Of all the purchases which can be made online, cheap international airline tickets are the one purchase people are most reluctant to look for and buy.
Why should this be? In other areas, people are convinced that shopping online on the Internet gives the best choice and the best chance of a bargain. But when it comes to buying airline tickets, especially international airline tickets, people have been shown to be reluctant shoppers. Most of the activity on travel sites consists of browsing for information and looking for a general an idea of what a ticket to the particular destination might cost.
Then people pick up the phone or visit their travel agent to get contact with a human being and to buy their ticket.
For some reason, travelers have come to believe that the chances of buying a ticket at a lower price online than from a traditional travel agent is just a myth, or that having the reassurance of a real person to talk to about their travel plans makes paying a higher ticket price worth it.
Since an international air ticket, wherever in the world you are traveling to, is not a trivial expense, people may be more cautious than normal in using online travel services they are not familiar with.
However, things are changing fast. The latest air ticket services online actually give you the best of both worlds. First, you can phone or visit a travel agent with your travel plans, and see what deal they can come up with for you. Having done that research, you can then turn to the Internet to see if you can buy your tickets more cheaply, or go with a better airline.
The main benefit of the latest online air travel services is that they allow you to give a range of departure dates, then let you browse a list of fares and other details of flights which exactly match your requirements. Travel agents tend to focus on one or two options, while any good online air travel system will give you many, many more flights and fares to choose between, particularly if you are booking well ahead of your departure date.
In addition, telephone support is now available at the top online air travel services, so if you have a special question you can talk to a representative anyway. If you have not used an online travel service recently, you will find them much improved and much easier to use than before.
