Is there a cost to book flights using a TA?

[BitsnBearsMom]

I just found a great deal flying Westjet this October YYZ to MCO for $347 return PP and was wondering if there was a fee to use a TA to book the tickets VS booking them online?

With WestJet it looks like you can cancel the tickets if you need to and use the credit towards a future ticket - can anyone confirm this??

 

[pxlbarrel]

I just found a great deal flying Westjet this October YYZ to MCO for $347 return PP and was wondering if there was a fee to use a TA to book the tickets VS booking them online?

With WestJet it looks like you can cancel the tickets if you need to and use the credit towards a future ticket - can anyone confirm this??

Travel Agents, these days, always charge a fee for booking airline tickets because they don't get much of a commission from the airlines anymore. I know that Thomas Cook/Marlin Travel usually charge about $60 per ticket.

As for West Jet, I can confirm that if you need to cancel your ticket, they will cancel it and credit it towards a future ticket but you have one year to use that credit. You will also be charged a fee for doing this...I think it's about $30 per leg of the trip...but you'll need to read the terms to see what the fee actually is. We had to do this last year when my cousin got too sick to fly with me to New York City. On the day before he was to fly, we cancelled his tickets. He used the credit later that year to fly to Vegas.

They also offered to change the name on the ticket to somebody else's for the same fee. That's a rare thing in the airline industry. I find their cancellation/change policy to be one of the most liberal.

This also means that if you buy a ticket now and later on you see that there's a seat sale, calculate if the savings is more than what the change fees would be. It might be worth getting credit if you think you'll fly West Jet again within the year.

 

[Chickkypoo]

We always book our flights thru CAA. If you're a member, they waive the $58 fee (only for the member). I added my fiance on as an associate member as the membership was cheaper than the fee.