The Truth About Airfare Consolidators

AirBank sells airfare consolidators tickets to international destinations.

We work with the major air consolidators – and only members of the US Air Consolidators Association (USACA) or US Tour Operators Association (USTOA). With buying power in excess of $20 million each year and a track record of financial stability, these companies have built solid reputations in the travel industry.

AirBank’s airfare consolidators have contracts with the major full-service airlines to purchase tickets to international destinations in such huge quantities that the consolidators get a real deal on the price of the flights. But – even though they get cheap tickets from the airlines, sometimes the airlines have sales that are less than the consolidators’ pricing.

Typically this happens when the airlines discover that a certain route is not selling to their expectations. A “special sale” for a few days will boost sales and enable the airlines to charge more for the remaining seats – and fill their planes.

Facts about Airfare Consolidators Tickets

1. Most airfare consolidators tickets will earn mileage points with the frequent flier program for the airline operating the flight. What does this mean? Many flights are now code-share flights – flights with one airline’s flight number, but operated by a different airline.

   An example is flying from Boston to Auckland, New Zealand: the flight from Boston to either San Francisco or Los Angeles to connect to the non-stop flight to Auckland on Air New Zealand will probably be on United. You will be able to earn points with United for the flight from Boston to the US west coast, as it is operated by United Airlines even though it may have an Air New Zealand flight number.

   But – the flight from the west coast to Auckland is operated by Air New Zealand, not United. Frequent flier miles can be earned for this flight in an Air New Zealand mileage program – great if you’re a member, but how many of us are members of a foreign airline’s mileage program?

   You will earn United mileage points for the flight operated by Air New Zealand only if the class in which the flight is booked is in one of the mileage-earning categories listed on United’s Partner Airlines chart. AirBank’s lowest economy class consolidator fare for the international flight does not qualify for mileage credit with United Airlines.

   AirBank can sell tickets that will earn mileage with US-based airlines for international flights operated by a foreign airline – but these tickets will be more expensive than our lowest cost consolidator fares.

   If earning mileage is important, please ask about the fare class before you purchase your ticket.

2. Airfare lowest priced consolidator’s tickets sometimes cannot be used with class upgrades using mileage points. If you’re planning to buy an economy class consolidator ticket and use your points to upgrade to business class, ask us for the fare class on your consolidator fare. Unless it’s one of the more expensive classes, chances are that upgrades will not be allowed.
3. Stopovers are sometimes not allowed, and other times may incur additional fees, and more infrequently may be allowed with no additional fee. Let us know if you’d like to include a few day’s stay at a stopover destination on your international flight and we’ll tell you if it’s possible and what the additional charges are.
4. Any changes to the ticket once it is issued will result in substantial fees – and some consolidator tickets prohibit any changes whatsoever. Name changes are not allowed – ever. If you purchase a consolidator’s ticket from AirBank and want to make a change before you take your first flight, you must contact us. If you arrive at your destination and want to linger, you’ll have to deal directly with the airline.
5. Rules, rules, rules. Every airplane ticket is subject to rules – the fine print – that define whether stopovers are allowed, the length of stay, and the last possible date for which the ticket can be used. Most times, the hecticity of daily life dictates that we can’t stay forever at our chosen get-away destination and reading the rules is not important. But if you might possibly want to escape for longer than originally planned, ask us for a full copy of the rules governing your flights and ticket. Minimum and maximum stays and the “last return date” noted in the rules apply to the initial purchase and any changes.
6. Consolidator airline tickets may be non-refundable once issued. If your ticket is refundable, the airline will charge a fee to cancel it and issue a refund.

   If you do not check-in or change/cancel your ticket before the scheduled time of departure of your first flight, the ticket has no value and all remaining flights will be automatically cancelled.

Real savings are possible when you purchase airfare consolidators tickets for your international flights. Check out our pricing by requesting a fare quotation to find out how much you can save with our best value consolidator airfare.

AirBank delivers international consolidator airfare in Premium Economy and Business Class with first class service.