Any downsides to using booking sites for European flights?
 

I have my tickets to and from Portugal but want to plan on flying from Portugal to Rome for five days sometime during my stay. i have found some very good fares on several booking sites but seem to remember cautionary tales. I can book directly with TAP (Air Portugal) but can save using Orbitz or another site for the same TAP flights.

Is there any down side to booking other then directly with the carrier? If there are weather delays, flight cancellations or other unforeseen travel problems would I be dealing with Orbitz or Expedia rather than TAP?

In all my 60+ trips tp Europe I have always booked directly with the carrier so I have no experience with this and appreciate your thoughts.

The downside is that you are booking through a third party. If anything goes wrong, your recourse is not with the airline, but the very same third party.

I always book directly from the airline. One screwup and it's you that is screwed.

I also always book directly with airlines and hotels...I don't want to deal with a third party if something goes wrong!

I have booked for two trips with multiple short flights (9 and 15) through Bravofly. In both cases we opted for their no problems insurance. The first trip in 2009 the service was great. An airline changed the time of one of the flights (which often happens) and when I told Bravofly that the new time did not suit, they asked whether I would like them to book with another airline or just refund the money. The second time, in 2011 was completely different. The same thing happened. Bravofly now charged 5euro just to take your call even when it dropped out without resolving anything. The operator was supposed to speak english but didn't seem to comprehend the problem. After 5 days and numerous calls (all 5 euros each)they contacted me the day before the flight. They had the hide to tell me they had been waiting for a response from the airline (as if they were going to change the flight back just to suit me)and no offer of refund. They said we would have to go through the no problems insurance which had obviously been contracted out or sold off, so it was now a BIG problem instead of no problem. My advise is to book with the airline direct, but make sure you can get a refund if they change the flight time. Good luck

I have used third party sites several times when there was a significant saving over the airline's site. Recently I have used Orbitz, and in the past Travelocity and Vayama. I have not encountered problems, but I have not had to contact them so don't know how well the customer service would work.

IMO what you MIGHT consider doing is going directly TO the airline whose "low" fare appears on that booking site you are thinking of using to see if that same fare or something very similar appears.

There can also be the usual problems with booking directly. For an upcoming trip I recently got notified by the airline involved that a flight from Verona to Vienna had been cancelled. Eligible for a full refund but had to call Europe to get it. A minor inconvenience for sure but an inconvenience nonetheless.

But I would also recommend doing business with ANY airline directly if at all possible.

Thanks everyone for your replies. It looks like the best course is to book directly TAP. We will be celebrating my husband's birthday and our anniversary and would not want to have this trip marred by difficulties if problems arise. I was quite sure I had read cautionary remarks here in the past.

....and check
http://www.easyjet.com/
http://www.vueling.com/
Alitalia and Iberia too

Neckervd... ...I have checked smaller cheap airlines for the flights but Easy Jet does not fly in Nov when we plan on going and for convenience we want to fly from the airport in the south of Portugal, Faro, up to Lisbon and then on to Rome. We have flown Vueling in the past but now it is not so easy to get over to Seville where they fly from but thanks for the suggestions.

If you have found a better fare on what they call on this forum, a 3rd party website, then book it. All the bookings end up in the same place,ie the airline's system whether you make the booking via the airline's website or via a travel agent's website such as Orbitz, Expedia and the others.

Why would you pay more to book on TP via their own website rather than go via Orbitz which has the same flights but cheaper? I book lots of things via Expedia or Travelocity, yes my flights have got cancelled couple times due to weather but I just sorted it out at the airport directly with the airline. The airline doesn't care where you made the booking.
I book with whoever is the cheapest, if it is the airline website, fine, if it's via an online agent, also fine. I'd take the cautionary tales you read with a pinch of salt.

Same story with hotels, if you see a cheaper rate via an online agency website, book it. If it's cheaper on their own website, book that one.

Odin must have been very lucky with his airline dealings if they were prepared to refund him directly rather than through the company that made the booking and payment. The problem we experienced was that the only flight the airline had that day was moved from afternoon to morning. We had a half day tour booked and paid for. So the only option we had was to cancel and book with another airline. We found the airlines DO care if you have bought the ticket through someone other than them and you WILL have to deal with that third party to get your money back.