Tickets are usually highly restricted, and changing your itinerary after you've paid can be a nightmare or even impossible. You may not get frequent-flier points. And though airlines are reluctant to admit this, passengers who have paid consolidator prices often get lowest priority when cancellations occur. Add to all of this the stigma of financial instability created in this area last year when Euram Travel Centre, a high-profile local ticket consolidator with a track record, went bankrupt and stranded hundreds of local customers with neither tickets nor refunds. One of the easiest ways to insulate yourself from at least some of these indignities is to use a travel agent to make your consolidator purchase.
Most travel agents deal with consolidators, often with wholesalers who sell only to the trade.
Agents usually work with a short list of consolidators whom they've come to trust. But, in exchange for a few extra dollars, by using an agent you can save yourself potential grief. ASTA's core members, which include over half of traditional travel agencies in the United States, must abide by a code of ethics to retain membership. But most consolidators join ASTA as allied members, and are not bound by the ethical code. ARC membership essentially indicates the firm has met basic financial and legal requirements the airlines demand, but ARC is an arm of the airlines, not a consumer protection group.