While reading the terms of a rewards program for a credit card I recently acquired, I read that it only counts as travel spending purchases made directly with the service provider, and not third party booking services. It seems to me the reason I make bookings with a third party is that at the time of my expenditure those websites had significantly better prices. I have some modicum of a notion about how the service side of this equation works, and why third parties offer services at a lower rate than the provider themselves, but it got me thinking about bookings people make directly with the service provider. I don't know remember the last time I made an airline booking directly with the airline on which I flew. Maybe Spirit? And I hate Spirit. Why do some people make their bookings directly with airlines and hotels? Aren't they paying more for the same service?

In conclusion, Stackers who have the privilege to travel and experience other parts of the planet, how do you make your bookings and why?

P.S. I still do most of my spending in the FIAT debt promises of credit cards, but I also invite discussion about how you choose to pay, though I expect and respect many people wouldn't want to talk about that particular aspect of their behaviors.