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Comment by londgine | Hacker News Reader

I used to like booking though kiwi, but last time I booked with them, I wanted to add a suitcase later, and I was unable to add it through the airlines website, since kiwi refused to expose what email address they used. The only way to add a suitcase was through their site, but that cost more than double.

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I worked for an OTA (currently a brand owned by Expedia, like most of them, but a real company back then) and we always had issues with airline bookings, as the airlines did not want to expose all of their offerings to us so they could make extra money later. We always got yelled at by people who booked Spirit, as their "price" in our system was always the lowest, but after booking, the airline would add on fees for so many things that the flight was no longer cheap, but it was somehow our fault.

Airlines also give up almost no commission to anyone, local travel agencies or online, so it's generally profitless to book them for someone other than hoping you get to book a hotel as well, which is negotiated to provide profit. Airlines also hate comparison shopping; they want you to book on their website so you can't see what someone else might charge for the same flight. Southwest was/is the king of that; they allowed no sales elsewhere, so you could never tell if they were cheaper/cost more. It's like insisting that a monopoly view on prices is best for the customer.

I book all my flights via the airlines web site. No exceptions and no matter which airline.

If something goes wrong it's cumbersome and agonizing enough to deal with the airline.

You won't, however, be hung out to dry by two entities wanting nothing to do with you and sticking their fingers into their ears going LALALA! at the top of their voice and shifting responsibility to each other.

This was (and is) different with physical travel agents who will support you, if necessary, but OTAs? No thanks! Forget it! Never, when it comes to booking flights.

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