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Has anyone had good / bad experiences with on-line flight bookers?

A bit of background: Just as Covid hit I booked flights to Australia - which were then cancelled due to lockdown. They were with Etihad, via NetFlights. I had donemy reseach , and Netflights had a good reputation.
However getting a refund out of them was impossible - I did it via my credit card company in the end. Etihad had refunded Netflights - Netflights said the hadn't (until is sent them through the email from Etihad), then they suggested it woukd be uop to 3 months to get the refund. Credit card company did it in a day.

I am just about to book some flight tickets to Japan for "special" birthdays. Going via Skyscanner they give you a variety of providers - I would now always go direct to the airline but they are proving to be 700 GBP per ticket more.
Are any of the other providers to be trusted? I realise in the olden days quite a lot were Russian based and to be avoided like the plague

Thanks

How about going direct to the airlines.

Pirahna wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 2:41 pm How about going direct to the airlines.

Which is what I will probably do!

We booked some flights with Expedia that were quite a lot of hassle to change.
Mrs Smethurst used to work as a Travel agent - Japan flights got real pricey in the last few years and they weren’t cheap to begin with.
Smethurst junior is going on his own at Easter - he’s going on the cheapest flight we can find (prob air china)

I usually look on "SKYSCANNER" then book direct with the carrier.

asmethurst99 wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 8:05 pm We booked some flights with Expedia that were quite a lot of hassle to change.
Mrs Smethurst used to work as a Travel agent - Japan flights got real pricey in the last few years and they weren’t cheap to begin with.
Smethurst junior is going on his own at Easter - he’s going on the cheapest flight we can find (prob air china)

I am avoiding China Southern, Eastern China and Air China

Mr Moofo wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 10:33 pm

asmethurst99 wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 8:05 pm We booked some flights with Expedia that were quite a lot of hassle to change.
Mrs Smethurst used to work as a Travel agent - Japan flights got real pricey in the last few years and they weren’t cheap to begin with.
Smethurst junior is going on his own at Easter - he’s going on the cheapest flight we can find (prob air china)

I am avoiding China Southern, Eastern China and Air China

If it was me flying i'd avoid as well

asmethurst99 wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2025 12:23 pm

Mr Moofo wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 10:33 pm

asmethurst99 wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 8:05 pm We booked some flights with Expedia that were quite a lot of hassle to change.
Mrs Smethurst used to work as a Travel agent - Japan flights got real pricey in the last few years and they weren’t cheap to begin with.
Smethurst junior is going on his own at Easter - he’s going on the cheapest flight we can find (prob air china)

I am avoiding China Southern, Eastern China and Air China

If it was me flying i'd avoid as well

What's the problem with Air China? (Looks like they have some cheap London -Tokyo prices. Cattle class obvs).

Last time i flew with them (a while ago i admit) they were a bit basic - not a patch on JAL or Asiana.
Colleagues flew with hem recently and didn't have any complaints so perhaps i'm letting memory cloud my judgement .
FWIW I flew with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong in October and it wasn't all that (crowded uncomfortable seats and food a bit meh)
The leg from Hong Kong to Tokyo was really nice.
I like doing long haul (if I had to to it more often i might change my mind)

I used China Southern for a work trip last month to Guangzhou, and I will definitely consider them again when flying to China / Asia.
Direct from Heathrow, shorter than western carriers (almost 2 hours less on return) as they can still overfly Russia.
Price was considerably less than others, worth taking a look at them if heading out that way.
I managed to get a Business Class seat for what we would normally pay for a Premium Economy on a western based carrier.

The actual product was not bad, a 787 with 1-2-1 lie flat seats in BC, in seat entertainment system had a decent selection, lounge access, fast track security, food was not fantastic but not bad either, and their cabin crew were great.

They did however have an interesting interpretation of a G&T, took a few attempts to get the correct mix and ratio.

asmethurst99 wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2025 4:10 pm Last time i flew with them (a while ago i admit) they were a bit basic - not a patch on JAL or Asiana.
Colleagues flew with hem recently and didn't have any complaints so perhaps i'm letting memory cloud my judgement .
FWIW I flew with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong in October and it wasn't all that (crowded uncomfortable seats and food a bit meh)
The leg from Hong Kong to Tokyo was really nice.
I like doing long haul (if I had to to it more often i might change my mind)

Cheers. Looking at reviews it suggests that there are variations depending on plane ages and routes* but prices are competitive.

*Years ago someone told me 'fly into a place on the national airline, but not out. When you're arriving they like to give a good impression, when you're leaving they don't care'. I wonder how that works for a Chinese airline flying into Japan?

Count Steer wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2025 4:27 pm

asmethurst99 wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2025 4:10 pm Last time i flew with them (a while ago i admit) they were a bit basic - not a patch on JAL or Asiana.
Colleagues flew with hem recently and didn't have any complaints so perhaps i'm letting memory cloud my judgement .
FWIW I flew with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong in October and it wasn't all that (crowded uncomfortable seats and food a bit meh)
The leg from Hong Kong to Tokyo was really nice.
I like doing long haul (if I had to to it more often i might change my mind)

Cheers. Looking at reviews it suggests that there are variations depending on plane ages and routes* but prices are competitive.

*Years ago someone told me 'fly into a place on the national airline, but not out. When you're arriving they like to give a good impression, when you're leaving they don't care'. I wonder how that works for a Chinese airline flying into Japan?

British Airways was one of the worst buisness classes - though Thai was bad. KLM was fine for the cabin, but the entertainment and food were terrible!
Might go and have a look a china southern !