|
Hi everybody,
So I want to go to South America (Peru, Bolivia) from late May to early July. I was just looking at the Hotwire site, and they have tickets for around US$300 less than Expedia, with a couple of restrictions - they don't tell you the airline until you buy (yawn), they don't tell you the flight time until you buy (could be a little inconvenient, but I'd probably end up on the same flight anyway) and you can't pick a seat until the day of the flight (might get stuck between two fat guys, but at $75 per leg I'll take my chances). It almost seems too good to be true ... so was wondering if anybody had used them, particularly for international tickets, and how it went.
Now for my second question, which is a little more complex ... What about do-it-yourself airline tickets in the first place? I have the Edward Hasbrouck guide 'The Practical Nomad' and he says over and over again, Thou Shalt Use a Travel Agent. But why? He also mentions that sites like Hotwire would be useless for international travel, but this seems not to be the case. Of course, Hotwire only allows standard round-trip flights, and maybe I would be better off with an open jaw ... So. If I do decide I need a travel agent, any ideas on where to start looking? There are of course some agencies in my town, but I get the impression (perhaps from Hasbrouck) that one needs to find something of a specialist for anything but the simplest package tours ..? Well, thanks for any advice!
Jonah Rogin
|
