eDreamer's price lower than the airline itself

Question

I'm about to buy some long range tickets for a group, and when I went shopping I was surprised that the price quoted by eDreams was actually lower than the price of all the others, including the airline itself of my choice.

Normally I buy the ticket directly from the airline and have always believed that this is the way to go. I'm aware of common traps to trick clients into buying a ticket, just to discover that the luggage fee multiplies by 2 the original deal.

In this case it would mean a discount over thousand, and I'm not eager to let a deal pass. This 1,000 could well be spent in enhancing the vacation. But could this be true? Does eDreams have some kind of deal to guarantee better prices for people buying through it? Is buying directly by the airlines sometimes not the best choice?

Answer 1

But could this be true?

Yes.

Does eDreams have some kind of deal to guarantee better prices for people buying through it?

Yes.

The details of the agreement are almost certainly commercially sensitive and not made public.

I imagine the airline might benefit financially by having a block payment far in advance, and some shifting of the commercial risk of empty seats onto a third party.

Is buying directly by the airlines sometimes not the best choice?

Even if you are a frequent flyer, as an individual you almost certainly buy far fewer flights a year than does eDreams. They have greater purchasing power.