Cheap Airfare Step 3: Going Wholesale

Why pay retail when wholesale is available? That's what consolidators are: wholesale ticket agents who buy blocks of seats directly from the airlines at bargain basement rates and resell them to travel agents for just a bit more.

Unfortunately, as wholesalers they generally do not want to hear from you, Mr. One-round-trip-ticket-please. Those listed below will sell directly to the consumer, though.

It gets complicated, but what you need to know is that

consolidator fares are almost always cheaper than the regularly published fare

...but not necessarily cheaper than individual airlines' sale fares. Also, consolidator fares are locked in about six to eight weeks out, so don't come looking here for last-minute bargains.

You might hear consolidators referred to as

bucket shops

—though never, ever call them that to their face (it's like calling a used auto parts store a "chop shop"). "Bucket Shops" more properly refers to collections of travel agencies that specialize in low fares and that cluster in certain neighborhoods of London, Athens (Greece), and Amsterdam. Still, don't call real bucket shops "bucket shops," either.

A lot of the smaller fry in the biz are so-called "

ethnic consolidators

," outfits that make a business by getting cozy with a handful of airlines (or just one) servicing a certain country or region, getting special contracts, then selling cheap seats to that place both to tour operators and to shopfront travel agents in immigrant neighborhoods where the locals want to fly inexpensively back to their homelands on visits.

One thing to know about both consolidators and bucket shops is that sometimes they'll offer you extremely low prices on what might seem an unusual carrier choice—for example, flying Air India from Chicago to London, or Kuwait Airlines from London to Rome. There's nothing wrong with this; those planes are merely on long-haul flights that hopscotch from one city to the next and you merely hitch a ride cheaply for one leg of the journey.

Most major airlines around the world are as safe as any other, really. I've flown on some pretty oddball ones (that Kuwait Air London–Rome line comes from personal experience) and I never had a problem. Plus, the in-flight meals and entertainment can count as their own cultural experience (note: airline food is bad no matter what cultural context is interpreting it).

Practical upshot: Check these rates, but shop around before you buy, and wait until, oh, six weeks prior to travel to see if a better fare pops up on a sale (though you always run the risk of the consolidator selling out of those seats; the honest ones will give you a fair assessment of how quickly a fare might sell out—though they can't of course, control this very well.)

Note that with the Web and all, the future of consolidators who sell to the public is uncertain. The long-time Titan of the industry, Travac, closed up shop with no warning whatsoever at the end of 2002, leaving behind just one very confused receptionist who showed up to an empty office on Jan 1, 2003.

The Players

Auto Europe

(www.autoeurope.com) - Yes, I know that's a car rental company—but the great news is that they also do airfares now, and are consistently among the cheapest (and most reliable) European airfare consolidators out there. Barring some sale fare, this is where I usually end up buying my transatlantic tickets.

Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ

(hasbrouck.org) - My esteemed colleague Edward Hasbrouck (author of the excellent "The Practical Nomad: How To Travel Around The World") regularly updates this free no-nonsense/no-bull FAQ on exactly how airlines and agencies discount tickets and how you can take advantage of it.

Economy Travel

(www.economytravel.com) - They've been in the international consolidator game since the late 1980s. Their Web site has a handy comparison feature that lists regular fares vs. their consolidator rates.

Cheap Tickets

(www.cheaptickets.com) - Decent prices, though not always the best; still, it pays to check them out. They've also a "Last-Minute" and a "Specials" section. It's actually an online component of the Cendant corporation (owns Avis and Budget car rentals, plus a host of hotel chains, including Super 8, Ramada, Travelodge, HoJo, Days Inn, and more).

TFI Tours

(www.tfitours.com) - With the demise of Travac, one of the biggest classic consolidators out there, boasting up to 80% off retail (though I think that kind of pricing goes to their corporate clients, not the little fish booking a single ticket). Don't let the down-and-dirty interface scare you off; it's just because they're about low fares, not a flashy Web presence.

American Travel Abroad

(www.amta.com) - Founded in 1946 and based in New York and Chicago, has some of the best Central and Eastern Europe fares out there (especially to Poland and Russia), though they do Western Europe, too. Just use them for airfare; their vacation packages are overpriced.

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