Over the past couple of weeks I have been busy making arrangements for my upcoming
trip to Russia in June. I need to do quite a bit of traveling within Russia. So, as in the
past I have contacted the usual list of travel agents asking for airfare quotes.
The quotes that I received ranged from $275.00 to $350.00. I did not think this was
unusual. Well, this time I also asked a friend of mine in Russia to obtain quotes for these
same flights. This quote was for $180.00 for an identical itinerary. By the way, this
quote was obtained using my passport number and was not a fare reserved for Russian
citizens.
Now, I do not mind paying additional money for additional service (convenience, the
ability to use a credit card, etc.). It just seemed to me that a (roughly) 30 to 50 percent
markup is a bit steep.
I was wondering what others do in regards to the booking of flights within the FSU and if
anyone else thought we were being gouged when booking these flights through the usual
travel agents.