Thu, Mar 06, 2008
And Offers "Guarantee" To Back It Up
A few years ago, the airline industry decided to stop paying
commissions to traditional travel agents. Now, the airlines are not
only squeezing out internet travel sites from airline ticket sales,
but actually competing with them in other areas... in the hopes of
keeping precious passenger dollars in-house.
If you've ever tried to compare airline ticket prices on the
web, you may have noticed that some airlines, Southwest being one
example, don't participate. Southwest knows that if you're really
doing your homework on prices, you'll check southwest.com in
addition to Expedia or Travelocity. It's a gamble that makes sense
if you've created a strong discount brand, which Southwest has
certainly done.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Delta Airlines isn't
quite ready to pull its product off the travel sites... but it is
moving to drive more traffic to its own website, by guaranteeing
that you'll find the airline's lowest fares there.
The guarantee works like this -- within certain conditions, if
you buy a ticket at delta.com, then find the same Delta itinerary
on another travel site for a price 10 dollars or more below what
you paid Delta by midnight the same day, the airline will pay you
the difference, plus a $100 dollar travel voucher. If it happens
after midnight but within 24 hours, you can get a refund.
There's more at stake for Delta than just the few dollars in
ticket booking fees to outside agencies. If you've been to Delta's
website recently, you'll notice the airline, as do many others, has
actually gone into competition with the general travel sites,
packaging Hilton hotel rooms, Avis or Budget rental cars, and
partner products with your ticket purchase.
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