How and where to buy commission-free airline tickets?

First, let’s understand what the term “commission-free airline tickets” itself means? We have already written that the cost of any airline ticket consists of the fare (set by the airline), taxes (airline, airport, and departure/arrival country taxes and fees), and agency fees for selling you the ticket. It is precisely these agency fees that are often called commission. So, are there agencies that sell tickets without commission? Of course, there are! But whether there is a commission or not depends more on the ticket itself (its fare, airline) than on the agency. Almost all agencies sell tickets both with commission (fees) and without it, and even with discounts. What do the fare and airline have to do with this? Prices are formed depending on the market situation and with an eye on competitors. Some airlines give their agents a reward for a sold ticket — a commission from the fare. Thanks to this commission, agencies can offer discounts. That is, they reduce their profit margin so that the client can buy a ticket cheaper. Therefore, you can find tickets on agency websites cheaper than on the airline’s website (although this is not the only explanation for the fact that agencies have cheaper tickets). Unfortunately, not all airlines allow discounts. In this case, the ticket will be sold with zero commission, and the agent will receive profit through remuneration from the airline. But there is also another case when the airline does not give its agencies any remuneration, and then there is nothing left but to introduce a small fee (commission) to cover costs. Let’s look at a few examples from the kupi.com website. Most airline tickets we sell without commission, and in the itinerary receipt, you will see the following calculation:

It is also visible here that the fare is zero, meaning there are no taxes. This is an infrequent phenomenon, but it does occur. If this is a non-refundable fare, nothing can be refunded in case of trip cancellation. As we already wrote in the article about refunding non-refundable tickets, with a non-refundable fare, you can only try to refund taxes (if the airline’s penalty does not exceed their amount); in this case, nothing can be refunded because there are no taxes. And here is an example of a ticket with taxes and even a discount; as we can see, there is also no agency commission here. On the contrary, we provide a discount on the ticket:

And here is the third example, a ticket with commission. To be honest, there are not many such cases:

If you are looking for an airline ticket, decide what you really need — a commission-free ticket or a cheap ticket? The size of the commission and its presence does not indicate whether this ticket is more expensive or cheaper. The main weight in the cost is the fare. Look for a cheap fare, not the absence of commission.