Early Skyscanner flights legit?

[Planes]

Looking at flights on emirates in late September next year. On the emirates website they only have flights selling to late August 2023. But on skyscanner there are Emirates flights to the end of September 2023 offered by numerous third parties. Are these flights legit? How do third parties get tickets before the airlines offer them?

thanks

 

[AIRwin]

Which particular third parties?

 

[Planes]

Which particular third parties?

Aunt betty, byojet, kissandfly, bravofly, studentuniverse

 

[JohnK]

Aunt betty, byojet, kissandfly, bravofly, studentuniverse

I've been looking at one-way flights for wife/daughter to come back from Thailand and these 3rd party sites come up often as cheaper.

Be very weary. Read the reviews. The reviews are not good at all.

By the way don't look at good reviews. Look at the reviews where something has gone wrong and you're left without a flight and no one to contact.

 

[Planes]

I've been looking at one-way flights for wife/daughter to come back from Thailand and these 3rd party sites come up often as cheaper.

Be very weary. Read the reviews. The reviews are not good at all.

By the way don't look at good reviews. Look at the reviews where something has gone wrong and you're left without a flight and no one to contact.

My golden rule has always been to book direct with airlines to avoid all the third party hassle that comes with cancellation and delayed flights.

But we are in unusual times and the flights for my departure in august have already booked out on the emirates website and my return flight still wont be available for another 4 weeks on their website. The flights for both departure and return are however available amonst the third parties.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I booked flights with Aunt Betty, who I believe are a subsidiary of Fright Centre? I read the reviews but as travel was only a week after booking and I wasn’t going to cancel or need other assistance I bit the bullet. It paid off nicely (tickets to Bali, pre covid, and were $150 cheaper through them than going direct).

Would possibly have been a different story if it had been a month later during covid, with many agencies refusing refunds.

Agree with JohnK, do your research, looking at the bad reviews. Some are baseless, but a lot of them are valuable, particularly when it comes to things like ease of contact.

Airlines usually open bookings a year in advance. So offering flights for september next year should just be in the booking window now.

 

[Planes]

Its not so much the bad reviews im worried about regarding how they handle cancellations and flight changes. Its just whether the tickets they are selling for emirates flights will be actual real tickets given emirates themselves arent selling tickets that far in advance. Does anyone know the answer to this? Is it normal for third parties to have tickets on dates before the actual airlines themselves release the tickets?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Its not so much the bad reviews im worried about regarding how they handle cancellations and flight changes. Its just whether the tickets they are selling for emirates flights will be actual real tickets given emirates themselves arent selling tickets that far in advance. Does anyone know the answer to this? Is it normal for third parties to have tickets on dates before the actual airlines themselves release the tickets?

Don’t see that as a problem. The Emirates website says their online booking portal only opens 328 days prior to departure: Booking with Emirates | Frequently Asked Questions | Emirates Australia (scroll about halfway down)

Airlines normally release seats 365 days before, so there’s some system limitation with their website by the looks of it. Traditional travel agencies and their online counterparts obviously have access to the full range of availability (365 days)

 

[Ade]

Is it normal for third parties to have tickets on dates before the actual airlines themselves release the tickets?

Well, what I know is that airlines release seat 363 (?) days in advance on their websites. What I don't know is if, airlines pass on the "super cheap" buckets to OTA even before the seats are released in their own websites. EK might be doing this to boost bookings? boost pax numbers etc? Purely going by my thinking here ... If EK wanted to sell tickets fast (pax number wise), the easiest would be release cheap fare buckets to OTA well in advance than any other airline ... say on SYD-DXB if EK was selling Y seats for $500 less than say QF, then pax would buy EK fares ... EK might want to release expensive buckets on their own website for those business type, corporate paying pax and cheap-o fares to OTA ... My 2 cents

 

[Planes]

Excellent thanks for helping me out. Much appreciated.

 

[JohnK]

Noticed something last night after posting my comment.

Skyscanner has some flights direct with them that are cheaper than Singapore Airlines.

Would it be worth it going via Skyscanner?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Noticed something last night after posting my comment.

Skyscanner has some flights direct with them that are cheaper than Singapore Airlines.

Would it be worth it going via Skyscanner?

I think it comes down to the agency providing the fares… some are ok, others might have issues.

 

[AIRwin]

I think it comes down to the agency providing the fares… some are ok, others might have issues.

@JohnK was referring to direct bookings with Skyscanner that they may offer as an option which I've noticed recently but didn't end up trying... I'm also interested to know?

 

[JohnK]

I think it comes down to the agency providing the fares… some are ok, others might have issues.

I actually meant Skyscanner itself not an agency.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I actually meant Skyscanner itself not an agency.

Oh, this a new functionality? When I go to sckscanner.com.au it gives me the prices, but then a list of agencies to book through for that price. Or the airline direct.

Edited… I see now for some routes/airlines skyscanner will take you directly to the airline website.

Yes, in that case I’d be ok using the link.

 

[JohnK]

Yes, in that case I’d be ok using the link.

Yes it's new functionality and looks to be a decent discount.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes it's new functionality and looks to be a decent discount.

Yeah. As long as it honours the price once you click through. Google flights is notorious for quoting a price, taking you to the airline website, and then a higher price only being available. Google can sometimes work off historic fares. Have seen this quite a lot with VA fares through google.

 

[JohnK]

I've just been checking Google flights and it's awful.

I've just been looking at all reviews for the agents listed on Skyscanner. Awful.

All of this has led me to Webjet. I've found an SQ airfare that is ~$500 cheaper. Is there anything to be weary? I assume there aren't any SQ airfares that do not earn on Velocity SXs even Enonomy lite? Can't add Velocity number but I'm sure that can be added later?

I hope airfare still available tomorrow.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've just been checking Google flights and it's awful.

I've just been looking at all reviews for the agents listed on Skyscanner. Awful.

All of this has led me to Webjet. I've found an SQ airfare that is ~$500 cheaper. Is there anything to be weary? I assume there aren't any SQ airfares that do not earn on Velocity SXs even Enonomy lite? Can't add Velocity number but I'm sure that can be added later?

I hope airfare still available tomorrow.

What’s your concern with google flights? They’re usually pretty good for fares, with some exceptions like Va domestic fares, which it sometimes has old prices for.

Webjet… I don’t like them as a matter of principle… they charge a compulsory ‘fare lock guarantee’ which is very expensive to ‘guarantee the fare they list will be available’. But only up to a certain $ value.

What sort of company advertises a price, then charges you a fee to honour that price?

I flew an SQ V class fare between Thailand and Singapore a couple months ago. it didn’t earn anything in VA or any other star alliance program. Incorrect! See below!

 

[serfty]

I flew an SQ V class fare between Thailand and Singapore a couple months ago. it didn’t earn anything in VA or any other star alliance program.

Why not? I earned with V class in June.

Singapore Airlines

Earn Points with Singapore Airlines when you travel in an eligible fare class on flights with a SQ flight number that are operated by Singapore Airlines. You can also earn Status Credits and redeem Reward Seat. Learn more now.

experience.velocityfrequentflyer.com