How do you book your flights?

Historically, I have always booked flights on the Virgin website, and never felt I didn't get a good deal.

I have been discussing with friends to book a trip to Florida in September, so got pricing from usual place. That was until one of the trip members claimed that he could get the flight somewhat cheaper on GoToGate website.

My questions are:
Has anyone used this site, and is it safe. Plus, if I rang up Virgin, are they likely to match these prices.

Thanks in advance.

Does it have a UK phone number and a UK Postal address for starters.

The VS price match criteria are pretty strict and is not just based on price but on it being exactly like-for-like - see hereand the T&Cs

Note that in fact VS will refund you the difference from the booking on the other site and the VS price rather than let you book it via VS as the lower fare.

Personally I've always found the VS prices identical to those on expedia (or is that vice-versa?) but I generally book on expedia because (i) it avoids the VS cc fees in favour of a standard expedia admin fee and (2) I can get a bit of cash back from quidco.

Also I can contact (should there be problems) expedia 24/7 where with gotogate they are only open office hours Sunday - Friday and are closed on saturdays!

One note of caution when booking with a third party OTA: if for any reason you need to change your booking or if the airline cancels or reschedules your flights (which happens quite frequently), you'll have to deal with the agent not the airline if there are any issues. Which can often involve dealing with an agent in an overseas call centre who has to liaise with the airline to approve any changes.

If you're just looking for simple A-B flights you should be fine but if it's a more complicated itinerary that's time sensitive or involves connections I'd book direct with the airline or with a travel agent in person as you'll find it a lot easier to get things sorted quickly and satisfactorily if anything goes wrong.

Specifically re GotoGate I have not used them. I would suggest you go to Trip Adviser Flights Forum and do a search, you will find it interesting..

There is nothing wrong with using reputable third parties such as Expedia and??????, well...such as Expedia. And doing the Dublin lurk via them can certainly save you money.

However, as Gumshoe says, the downside is that when things go wrong or you need to make changes then you have a layer, the OTA, between you and the respective airline.

As I said in my most recent TR, when, last week, I had to get home from Australia in a hurry, I just went ahead and booked with another airline (EK) rather than contact Expedia to try and sort alternatives with VA and EY. Not to say that they would not have sorted things painlessly...they may well have done, but I did not want any hassle. Expedia can deal with the resultant refunds!

I usually book direct with the airline- I find it more reassuring should things go pear-shaped. And as I usually always use airmiles to book flights, it is the only option.

I did once book a hotel/ VS return flight via Expedia and had no problems. When the flight was cancelled (several weeks in advance) Expedia notified me (a day after I had already found out from another source, but nonetheless, I was informed in good time).

Thanks for your replies.

Looks like I will be pressing for direct booking. At least this gives us pieces of mind that we can call someone up if we encounter any issues.

I book direct buying upgradeable Economy and usually upgrading at least part there and then using miles.
I do it early because I fly to MCO and rewards seats are few on that route.

Dick D