Newsstand - Orbitz to charge $5/ticket fee

Orbitz is going to start charging a $5/ticket fee:

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cn/20011202/tc/orbitz_to_charge_service_fee_1.html

I think it's insane that they can't/won't take airline commissions instead of having to charge the consumer more?!?

I love it!!!!

From the Orbitz home page:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Orbitz Services and Fees
Learn the latest. More (http://www.orbitz.com/App/info/fees_letter.jsp)</font>

[This message has been edited by snake (edited 12-02-2001).]

what do you mean by the can't/won't statement, beckles?

i have to imagine that the airlines had worked out some kind of deal with orbitz in which they would make money selling airline tickts. Lord know the average travel agent (whether brick and mortar or online, non-airline) doesn't anymore.

but somehow, some way, orbitz business model must be failing. if you are owned by the airlines itself, yet still can't make money selling airline tickets, what does that tell you?

i pay service fees every time i buy an airline ticket now. i know my travel agent is never going to get rich selling tickets, but at least she's been able to survive the poor business practices of the airlines. talk about killing the golden goose! the airlines still rely on agents for 80% of their business.

so they've slapped the traditional travel agents around, and the smart ones learned to survive. then they slapped around the online, independent agencies, and the smart ones survived. then they institute fees for paper tickets, and reduce on-board service. to top it all off, when the 9/11 attacks slap the airlines around, the get a taxpayer bailout, rather than be forced to learn to adapt to a new business model, just like the travel agencies had to. now we see that their white knight "independent, yet airline owned" distribution channel isn't making money either.

just more ammo in the "they should have been allowed to fail, and not bailed out" argument.



------------------
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We'll show Colorado!

GO DUCKS GO!!!!!!!!!!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by duxfan:
...when the 9/11 attacks slap the airlines around, the get a taxpayer bailout, rather than be forced to learn to adapt to a new business model, just like the travel agencies had to.
</font>

I suppose the average airline has a few more lobbyists than the average travel agent. Voting blocks and campaign contributions earn special dispensations for those who control them. It's the American Way! (Pun intended.)

pun taken. you raise a valid point...

Orbitz is great! (for fare shopping). But I am not going to empower this subtle arm of a coalition of airlines to push other channels of ticket pricers/suppliers out. I have been shopping on orbitz, then buying online directly from the airline (where possible).



[This message has been edited by chipper (edited 12-04-2001).]

I feel certain this has always been their plan. And not a very transparent one at that. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by chipper:
[B]Orbitz is great! (for fare shopping). But I am not going to empower this subtle arm of a coalition of airlines to push other channels of ticket pricers/suppliers out. I have been shopping on orbitz, then buying online directly from the airline (where possible). B]</font>
But what do you do when Orbitz has the lowest fare, sometimes by a mile?

[/QUOTE]
But what do you do when Orbitz has the lowest fare, sometimes by a mile?

[/QUOTE]

As a pragmatist, I decided to pay the fee on my last ticket. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif (I was pleasantly surprised when the fee was waived. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif)


[This message has been edited by gsw (edited 12-14-2001).]

Online Travel Business Regains Altitude

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Jolted by the September 11 attacks, online travel agency Orbitz evacuated its headquarters near the Sears Tower that morning and watched its business plummet for weeks afterward. But Orbitz and its competitors have now regained altitude -- and then some.

Thanks to bargain-hunting leisure travelers and the growing use of Internet sites for more than just airplane tickets, the Web travel business is strong, and the outlook is brighter than that of the industry as a whole.

"All of a sudden consumers are realizing this isn't just something for the most technologically advanced. It's for everybody," said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst at Forrester Research.

While overall industry revenue is expected to finish the year down 20 percent from last year, online leisure travel sales will wind up at a healthy $14.2 billion, according to Forrester.

That is scaled back from the $16.7 billion forecast before the weakened economy and the terrorist attacks took their toll, but still 16 percent higher than a year ago.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/TRAVEL/NEWS/12/27/onlinetravel.ap/index.html

I, too love to browse at Orbitz. Actually bought couple of tkts there as well...

Now with this change i think i'll stick with the online booking bonuses http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I have felt sneaky/guilty about it, but I use Travelocity, Expedia, &or Orbitz to compare airlines. Then I go to the best airline's Website to book for the big booking bonus! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif