In this post, we are going to talk about why it’s best to book your flights directly with the airlines, and not through third party websites like Expedia, Skyscanner, Priceline, etc. If you feel like to skipping dinner and going straight to dessert, be my guest and just read the last sentence you see in bold text. It’s okay, I do it all the time myself so I won’t judge you!

Let’s start with a bit of history. Back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, these third party travel companies essentially beat the airlines to the internet. This meant that they were able to reach the public faster and sell more airline tickets because the Internet made it easier to purchase airline tickets. Because these companies had a stranglehold on the distribution of airline tickets, they were able to charge the airlines high fees for bringing this demand to them. Thus, a few major airlines at the time like Continental, Delta, and United pooled capital together to launch Orbitz in an effort to lower their costs of distributing/selling airline tickets to the masses.

Ultimately, third party websites like these became the go-to for the public to purchase airline tickets online. And because the market was much less efficient back then, prices would often be different on all of these third party websites. Kayak was one of the first major players to create a website that aggregated all of these third party travel websites’ prices into one page. Ten or fifteen years ago, it was best practice to use a site like Kayak to start your airline ticket search, and then navigate to the best third party website to buy your airline tickets.

Fast forward to present day, this method offers very little value anymore. The airlines have somewhat caught up to these companies from a technology standpoint and now prefer to sell tickets directly through their website because then they don’t have to pay a selling concession to a third party. Additionally, airlines would rather sell tickets through their own sites because they are able to make much more ancillary revenue on items such as seat upgrades that way.

Because of this, the market for airline tickets today is nearly perfectly efficient. This means that you will pay more or less the same price for the same airline ticket regardless of if you purchase it through the airline directly or on a third party site. If the pricing is the same, why does it matter if I use a third party website, you may ask.

Here’s the punchline: There are some big downside factors of booking via a third party rather than the airline directly. Let’s dive into a few.

• Modifications & Cancellations: If you need to modify a reservation, cancel, or change a ticket it is best to contact the airline directly. However, if you book through a third party the airline will often tell you that you need to essentially “take it up with them” (“them” being the third party).
• Seat Selection, Seat Upgrades & Seat Changes: You will always find the best seat availability on the airline’s website. They have the best up-to-date information on seat availability. Additionally, you can purchase seat upgrades with money or miles at any time you wish.
• Frequent Flier Perks: Often if you book airline tickets with third parties the airline will not honor your frequent flier status when it comes to earning miles, lounge access, and other perks that come from frequent flier status.

The most important reason for why you should book your airline tickets directly with the airline and not a 3rd party: The Sky Key can save you money on your flights if you book directly with the airline, and not usually if you book with third parties.

Example: if you book a $400 flight on a third party website and the price drops to $300, you are out of luck. If you book with the airline directly, The Sky Key goes to work for you to get you that $100 back.

Some of the best things in life are simple, after all. Thank you for reading!

-Jacob

Co-Founder @ The Sky Key