How to buy a ticket from a seller and not get caught out
We don’t sell tickets. We collect prices from different sellers and send you to their sites: that’s where you pay. We are not responsible for the seller, but a lot of it you can easily check yourself in a couple of minutes. Below: what can go wrong and how to avoid it.
What we check in a link
We are preparing a check of the links to sellers, and it will appear here soon. Until then, look at the site’s address yourself before you pay, as in the first point below.
Risks and how to avoid them
A fake site
Scammers copy well-known agencies and airlines: the same look, a different address. Before you pay, look at the address bar: the seller’s name must match the one on our button, with no extra letters or hyphens.
Before you pay, look at the address bar The price went up at checkout
Sellers’ prices live for minutes and hours. Charges for baggage, a seat or a “service fee” often appear at the very end. Look at the total before the “Pay” button and compare it with our price. A difference of a few percent is normal; if it is more, check the same flight at another seller.
Before “Pay”: compare the total with our price Baggage
The cheapest fare often has no suitcase, sometimes only a small bag. We show the fare’s name when we know it; check at the seller what is included.
Separate tickets
When we say “separate tickets”, each leg is bought on its own. If the first flight is late and you miss the second one, nobody has to change the second ticket. Leave time to spare for the layover.
A booking but no ticket? Check.
After you pay, the seller sends its own order number, and the airline gives its own booking code (6 letters and digits) and an e-ticket number (13 digits, the first three are the airline’s code). If the seller’s letter has only the order number, ask the seller for the airline’s booking code and the ticket number. With the booking code and your surname, open “My bookings” on the airline’s own site.
An airline does not show every booking made through agencies on its site. If you can’t see yours there, that is no reason to panic yet:
- write to or call the airline’s support, give the booking code and the ticket number, and ask them to check that the ticket has been issued;
- ask the seller whether the ticket has been issued (the status “ticketed”, not just “booked”) and whether they will send the itinerary receipt with the ticket number;
- a day or two before departure, online check-in opens on the airline’s site: if it finds your booking, the ticket is real.
On the airline’s own site: “My bookings” Payment
Pay by card, not by a transfer to someone’s card or in cryptocurrency. If the seller does not deliver the order, your bank can return the money at your request (a chargeback).
Letters and calls “from the airline”
If after the purchase you are asked to pay extra or to enter your card details through a link in a letter, don’t. Go to the site yourself and check the booking there.
If something went wrong
Write to the seller you bought from: your contract is with them. If the seller does not answer, go to your bank. And write to us through “Contact”: that is how we learn which seller caused trouble.