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Consolidators |
Consolidators are companies that
buy quantities of seats on specific flights from regular airlines, cabin
space on specific cruises from cruise lines, and hotel rooms, car rentals
and vacation packages at wholesale prices from the suppliers and then resell
them to travel agencies or directly to the public. Airlines, cruise lines,
hotels, car rentals and vacation package companies know they won't sell all
their products for a given flight, cruise or vacation package, or have
customers for every car and hotel room on a given day. So they are willing
to sell some of those items at a wholesale price to other companies to
resell. They still make money and so do the consolidators even though the
consumer is also saving money. Many websites offering discount travel
bargains are consolidators. Travelocity and Expedia are
two of the biggest consolidators on the web. Anytime you see the words
cheap, budget or discount,
it is probably because the website is a
consolidator.
However, if someone is offering a week in Hawaii for $100, remember, if it
is too good to be true, it probably is not!
Always pay by credit card when dealing with consolidators as an extra
measure of protection in case things don't work out because there are laws
governing not being charged if you pay by credit card and don't receive what
you paid for.
Air Consolidators. You will usually only find consolidator air fares
for international flights from your country to other countries. All
classes of tickets are usually available from a consolidator and not just
economy class. If they are a big air consolidator company, you should
expect them be a member of the
United States
Air Consolidators Association. This gives you more assurance that
they are a reputable company due to the rules for becoming a member.
You can scroll down to each of our consolidator sections on this page on
just go directly to
Air Consolidators,
Cruise Consolidators,
Hotel Consolidators,
Car Rental Consolidators, and
Vacation Consolidators.
Air Consolidators |
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About Air
Consolidators |
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They are also
referred to as airline consolidators. Any travel site that allows you to
select from multiple airlines and book a flight is probably an airline
consolidator. Also see our
Air Fares and
Discount Travel Topics.
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Wikitravel - Airline Consolidators. Excellent overview and
advice for selecting an airline consolidator.
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United States
Air Consolidators Association.
This is the trade association of air
consolidators. Reputable large consolidator companies will be members
of this association. They are required to do at least $20 million a
year in sales, have been incorporated in the U.S. for at least 2 years and
and have never filed for bankruptcy or gone out of business before.
Their are members with offices in all the major countries of the world.
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Travel-library.com
- Consolidators. This site has an excellent article that
explains consolidators and bucket shops which are not the same
thing. Many discount travel agencies are consolidators or work with
consolidator companies.
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The
Practical Nomad. Even though the copyright notice at the top of
the article says 1991-2001, the one at the bottom says 1991-2007.
Although some of the information is outdated, Edward Hasbrouck has done a
good job of describing in depth the air consolidator situation and will give
you some insights you woun't get from the other reference sites.
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Lists of Air Consolidator
Websites |
ETN - Discount
Airfare Worldwide Online This site has, by far, the best list
and access to the most consolidator and discount air fares of anyone on
the web with excellent international coverage. They also cover
discounts for cruises, car rentals, and hotels. They have flexible
search options.
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Google - Air Consolidator Directory.
Extensive list of air
consolidators. Note: The list is initially sorted by Google
Page Rank but you can click on View in Alphabetical
Order to change that.
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Best of the Web - Air Consolidator Directory.
Extensive list of air
consolidators. We didn't find much overlap with Google, so you will see
additional consolidators in their list.
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Yahoo!
- Airline Consolidators. Extensive list of air
consolidators.
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Cruise Consolidators |
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Hotel Consolidators |
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Car Rental
Consolidators |
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Vacation
Consolidators |
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