Beneath the veneer of savings and convenience, there are often unexpected hurdles and annoyances lurking when booking air travel through online travel agents (OTAs). While these platforms undoubtedly offer an easy way to plan and book travel, the supposed advantages are often accompanied by significant disadvantages. What are online travel agents (OTAs)? Online travel agents (OTAs) are platforms that offer travelers the opportunity to book airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel services online. They act as intermediaries between customers and the providers of these services. Well-known OTAs include companies such as Expedia, Booking.com, Travelocity, and Orbitz. Customer attraction and supposed savings OTAs lure customers with seemingly cheap deals and discounts that often look lower than the prices offered directly by airlines. These supposed savings can be due to several factors. Firstly, OTAs use their negotiating power to obtain special conditions from airlines. Secondly, they use aggressive marketing strategies to attract customers. Why are flight tickets sometimes cheaper via OTAs? OTAs can offer flight tickets at lower prices because they use different strategies to obtain discounts. They buy tickets in bulk and use dynamic pricing to take advantage of price fluctuations in the market. In addition, they can also avoid middleman fees and airline commissions. Often, however, things work quite differently: A little is deducted from the price that the airline charges for the flight itself and that the OTA learns about via screen scraping. Online travel agents try to make up for this by charging surcharges for additional services such as checking in luggage or seat reservations. Sometimes