Expedia makes American flights harder to find
12-23-2010, 04:49 PM
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Expedia makes American flights harder to find
NEW YORK (AP) -- Expedia is making American Airlines flights and fares harder to find on its website after the airline pulled its fares off rival Orbitz.
The online travel site on Thursday said of American's action that it "cannot support efforts that we believe are fundamentally bad for travelers."
The changes on Expedia include moving American's flight options out of their prime spot on the first page of results. Instead of seeing prices immediately when searching, American's fares are now visible only after choosing both a departure and return flight.
Expedia said in a statement that it believes the airline's move to pull its fares from Orbitz will result in higher ticket prices and make it harder for consumers to find deals.
American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp., pulled its flights from the Orbitz travel website on Tuesday in an intensifying dispute between airlines and online travel sites that sell their tickets. Airlines have traditionally paid sellers a commission. American also pays fees to the global distribution companies that provide the flight information.
American wants Orbitz to get that flight information directly from the airline, cutting out the global distribution systems. American has said that will reduce costs and also allow it to make more personalized offers to customers such as hotels and car rentals.
Experts say American underestimated Orbitz' role in the ticketing process. About a third of Americans book their tickets on independent travel sites.
"Online consumers may not even know American's flights are missing. The ones who will gain the most here are American's competitors United, Southwest and others," said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travel buyers.
A spokesman for American, which is based in Dallas, wasn't immediately available for comment.
This is not what AMR expected.
SEE ITALICS UNDERLINED ABOVE: WTHF, this guy is a moron, Southwest doesn't participate in those websites anyway! How will it help them?
The online travel site on Thursday said of American's action that it "cannot support efforts that we believe are fundamentally bad for travelers."
The changes on Expedia include moving American's flight options out of their prime spot on the first page of results. Instead of seeing prices immediately when searching, American's fares are now visible only after choosing both a departure and return flight.
Expedia said in a statement that it believes the airline's move to pull its fares from Orbitz will result in higher ticket prices and make it harder for consumers to find deals.
American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp., pulled its flights from the Orbitz travel website on Tuesday in an intensifying dispute between airlines and online travel sites that sell their tickets. Airlines have traditionally paid sellers a commission. American also pays fees to the global distribution companies that provide the flight information.
American wants Orbitz to get that flight information directly from the airline, cutting out the global distribution systems. American has said that will reduce costs and also allow it to make more personalized offers to customers such as hotels and car rentals.
Experts say American underestimated Orbitz' role in the ticketing process. About a third of Americans book their tickets on independent travel sites.
"Online consumers may not even know American's flights are missing. The ones who will gain the most here are American's competitors United, Southwest and others," said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, which represents corporate travel buyers.
A spokesman for American, which is based in Dallas, wasn't immediately available for comment.
This is not what AMR expected.
SEE ITALICS UNDERLINED ABOVE: WTHF, this guy is a moron, Southwest doesn't participate in those websites anyway! How will it help them?
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