I’m curious about the business model of flight retailers like BYOjet, IFly etc. When using flight search engines like SkyScanner, and choosing flight date and time options, it clear there is a price variance depending on the retailer, for the same flights and dates. Generally, buying direct from the airline seems the most expensive.
How does this work? Is there a catch with the third party retailers?
Having just booked some tickets around the USA for later this year as part of a fill-in group of segments of an around the world that was a separate ticket, I bought direct from United and American. Both were about 1/2 the price of the lowest ‘retailers’! Delta was similar but lost by schedule on the route.
Today many airlines give a lowest cost guarantee, and in the US there is also a government mandated 24 hour change of mind cancellation clause.
Many of the web sites also have routes and connections worthy of Rube Goldberg meeting Rafferty and having a family, hence sometimes low fares in return for eg an extra days travel time or visiting an extra continent along the way.
Other sites are or do business with ‘consolidators’ who buy blocks of tickets and resell them, so selling all of them is important for their economic survival, hence sometimes bargains.
Like @PhilT mentioned, the Online Travel Agents (OTAs in industry speak) access a Global Distribution System that gives them lower wholesale prices in bulk. And the prices fluctuate with demand, which is why you get different prices on different sites. You can read more in our Where to find the cheapest flights article.
