Branded Web Sites
Branded strictly speaking refers to “carrying the brand or trademark of a manufacturer”. In our case, we are referring to those sites owned by the brand name businesses themselves, such as the Southwest Airlines Web site, or the Hyatt Web site These are important sites to visit during your search for the best travel deals, particularly once you have a good handle on the going rate for the item you are looking to purchase.
It is important to note that many businesses do not share their data with online travel agencies or travel aggregators, and reservations can be made only through their own sites. Southwest Airlines in particular is this way, and other low cost no frills airlines like JetBlue and Independence Air may also be overlooked unless you go to their site. JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Aloha Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines have all done very well in building a reputation for providing customer satisfaction. If they fly the routes you are looking for it is worth your time to visit their web sites to gain additional information or pricing.
Purchasing a flight ticket directly with the carrier may get you additional frequent flier miles. You can also avoid the transaction fees charged by Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz which currently vary between $4 and $12.
