Multiple Airlines

Haven't had any issues and sometimes get better options booking elsewhere. For example, bought a ticket to India on Expedia last Nov flying United and Brussels Airlines going there and Air Canada & United coming back. Got a cheaper price and better connections than what I was seeing either on Google flights or UA. Also since it was mainly a UA ticket, was easily able to get my seat assignments on the UA flights by going directly to United's website (note - I have status with UA so this was free).

Some airlines are consolidated under a larger company, like Delta and Air France, and United and Lufthansa, and American/British/Iberian/Finnish Airways, etc. I have a RT ticket for this summer that goes out on one airline and back on another but they are within the same conglomeration, if that makes sense: I bought the ticket as a RT in one purchase from the airline

My caution is that sometimes the third-party sites will come up with impractical connection times.

I would never buy airline tickets from a third party website like Expedia, Kayak, etc because airlines cancel flights for weather, mechanical issues, crew reached its maximum work hours, etc. Cancellations are not uncommon.

The only time I used expedia was for a domestic ( SEA-PHX) trip. It worked fine, but I would not have a 'warm n fuzzy' feeling using them to do a multi-stop international trip. That I do only with the airline

I have used third party sights like Expedia, Cheapo Air, Kayak and Orbitz for all my trips to Europe for probably the last 10 years. I have never had a problem. I have found that these sights are cheaper. I look at them first, find the one that suites me and then go the airline to see if they offer the same deal or better. I have never found the airline itself to offer the same flight cheaper, therefore, I use the third party sights.

It’s possible to buy cheaper flights through sites like Expedia and this usually works out just fine, but it can be problematic in terms of customer service when there are problems with your flight. I’ve done it but always with fingers crossed..🤞

In my 16 yearly trips to Europe, I have researched prices on various sites to get a feeling for what they are and then I go to whatever airline I am choosing to fly on and book thru them. This ensures me that if there are flight problems related to my travel, the airline I book with will take care of correcting the problem which has happened twice, once last year traveling from Rome to Sicily. I have not noticed very much difference between my research on various sites and on the airlines site at least not enough to dissuade me purchasing from the airline and the resulting peace of mind.

Carolyn, it sounds like you might be looking at essentially two one-way tickets, with each way on a different airline. That part shouldn’t be a problem. Have you checked each airline directly about a one-way, just for comparisons?

The concerns about booking third party are a separate issue. I myself have never had trouble but I can see it might happen. I just have to decide if I am ready to deal with trouble should it arise.

What is really advisable to avoid is booking connections on different airlines in one direction. There’s a lot of advice here about what different people are comfortable with in this regard.

I always check kayak before I book air travel, but go directly to the airline to book.

I've used Expedia many times and it is fine as sometimes it is cheaper than the airline site ; if a flight is cancelled it is a myth that the airline will not help you because you bought a ticket from Expedia.

I generally prefer booking directly with the airline. However, you may find on occasion itineraries on third party sites that are not available from the airline. Friends of ours are traveling to Italy this spring, but could find. Hartford-Venice/Rome-Hartford itinerary on the Aer Lingus website. These flights were available on Expedia, so I advised them to go that route.