Booking return/departure on 2 different airlines???

[niklynn1]

I am working on flights for our upcoming cruise. I have used numerous sites like kayak, priceline, cheap air.com etc to browse prices. I seem to get a slightly better price choosing "roundtrip" even though these sites are putting me me on a United going down and Delta coming back.

However, when I go directly to the United and Delta sites, and price each leg of the trip out "one way", the prices are a bit higher.

I have read on here that some people suggest booking directly through the carrier themselves, rather than Priceline, or Expedia, etc. (I typically fly SW, but am not this year because I don't want to drive 2.5 hrs to get there in winter, just in case), so I don't have a lot of experience with booking legacy carriers out of my city.

My question: Is it really better to book directly through the carrier and pay a few dollars more? Have any of you booked through Priceline, Expedia, Cheap Air?

Please help me weigh the pros and cons.

THANKS!

 

[seashoreCM]

Two topics here.

1. Lots of airlines nowadays offer two one ways for the same price as one round trip. However if something goes wrong and you have to change or cancel, you have to pay two change fees, one for the outgoing and one for the return. Or if something went wrong entitlingyou to get a refund for the outgoing, you would not get the refund for a separately booked return.

2. Tons of horror stories abound about on line travel agents like Expedia or Orbitz or Travelocity, especially when something needed to be changed. Things like hard to get through on the phone. Things like being told that you booked the late flight home and are now permanently stuck with the 6AM flight home. On the other hand, when you book directly with the airline, if a flight was cancelled and rescheduled in advance, it is usually an easy matter to reselect a flight of your choice.