Posted on 01/01/2011 5:13:12 PM PST by jackspyder
NEW YORK – Expedia Inc. has stopped selling tickets on American Airlines flights, the latest twist in a simmering pricing dispute between American and travel websites.
"Expedia has chosen to no longer offer American Airlines fares on its website," American said in an statement posted on its website. "Customers looking to compare flights or fares online should visit other travel sites such as Kayak.com or Priceline.com for the most accurate and up-to-date information."
The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline has said that it would like to sell more tickets through its own website, as paying to have its flights listed on sites such as Expedia can be costly. Airlines have to pay a commission every time people search a particular flight, look up a fare or book a trip.
American, which is owned by AMR Corp., also claims it can offer more personalized packages such as hotel and flight deals to fliers who purchase tickets directly from the airline.
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All I know is I booked a trip on aa.com and Travelocity simultaneously. Both came out with the same fare intially, then Travelocity tried to hit me for an additional 60 dollars when I went to the page to pay,saying the flight had just gone up.
Bought the same flight from aa.com for the original price. I wont use Travelocity ever again.
I do my price searches through Kayak, but buy through the airline.
Don’t like to deal with a middle man.
I’ve had the same experience. Get a fare, try to book the fare and whoops that fare isn’t available, how’d you like to pay a couple hundred bucks more.
Since we only have US Air or Delta, and it costs twice as much to fly out of the Twilight Zone Multi-National Airport and Subway Shoppe, I look at several sites and pick the best. Saved a ton on are last trip to the Land o’ Cheese, Sausage and Beer with Expedia.
I’m trying to book to JAC using points, but my cc company has stopped listing AA on their points purchasing site. Hmmm.
Same thing happened to me via Travelocity. I was told "they must have just raised the price." I booked my trip with an airline directly for a lower price. I will never again use Travelocity. They did nothing to correct what I believe to be their problem.
Once upon a time, the airline reservation system, called Sabre was what travel agents used to book flights. It was owned by American Airlines and they offered a command line interface that individuals could use to book flights on any airline. They would Fedex the tickets to you (paper tickets only in those days). I used it for years until the airlines started their own web site reservation systems.
Having worked for the airlines I can tell you that each time you go to a travel website whether Travelocity or the actual airline’s site, you are creating a demand for those city pairs that you enter into their system. You do it enough times throughout the day and the computers trigger the system to eliminate the lowest fare bucket snd raise the price thinking there’s a run on Cancun, or Detroit, or Fort Lauderdale, for example.
Now, if your neighbor queries the same city pairs it may show the original price is still available unless he goes back and checks again tonite or tomorrow morning and then the same will happen to him.
Orbitz frequently says only 4 seats available at this price. BS. The airline may have only allocated 4 seats to Orbitz at that price but by going to the airline’s website you’ll find seats for you and the kids, grandma and grandpa, and their nurse attendants all at that price or perhaps even somewhat cheaper.
American doesn’t want to pay Orbitz, Travelocity and the others what they are demanding to be listed on the websites.
Note that Southwest never has been listed on these websites but books exclusively at their own site. It’s time American pulled the plug and eliminated this unnecessary cost of doing business too.
There is a market for for the convenience of one-stop shopping, or the Expedias of the world wouldn’t survive. These sites pretty much replaced the previous system, which was travel agents.
Isn’t that a valid way to add value to the way flights are booked?
It’s how free markets work.
I suppose if all you are looking for is the lowest priced seat available. Whether you use a travel agent, and there are still agencies out there locally, or book it yourself, you are still going to pay. It’s just that the extra you are paying for the convenience of a TravelZoo or Expedia is hidden in the fare (or sometimes tacked-on to your total charged). Yes you may find a low fare and if you don’t mind rubbing shoulders (literally) with the person squeezed in beside you in the airline’s effort to get as many bodies possible into the plane to justify keeping the airfare lower than the other carrier’s by $3 a segment, go for it.
For me, it’s not the destination, it’s the journey.
There are no free markets that I am aware of. Most everything we purchase or sell is regulated by some aspect of the fed, state, or local government.
And with Priceline... yeah you used to get a good price if you bid for it once but now it can be cheaper to just buy from the airline company. You can use travel aggregators to get an idea of how much you can save but beware any money savings can be quickly swallowed up by long airport changeovers. And then you’ll have to wonder if you still came out ahead as opposed to just flying non-stop to your destination.
Agreed on the journey rather than destination!
As to free markets, I suppose that depends on your definition. I consider a market “free” as long as prices can fluctuate to meet demand.
The govt interference (regulation, taxes, rent control, minimum wage) causes distortions in the free market.
I think we still have relatively free markets in the US - we are still producing enough value for them to tax. Let’s hope they don’t eliminate the incentives to work that remain.
Don’t like to deal with a middle man.
As far as I know, you don't have a choice with Kayak. Kayak is a travel search engine, not a middle man. What I mean is, Kayak won't book your flight, but it will hand you off to another site that will. The airline in question is among the handoff choices, along with the likes of Expedia or Orbitz or Travelocity. Usually, Kayak's handoff is successful. But sometimes it drops you in a confusing zoo.
The last several trips I made, I used Kayak to research the available flights and fares. But I skipped their handoff service. Instead, I booked through American Express (paying with accumulated points), relying on the Kayak data for assurance that Amex was offering a reasonable deal.
No.
I search by airline/date on Kayak. Then I choose the airline and go directly to my selected airlines website.
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