Thrive Travel
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Do NOT use for needed or urgent tickets.
I was linked through to Thrive Travel through Google Flights. At no point did I ever believe as I was booking this ticket that it was not going to be booked immediately or I was making some kind of discount gamble. My mother had been admitted to the ICU, had just been intubated, and the flight I found on SWISS leaving the following morning at 6am would get me to her in Chicago from Barcelona the absolute earliest. I look at the SWISS site and am able to book the ticket, but Thrive was cheaper. I had ZERO indication that I wouldn’t have my ticket immediately so I make the booking. The site tells me that nothing is confirmed, everything is merely pending their ability to actually secure the ticket, and I’m like ughhhhh. So, I wait maybe an hour or two and then call - they tell me that their ticketing department is working on getting it booked with the airline. I call back an hour or two later (get voicemail), call again to sales (get disconnected), and call again to customer service when I finally get through. I explain the dire situation, he recommends I not rely on their agency to make the booking, cancel, and book directly with the airline. So, I cancel with Thrive, go back to the SWISS website and by this point, several hours later, the earlier flight is now completely sold out. I had to urgently scramble to get another flight, getting in 1.5 hours later, at about double the price I was going to spend with Thrive or the airline directly. Needless to say, I wouldn’t ever use this site for anything I NEED to book.. ever! If you have a lot of time to wait or if you like playing the will-I-actually-have-a-ticket lottery, then this site might be just for you.