Drawbacks of booking flights on third-party websites

• Third-party booking platforms can offer great airfare deals but fewer traveler protections.
• Experts recommend booking directly with your airline or a personal travel agent.
• Travelers say customer service can be hard to reach at online travel agencies if something goes wrong.

“How to travel better” is a series focusing on uncomfortable or inefficient travel experiences and how the industry can do better. If you’d like to contribute to our future reporting and share your experience as a source, you can click here to fill out this quick form.

Julia Carlson’s Spring trip to Cancún, Mexico, was supposed to be celebratory. Her son and niece were graduating from high school, and Carlson and her sister were planning the getaway with them to mark the occasion.