wigstheone
Dec 3, 01, 9:53 pm
Now that the last Trans World Airlines flight has taken off, some online consumers wonder if it's still worth a visit to Lowestfare.com, the Web site known for selling TWA tickets below published fares.
"The site doesn't look very good, and they give the same prices as other [travel] Web sites," says Damian Styga, an entrepreneur and former TWA elite flier from Little Rock, Ark. "Why would I buy a ticket there if I could buy something somewhere else with better options?"
At one time, Lowestfare.com boasted of being among the top five most visited travel sites and competed with the likes of Expedia and Travelocity.com. According to a new survey of travel sites by Jupiter Media Metrix, an online research firm, Lowestfare.com was ranked No. 12 in terms of the number of unique visitors in October 2000.
One year later, the site had slid to No. 41, sandwiched in between ChoiceHotels.com and National Car Rental's site.
"They lost their differentiator," says Krista Pappas, vice president of strategic development for FareChase and former Internet travel consultant for Gomez Advisors, an e-commerce research firm in Waltham, Mass. "They have solid relationships in the industry, but now they're up against more competition."
Established in 1996 by former TWA chairman, Carl Icahn, Lowestfare.com was one of the ways in which he was able to sell discounted tickets that he was awarded in return for a loan he made to the airline. But when AMR Corp.'s American Airlines bought out TWA this year, a court ruled that American wasn't obliged to honor Mr. Icahn's ticket arrangement, which resulted in Lowestfare.com losing the majority of its inventory in the spring.
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB1007152937901181480.htm
"The site doesn't look very good, and they give the same prices as other [travel] Web sites," says Damian Styga, an entrepreneur and former TWA elite flier from Little Rock, Ark. "Why would I buy a ticket there if I could buy something somewhere else with better options?"
At one time, Lowestfare.com boasted of being among the top five most visited travel sites and competed with the likes of Expedia and Travelocity.com. According to a new survey of travel sites by Jupiter Media Metrix, an online research firm, Lowestfare.com was ranked No. 12 in terms of the number of unique visitors in October 2000.
One year later, the site had slid to No. 41, sandwiched in between ChoiceHotels.com and National Car Rental's site.
"They lost their differentiator," says Krista Pappas, vice president of strategic development for FareChase and former Internet travel consultant for Gomez Advisors, an e-commerce research firm in Waltham, Mass. "They have solid relationships in the industry, but now they're up against more competition."
Established in 1996 by former TWA chairman, Carl Icahn, Lowestfare.com was one of the ways in which he was able to sell discounted tickets that he was awarded in return for a loan he made to the airline. But when AMR Corp.'s American Airlines bought out TWA this year, a court ruled that American wasn't obliged to honor Mr. Icahn's ticket arrangement, which resulted in Lowestfare.com losing the majority of its inventory in the spring.
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB1007152937901181480.htm