A friend of mine got caught using one of these sites a few years ago. Her ticket was not valid and they would not answer the phone! I keep seeing advertisements on social media regarding cheaper air fares. Beware, this is what I found:
Reviews for the third-party flight booking website Compare Your Fare (compareyourfare.com) are overwhelmingly negative. According to warnings from the Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker and consumer reports, the site is frequently flagged for a bait-and-switch scam. [1]
The typical pattern involves the site advertising artificially low flight prices. After a customer enters their payment information, an agent contacts them—often aggressively or via intimidation—claiming that the original price is no longer valid or that hidden fees are required to secure the seat, sometimes demanding hundreds of dollars more.
Because of these predatory practices, consumers and travel experts widely recommend booking directly with established airlines or through vetted, IATA-accredited aggregators to avoid losing money.
Third party hotel sites are also not what they say they are. I was told by someone in the business, go to the hotel website, join their points program. They will give you the best rate and possibly upgrade you when you check in. One hotel told me they save the "worse rooms" for third party bookings. She gave both of us a complimentary bottle of water and an upgrade!
