What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Travel Agencies?

If you’ve ever booked a trip, chances are you’ve used an online travel agency (OTA). OTAs have several advantages over traditional travel agents and direct booking sites. However, there are also some drawbacks that can affect your vacation experience. In this article we’ll look at both sides of the coin so that you can decide if using an OTA is right for your next trip.

Advantages

Online travel agencies are convenient, as you can book flights and hotels from any device. You don’t need to be at home or in your office to do so; you can even use your smartphone while traveling.

Additionally, online travel agencies give consumers the opportunity to compare prices from multiple suppliers and find the best deal for them. This gives travelers more control over their spending on travel expenses such as flights, accommodations and car rentals.

Another advantage of using an online booking service is that changes can be made easily if something happens that requires a change in plans–like missing a flight because of bad weather conditions or getting sick during the trip itself–without having any negative effects on your finances due to penalties associated with modifying reservations after they have been made (for example: paying extra fees).

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of using an online travel agency is that it can be more expensive than booking directly. For example, if you want to book a hotel room in London for two nights and your preferred website has rooms available for $200 per night, but the same room on Expedia costs $250 per night (which is also less than what they would have charged), then this could be considered a disadvantage because you’d end up paying more money overall.

Another issue with online travel agencies is that they may not have the best … Continue reading >>>