[Resolved] AA & US Fares No Longer Available On Orbitz Websites
Aug 27, 2014, 8:43 am
#46
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Is this about getting Orbitz to do a direct connect to AA rather than going through a GDS? I think the problem with the latter is that AA pays fees to the GDS. The GDS may pay Orbitz to use it rather than another GDS. Then Orbitz can apply some of its fee from the GDS to charge less for the same routing than aa.com. Is this the underlying issue?
Aug 27, 2014, 9:11 am
#47
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I think the difference between Southwest and American, in this situation, is that Southwest isn't really connected to a GDS, while American is. I would imagine that once Southwest fully switches to Amadeus, they will start showing up
Aug 27, 2014, 12:19 pm
#48
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If this guy is right, then AA has nothing to lose by dumping Orbitz:
http://www.tnooz.com/article/fare-fi...s-pull-orbitz/
From someone who used to be in AA management:
http://www.airlineforums.com/topic/5...s-from-orbitz/
Not only are the newly-consolidated powerful airlines beating up on some of their customers, they're also better able to play hardball with their industry "partners" like the OTAs.
Southwest seems to do ok even though its own website is the only online distribution channel.
According to industry guru Henry Harteveldt:
“Orbitz was American Airlines’ most expensive, poorest performing online travel agency. High costs, poor business performance, and an inadequate ancillary development roadmap were behind the decision.”
“Orbitz was American Airlines’ most expensive, poorest performing online travel agency. High costs, poor business performance, and an inadequate ancillary development roadmap were behind the decision.”
From someone who used to be in AA management:
Originally Posted by eolesen
AA's pulled fares from Orbitz during the fall of 2010 for almost the same reason -- it was time for a contract renewal, and AA wanted to keep its fees and commissions in synch with the revenue being generated in each distribution channel.
Orbitz's leisure site tends to sell only the cheapest and lowest yielding fares, and AA doesn't need to pay a middleman to do what they already sell for less cost on AA.com or thru other OTA's with larger volumes. AA also wanted Orbitz to use a direct connect (bypassing the GDS) but that didn't sit well with Orbitz's owner -- Travelport, who is a GDS. Travelport also owned Expedia, who in retaliation blocked AA's fares for sale.
This all happened in 1Q13, and AA said there was no measurable impact to their sales volume or revenues. Expedia and Orbitz did see an impact if I recall.
Orbitz's leisure site tends to sell only the cheapest and lowest yielding fares, and AA doesn't need to pay a middleman to do what they already sell for less cost on AA.com or thru other OTA's with larger volumes. AA also wanted Orbitz to use a direct connect (bypassing the GDS) but that didn't sit well with Orbitz's owner -- Travelport, who is a GDS. Travelport also owned Expedia, who in retaliation blocked AA's fares for sale.
This all happened in 1Q13, and AA said there was no measurable impact to their sales volume or revenues. Expedia and Orbitz did see an impact if I recall.
Not only are the newly-consolidated powerful airlines beating up on some of their customers, they're also better able to play hardball with their industry "partners" like the OTAs.
Southwest seems to do ok even though its own website is the only online distribution channel.
Aug 27, 2014, 4:43 pm
#49
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I'm not sure this is the case as AA never had any issue with ticketing and allowing me to fly on the "cheaper" Orbitz reservations I made over the years. I'd venture to say that if there was a married segment violation in my ticket, AA would have found it and kicked it back.
Aug 28, 2014, 12:59 am
#50
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aa.com allows foreign address credit cards for a while now (over a year).
Am I the only one to have noticed that ??!!
Orbitz has been great for me everytime aa.com has done 'price has changed' loop to me. The segment by segment search being just fantastic.
Am I the only one to have noticed that ??!!
Orbitz has been great for me everytime aa.com has done 'price has changed' loop to me. The segment by segment search being just fantastic.
Aug 28, 2014, 11:21 am
#53
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Wow. You send AA email expressing disappointment with their dumping Orbitz and saying that Orbitz allowed fares to be built and booked that AA's website doesn't easily allow, and they respond with what is effectively a form email insult. Their email reads as one big FO. Whomever does their CRM training and systems design needs to be fired.
"August 28, 2014
Dear Mr.:
Thank you for contacting Customer Relations. It is always good to hear from our customers, even if the feedback is negative. Your comments, while disappointing, remind us of the importance of providing our customers with the best service possible, at every opportunity. We will forward your comments to our marketing department for review.
Mr., we appreciate your loyalty and look forward to welcoming you on board again soon.
Sincerely,
<staffer who clearly doesn't get it>
Customer Relations
American Airlines"
Dear Mr.:
Thank you for contacting Customer Relations. It is always good to hear from our customers, even if the feedback is negative. Your comments, while disappointing, remind us of the importance of providing our customers with the best service possible, at every opportunity. We will forward your comments to our marketing department for review.
Mr., we appreciate your loyalty and look forward to welcoming you on board again soon.
Sincerely,
<staffer who clearly doesn't get it>
Customer Relations
American Airlines"
Aug 28, 2014, 2:02 pm
#54
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Big loss indeed. I often used orbitz to book itineraries where the AA website loops (seriously, when is AA going to fix that error?).
The orbitz bucks for tickets are nice as well (about 1% return in ticket cost toward hotels).
The orbitz bucks for tickets are nice as well (about 1% return in ticket cost toward hotels).
Aug 29, 2014, 2:43 am
#55
Moderator: Manufactured Spending
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6,580
Wow. You send AA email expressing disappointment with their dumping Orbitz and saying that Orbitz allowed fares to be built and booked that AA's website doesn't easily allow, and they respond with what is effectively a form email insult. Their email reads as one big FO. Whomever does their CRM training and systems design needs to be fired.
I think that in the end, this will hurt AA. Most of the people who fly, especially domestically, are not frequent fliers, and are likely to go on an OTA and book the cheapest flight, or at least search with the OTA and then go to the airline's site to book. Most of the chatter on the internet, however, is from frequent fliers who are familiar with each carrier's route maps and go directly to book with the airline of their choice. AA won't be losing too many of our bookings, but they will lose part of the fly-to-Hawaii-once-a-year crowd.
Many people point out that WN does fine without OTAs. WN, however, does targeted marketing for each new route they start. They often take out TV ads or put up huge billboards outside airports. I don't know how much it costs them, but it eats into the savings from not having to pay commissions to agents.
Aug 29, 2014, 1:20 pm
#56
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I wasn't expecting a discussion with them. I was expecting a polite bit of non-speak platitude. What I got was borderline insult. The goal of emailing them was to add that one small voice extra of disappointment about their move. If they're doing their jobs then they take notice as the voices add up.
Aug 29, 2014, 2:53 pm
#57
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Aug 29, 2014, 3:25 pm
#58
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Apparently, AA and Orbitz settled their dispute and AA fares are once again available:
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2...n-orbitz.html/
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2...n-orbitz.html/
Aug 29, 2014, 4:02 pm
#59
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Aug 29, 2014, 6:20 pm
#60
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I've purchased all of my AA tickets through AA.com - when their site won't pull up the itinerary / segments I want I just call AA and have the EXP desk set it up and put it on hold for me. No issues there, but the looping repricing thing is annoying.
Are there no other OTAs that can do multicity like Orbitz?
Are there no other OTAs that can do multicity like Orbitz?