Kim

I am trying to convince my husband we need to go to either Paris or London in March 2001 during his final spring break of law school. We probably won't be able to get time off again for at least a couple of years while he is establishing his legal career. Anyway, I was on TISS this morning and discovered r/t fares from Columbus, OH for $340.00 to London and $385 to Paris (both on US Air). Direct airfare on usair.com was about $495.00 to either city. Does anyone have any experience with TISS? Or should I just pay the extra $100 per ticket for piece of mind? Any experience or advice in appreciated. <BR> <BR>Thanks, <BR> <BR>Kim

AC

Wow Kim: <BR>Great prices. I would not be too concerned about buying your tickets through TISS. They are similar to Expedia or AMEX travel services. If you are concerned, though, log onto to the website of the Airline and see if the same price comes up. ' <BR>When I use these services, I am more concerned about which airline, time of day, etc. <BR>I would save the $100 towards a great dinner out in Paris! Have a great trip and I hope this helps.

lisa

Hi Kim. There is a great article on Frommer's website today about discounted airfares to Europe at the moment. http://www.frommers.com/newsletters/today/article1.html

Carol

What's TISS please?

Annie

TISS= <BR>Travel Information Software System <BR>www.tiss.com <BR>

Rex

From the Columbus area? May I invite you to the (tentative) Fodorites' get-together in Cincinnati? More details on a separate thread. <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>Westerville, Ohio

Kim

Thanks for the advice. I did read Frommer's article. Now I have to convince my husband we need to go! Never mind that we just got back from Bavaria, Salzburg, & Venice two weeks ago (used FF miles)! <BR> <BR>One more question-- do you know if you can accrue FF miles on tickets purchased through TISS or other consolidators? We are very close to having enough miles to go to Europe again-- this trip would do it. <BR> <BR>Rex-- I'd love to come to the get-together, but we'll be in Austin for a wedding that weekend. Maybe another time. <BR> <BR>Thanks again, <BR> <BR>Kim

s!

Make sure the price includes all taxes and airprt fees. By the time they finish all the add-ons...the price might be in the USAirways range. <BR> <BR>

Christina

I wouldn't worry about them as they are big and have been around a while, I've heard of people getting tickets through them okay. However, their prices do NOT include taxes, surcharges, etc, if you read their fine print -- many sites do not include taxes to try to fool you that you are getting a discount, they are one of them. In fact, their fine print even claims weekend "surcharges" are not included which is nonsense as they know from the dates whether the price is higher or not--that could add on about $50 if your dates were on weekends. I think they are German, not sure. In short, I suspect their air fare is virtually the same as buying directly from the airline, which I would do just because that is one more middleman to cut out of the process who can screw things up (dates, delivery, needing changes, etc) and you would be sure to get your FF miles that way. You usually cannot get FF miles from consolidator tickets as they are not being bought from the airline. Also, TISS will probably charge you $10 for ticket delivery and if you buy from an airline direct, they are mailed for free.

kalena/karin

Just got $732 rt from Honolulu to Paris in early june through TISS. So far so good. We should get the tickets within 14 days.

Steve

Never used TISS, but I concur with the warning to check the fine print for all "extra" charges --- taxes, fuel surcharges, weekend fares, etc. We just returned from Belgium & Luxembourg on a Delta special fare (their short notice, weekend "Escape Plan"). Base fare (weekdays both ways) was only $238 r/t Atlanta to Brussels, but taxes added $60 per person. Still a great deal for October, and the plane was only about half full going over. Can't compare Columbus fares to Atlanta, but in the past we've seen sales pop up in November & December for your desired time frame in the $300-350 price range here.

Alice

When I almost had to cancel my trip bought from SkyAuction, Continental told me they did not know the 'value' of my tickets b/c they did not issue them, therefore I couldn't use them for a future credit. Only trip cancellation insurance would have helped, and then only for a covered reason. So I think there is more risk in using a consolidator to offset the lower price.

Ed

There are some (minor, relatively) risks associated with using consolidators. As a general rule I would prefer to get consolidator tickets through a (trusted, experienced) travel consultant than directly. <BR> <BR>Regardless, consolidator tickets almost never provide frequent flyer mileage. That would be like having your cake (low fare) and eating it too (FF miles). <BR> <BR>Ed

Tom

Ed - I have used tiss 4 times and received ff miles on each flight. One time on an Air Canada flight from MKE-LHR we flew the day after the Air Canada strike was settled and got triple miles! PS enjoy your web site. Tom

JP

Nothing wrong with our TISS experience last May. They seem especially good at one-way international flights (like ours from Frankfurt to Minneapolis). I didn't feel that they were trying to hide any charges from us. <BR> <BR>There are a number of good internet consolidators out there; my sister found the best fare for her flight to Germany last May at www.bananatravel.com.

lisa

FYI, apparently British Airways has just announced a fare sale from various cities in the U.S. to various European destinations as well -- $258 roundtrip to London from some cities. <BR>http://www.frommers.com/newsletters/today/article2.html

carolyn

We used a consolidator, Council Travel, in Bloomington, IN, phone 812-330-1600, for tickets on American Airlines to Frankfurt with a return from Paris that saved us about $200 each, and we did get frequent flyer miles. The catch was we had to fly west to Dallas to get a plane east to Germany!