If there’s one basic travel rule I follow — and that you should follow — it’s never book your airline tickets through a third-party website. 

Always book directly with the airline. 

The reason? If something goes wrong — a cancellation or a delay — and you want to rebook or change your ticket, the airline will always tell you to call the third-party site. 

And when you call the third-party site, they tell you to call the airline. 

And while they keep passing the buck, your plane has taken off.