Booking directly or through 3rd party
 

I've been looking at flights from Los Angeles to Milan / Rome to Los Angeles and had been eyeing some flights on KLM, which has a good reputation from what I've seen. Then once I looked closer, I realized that the flights were with KLM partners and the LA to NY flight is on Delta and the NY to Milan on Alitalia. Same is true of the return flights. After much looking around, I still believe that these are the best flights for us overall, and the price of the flights seems to be the same whether you book them on Delta's website or on KLM's website. (Interestingly, the Rome-LA flight I want isn't available on the Alitalia website - should this be a concern?) In any case, does anyone have any ideas on whether it's better to book directly through Delta or through KLM? If the price is the same, is there anything else I should be concerned about? Thanks for any wisdom you can share...

Book through KLM (or any other EU based airline) and you get EU protection on both the outward and return flights, book with Delta and the protection only extends to the flight home.

Sometimes, not always, seat selection is easier on a ticket issued by the operator of the flight.

Since KLM, Alitalia, and Delta are all Skyteam alliance partners with a lot of code sharing I would actually call this booking through a 2.5nd party - it's not quite the same as a true independent 3rd party such as expedia or other travel agency.

Given that the price is the same, I'd book through Delta myself.

I think it makes no difference whatsoever. Because they are alliance partners, I do not believe that dotheboyshall is correct about EU vs US protections. I also agree with J62 that this is not a 3rd party booking--that would be using a travel agent to book.

Book with the airline operating the flight. Anyone who tells you that it makes no difference is mistaken.

The potential problems arise when things don't go as planned. For example, if the flight is delayed, the operating carrier will likely notify you by phone or text, but there's far less chance of that happening if you're booked on a codeshare. And if the flight is cancelled, the operating carrier is usually in a far better position to rebook you than is the codeshare partner.

Don,
So which airline would you book through on this itinerary posted by the OP, which include 2 different airlines?

outbound, flight 1 = Delta, 2 = Alitalia
return = flight 1 = Alitalia, 2 = Delta.

Unless they buy separate tickets for each segment, which nobody is advising, one of the flights each direction is booked through someone other than the co operating the flight.

The OP stated that the itinerary is not offered through Alitalia, so booking with the Alitalia is not an option. Hence Delta = the preferred option in my book.

FWIW, J62's explanation was the reasoning behind my saying that it makes no difference which airline the OP books with in *this* situation.

Thanks for the clarification. I agree that I'd book with Delta. I'd try to avoid Alitalia unless there's no reasonable alternative, because of both their level of service and general financial instability.

Alitalia just received an infusion of $750M from Etihad, which will control AZ.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayi...alia/13885993/

You should book your trip on the website of KLM instead of going through the trouble of booking with two airlines separately. Or, the best option is to book through a reliable online travel portal.

Thanks for all the input! It felt like the easiest, cleanest route would be to book all the flights through Delta, but it sure helps to have so much input from people who know what they're talking about. Thanks!

<<<i>reliable online travel portal</i>>>

Which will be found right next to the herd of unicorns.

Not so, although well put, Seamus!
Travelocity, Expedia, Kayak...there are many reliable online travel portals.