of the online TA sites like orbitz/travelocity.
Anyone else have ideas or website suggestions to help with more complicated international airfare searches?
Anyone else have ideas or website suggestions to help with more complicated international airfare searches?
Jun 21st, 2009, 02:31 AM
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What I would suggest is:
She goes to the agency and make a reservation for a few flights. Then let them know what flights and they try to match. Once done she cancels all the other reservations and buy the one they matched.
hope that helps
She goes to the agency and make a reservation for a few flights. Then let them know what flights and they try to match. Once done she cancels all the other reservations and buy the one they matched.
hope that helps
Jun 22nd, 2009, 12:11 PM
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This is one case where a travel agent may be your biggest help. TA's can hold flights for 7 or 14 days w/ out while you are making sure all the flights match. On the internet it's not possible to hold flights w/ out paying...
