BizTravel has extended its guarantee to rental cars and hotels, but has cut back its airline guarantee. Refunds for delays are now as follows:

* 30 minutes to one hour: $25
* One to two hours: $50
* More than two hours or cancelled: $100

Forget the "Southwest Effect". The "United Effect" must have nearly sent them broke mid 2000 with the amounts they needed to fork out for delays.

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~ Glen ~

I don't believe United was one of the airlines they offered a guarantee on. I may be mistaken though.

Chix .. Never used BizTravel so have no idea. If they did NOT sell UA, they must have breathed a BIG sigh of relief!

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~ Glen ~

United was NOT one of their guaranteed Airlines. I dont think that was a coincidence

Keep in mind, the guarantee does not apply to delays due to mechanical problems. Its still a neat deal, though.

Why does biztravel have such high rates for their tickets? I tried pricing ORD - NYC depart Feb 25 return Feb 27, nonstop coach evening. The cheapest Biztravel found was a Continental ticket costing $427.50. I tried the exact same search on all the other online agents starting with expedia and rounding off with sidestep. All of them beat biztravel and I found the same ticket for $266 elsewhere, including several cheaper options on airtran, american, northwest etc.

is this for business travelers only then? and even if it was, then why would ANYONE...even business travelers pay more for the same ticket than they have to??

if biztravel is selling such marked up tickets then I can understand how they can afford to pay $25 bucks occasionally when your flight gets delayed.

ive found, that if you know what you're looking for (specific flights) and aren't trying to use a web fare, i can get the same rates on biztravel as their direct competitors and airline sites.

also, their guarantee only applies to AA, CO, and US (among domestic carriers).

I haven't found their fares to be any higher than other booking methods. However, their search engine isn't as advanced as Travelocity or Expedia...

Unfortunately, the opportunity cost now is much higher.

Previously, you'd get your entire ticket refunded if the flight was more than two hours late. For a business fare, that could be hundreds or thousands of dollars. Now, that figure is capped at $100.

Now, even if you're 30 minutes late every flight, this just about equates with the 1,000-mile booking bonus you get from airlines' sites.

See also:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum94/HTML/003575.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum94/HTML/001574.html

i always found their fares to be higher than other online booking programs. i also questioned some of the combinations they made on my flight requests. they would often put two airlines together when a perfectly suitable connection could be found on a single carrier via another online booking program.

I have been using them and gotten about $600 back for three different flights. The Company has/had an insurance pilicy if claims got too high. According to the web-site, they distributed $1.5MM.

Given how cumbersome the web site is, these new refunds are not worth the aggravation. I'll be going back to dealing with the airlines directly.