Pe@rson From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 18883 posts, RR: 54 Posted (5 years 1 month 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 2255 times:
I looked at this site several years ago, but thought nothing of it. Then the other day I stumbled upon it again. It’s only appealing for the ability to buy hard-to-book tickets on obscurer airlines, particularly those in Russia, CIS and some other places. Naturally, a premium is charged. For example, you can see on Amadeus Best Fares that DXB-CGP-DAC with BG (on the 742) should on the 16th June is £77* - yet frustratingly you can't book it on the given link, suggesting you'd probably have to visit your local BG office to get that fare. Alternative Airlines charge £98.80 for that flight. The difference (£21.80) is, I suppose, offset by the saved money, time and effort of not having to visit your local BG office.
Just thought it might be of some help or relevance to anyone planning a trip on rarer, harder-to-book airlines.
"Everyone writing for the Telegraph knows that the way to grab eyeballs is with Ryanair and/or sex."
JGPH1A From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 1, posted (5 years 1 month 3 days 23 hours ago) and read 2220 times:
Quoting Pe@rson (Thread starter): For example, you can see on Amadeus Best Fares that DXB-CGP-DAC with BG (on the 742) should on the 16th June is £77* - yet frustratingly you can't book it on the given link,
Probably because of a desynch between the availability information provided to 1A by BG and the actual state of inventory by the time the booking is requested. It is a problem for many carriers who are unable to provide real-time availability information.
Re this alternativeairlines.com website - how are the bookings actually processed ? Is the booking process automated at all ? If not I would be very cautious.
Pe@rson From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 18883 posts, RR: 54 Reply 2, posted (5 years 1 month 3 days 17 hours ago) and read 2192 times:
Quoting JGPH1A (Reply 1): Is the booking process automated at all ?
Well, it appears that it's processed normally. It says the ticket on BG is a non-eticket and is sent within 24 hours. If you try to book, say, BA on the site, it offers an eticket that's available immediately.
Quoting JGPH1A (Reply 1): Probably because of a desynch between the availability information provided to 1A by BG and the actual state of inventory by the time the booking is requested. It is a problem for many carriers who are unable to provide real-time availability information.
The link on Amadeus says the information comes from bangladeshonline.com. But when you visit that site there's nothing very little about aviation - pretty much the only bit is http://www.bangladeshonline.com/tourism/trans.htm. (BG's main site is bimanair.com.)
I don't intend to book anything through the site, but it's nonetheless interesting for certain airlines.
"Everyone writing for the Telegraph knows that the way to grab eyeballs is with Ryanair and/or sex."
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