Still trying to make it all about me?
.... you seem to see things in black and white...
No, I do not. You do. Your black and white is expressed only in the figures at the bottom of your balance sheet and takes nothing else into consideration. What I keep trying to point out about your position but you keep not hearing is your insistence on this:
if money essentially isn't a concern
the perspective of a moneyed tourist
Nobody ever says "spare no expense"--money is a concern for everybody. There are smart ways to spend and imprudent ways to save.
Doing your own air ticketing in Indonesia is a roll of the dice. The question is what degree of risk the visitor is willing to assume. You, ocd, are willing to assume a lot more risk than most people are in order to save a small percentage when the total trip cost is considered, and this has nothing to do with their personal fortunes.
I never give advice that will put the continuity of my customers' (or readers') trips in greater jeopardy than necessary. (I also recommend trip insurance, which I'd wager you won't spring for either in your efforts to economise). Ultimately, you, ocd, are in a position of not having to take any responsibility at all for eventual outcomes in other people's trips that result from your advice while I am held accountable, regardless of whether the advice is to a current customer or a potential one. This is the difference between my professional and cautious advice and your personal and chancy advice in regard to emulating your individual approach. As I have pointed out, some of my customers opt for the more conservative booking method and others want to do it themselves. What they decide to do in the end is their choice and makes no difference to me as long as they are aware that they themselves are responsible for dealing with problems if they choose to do their own bookings. The choice should be an informed one, not one based only on what's written in black and white figures at the bottom of the balance sheet.
Several times like this where you get upset when someone says something in a post that contradicts you, it's where I've pointed out that perhaps another option or way of thinking would result in saving some money.
Again, you are trying to make it about me when it isn't--it's all about the prospective visitor and my advice to the visitor. I don't get "upset" or "indignant" over anything at all that you might recommend, have recommended, or are recommending. My only objective is for people to come to SE Asia and have as problem-free an experience as possible.
I am, however, frustrated at your apparent inability to understand since you seem like a really nice guy who simply cannot manage to see beyond his own preferences. All I have said (whether it's air ticketing, newbie diving at Crystal Bay, or whatever) is: "be careful, reader; you're taking an extra risk if you do this; make sure you're aware of the risk and that it's a risk you are willing to assume." You, ocd, have personally been lucky enough to never experience a problem, but that doesn't mean they don't happen.
Your personal experience with air ticketing, unfortunately, isn't universal. If it were, my advice would be different if for no other reason than that my customers could spend the money they save on air tickets for more diving, and I can earn a commission on the diving but not on the air tickets. Now go think about that a bit, why don't you?
One last time: it's not about me, but it is about the best chance for visitors to experience a trouble-free dive holiday when they travel half a world away to a culture that is alien to them. Reread my posts--there is nothing at all intolerant or disrespectful of any other viewpoint. You, on the other hand, seem to have some need to make the entire discussion one about me and my motives. I just can't figure that out and keep trying to get out of the adversarial position you keep putting the two of us in. It seems to be a fruitless effort, though.
