Booking Support Levels Most travelers will book a flight to their destination, so the examples below reference air or flights as the means of transportation. I’ll review different ways to book transportation. I’ll explain what they mean, the advantages and disadvantages and the different support levels you may receive should your flight be delayed or canceled. It’s important to note that I’m assuming a flight has been delayed or canceled due to something out of your control such as maintenance issues or weather. If you miss a flight due to something like oversleeping, that’s another story, but I’ll touch on that as well. Booking directly on an airline website When you book on the airline’s website such as BritishAirways.com, AA.com, etc. you are booking directly with the airline. This may provide the best level of support for a delayed or cancelled flight. The airline should be responsible for getting you on an alternative flight for something out of your control. Without too much complexity, you should be able to talk with an actual person to assist you. You should also be able to work with gate agents at the airport to get you on another flight. The downside is that you are in the same boat as everyone else. If you are at the airport, it could take hours to get to a gate agent to assist you. You should be sure to install the airlines app on your phone to receive notifications and possibly even able to book a new flight immediately using the app. If you overslept and missed your flight, there may not be much assistance available to you other than contacting the airline directly or by using the airline’s website again to book a new flight. You may find better price deals on airline websites compared to that of an OTA, but it’s best to shop around to be sure. The same applies to hotels. You can often book the same room at a discount if you contact the property directly as they are not paying commissions to OTAs that are reselling their rooms. Booking with a tour operator If you are on a tour, meaning your booked your trip using a tour operator, then they should be able to assist you with rebooking flights, accommodations and other things if the trip is impacted by a flight delay or cancellation that is out of your control. You should have a guarantee that they will assist with these types of things. Now, depending on the company you booked with and time zone differences, you may not have 24/7 support, so that that is something to consider. If you overslept and missed your flight, you should still be able to contact the tour operator for assistance. You are probably going to have to pay for another flight and there may also be a service fee for assistance. Again, it may depend on the company and time zone differences as to when you are able to get in touch with someone for support. Booking with a flight consolidator website, also known as an Online Travel Agency (OTA) What exactly is an OTA? An OTA is basically a middle party, consolidating flights, hotels, rental cars and activities from several different content providers. An OTA allows you to book everything in a single location. They may have contracts with the content providers and call the providers APIs to perform bookings. (An API is an Application Program Interface allowing electronic communication between entities) OTAs usually change the content providers a fee to sell their products, so it may be cheaper to make your bookings directly at the source. Examples of consolidator or OTA websites include Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline and Kayak. One big advantage of booking with an OTA is one-stop shopping. You may be able to book a flight or multiple flights on different airlines, your hotel, a rental car and even activities, all in one location. Another nicety is only having to enter your personal information once. You will probably find that you get the lowest level of assistance when using an OTA. Getting to an actual person for assistance may be nearly impossible. Even if you booked with an OTA, you may have to contact an airline directly should you need assistance. If you overslept and missed your flight, there is probably nothing you can do other than book an entirely new flight. An OTA is not going to be able to provide much assistance to you.