Airline Consolidators

I assume you are specifically speaking of the outfit at www.airlineconsolidator.com? If so, I have used them with good results. As for Pro's; Since they buy blocks of tickets, they can have good overall prices, and those prices are more sensitive to market demands, possibly a very good price. rices may get significantly better as a travel date approaches, also, they may be able to sell you a ticket at a sale price well after the airline discontinues the sale. Another advantage is that they may be able to piece together an open jaw or multistop itinerary among non-alliance airlines, like they did for me with Northwest/KLM and American/BA.

As for cons, really they are few; usually the ticket is still with the airline, so you deal with them on any issues. Sometimes there are more restrictions on the tickets, regarding upgrades, FF miles, and other things, but they still get you there.

In the end, if the price is well under the airline price, go with it, if they are close, why not just buy from the airline?

I have used airfare.com 4 times already for my yearly Europe vacations with very little issues. I check each time with the website of the airline I am booked for to make sure the reservation number is good. The only problem I had once is the website had my reservation but I could not pick my seats. I called the airline and it was because one of the flight numbers changed. The clerk changed my reservation to reflect the new numbers and I was then able to pick my seats online. This only happened because I booked my tickets more than 6 months in advance and would have been the same issue even if I booked direct with the airline. Each time I have saved anywhere from $200 - $300 per ticket by using the consolidator. To me that's worth a few minutes extra work on my part to double check on things.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileage-plus/113379-list-uniteds-consolidators.html

Over a flyertalk is this great list of travel agents that will sell over the phone... Read the whole thread for reviews. The thread specifically refers to fares on United, but they sell consolidator fares for many airlines.

There are many pro's to using an Airline Consolidator.

I have used Airvalues.com and have gotten some amazing airfares. This past August I was looking for a one-way flight to Sao Paulo to catch a cruise to Barcelona.

I went on many websites looking for a one-way from San Francisco-Sao Paulo. I had Frequent Flier Miles on United and got the Barcelona-San Francisco Flight on Lufthansa/United for $54 in taxes.

Many flights to Sao Paulo were going for $900-$1,400+ One way. I remembered using Air Values on a previous trip where I saved $600 dollars off the ticket.

Within 5 minutes I found a one way flight for $474 per person via Mexico City on Aero Mexico/TAM vs United. This was in August for an April trip, Right away I called my Father and told him of my find and I said we'd better book it now before it goes up.

Now the airfare on the same website went up to $546 and on other airlines with other routings.

We saved lots of money and can stop over in Mexico City for the day and arrive Sao Paulo at 7 AM. We have great seats and our flights are booked in fare codes that earn miles.

Overall be ready to go with the restrictions but when you see a flight so low go ahead and book it.

Most of the time the airfare that you see on Airvalues.com is the fare you will pay but in some cases the fare has gone up and you will be given a chance to either accept it or decline it.

The next day I got our E-Ticket with Ticket Number and Confirmation Code. I called up Aero Mexico and added my Delta Frequent Flier Account and TAM and added my American Advantage Account # and got great seats towards the front.

Not only are we flying on an Airbus 330 from Mexico City-Sao Paulo it has Audio Video On Demand, Two Hot Meals, Complimentary alcohol and the seats are two four two so we sit by the window and aisle.

Another benefit is we leave San Francisco at 12:30 AM versus during rush hour. A bonus day in Mexico City and an overnight flight to Sao Paulo.
Rick would love me by adding in a "Free stopover" as part of our ticket to see a new city.

I used to see good fares on a consolidator out of Atlanta, but it almost seems as if most people are doing their own research and booking flights online. I'm not seeing them advertise any longer.
I'm always watching http://matrix.itasoftware.com to come up with a baseline airfare in the future. If the fares drop for a day or two, I'll book'em direct with the airlines. And I'm on the outlook for one day airfare sales.
I've been watching for Spring open jaw flights into Budapest and home from Prague. Flights have been running $1,050 for late March across the board. I spotted a 1 day sale for $728 and bought tickets. A week later, another 1 day sale was at $850. One day last week they were $950, but have gone back to about $1,020. But Summer prices are going to be much, much higher.
Note: Fareboom.com seems to have the cheapest airfares online.