Spiff

I have to go to Cleveland on business next week. Even though I am booking more than 7 days in advance, the lowest fare offered with or without (!) a Saturday night stay is over $950! There is tons of availability on all flights on the dates and times I want, so I know the high fare is not because of no inventory. My company is probably going to stick me on Southwest(read: worthless FF program to me since their credits expire every 12 months) unless I can come up with a comparably priced alternative (no priceline either as there's no FF credit and I have to fly at reasonable times). I called SMS and they were happy and eager to sell me this B fare. I explained to them that their flights were way undersold and that their competitor was much cheaper, would they match the fare? They told me no, they don't do that. Do I have any other recourse? It's a real shame and a foolish decision on Delta's part if I don't since they are telling me that it's $950 or nothing and that a Sat. night stay won't help.

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"Sire, it is not a revolt. It is a Revolution!"

gilpin

Years ago you could submit a "fare match request" which was forwarded to the tariff department. If there was enough inventory they would often create a special fare basis to match a competitor. Now they've even taken away the capability of asking the tariff department to match.

Delta's strategy is to focus on certain fortess hubs and collect monopoly profits on routes from those hubs. A recent study showed that CVG had the highest average fare per passenger mile of any US airport. Wonder why?

LexPassenger

Spiff: try Orbitz.

It's popping me up $328 on United through ORD even without the Sat. night stay. $412 to come back Fri. afternoon.

There's an even cheaper fare on TWA. Also one in the mid $600s on Delta returning Sunday.

I tried leaving Wed. or Thur., returning Fri., Sat. or Sun. Try it!

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"Service" should be a noun, not a verb.
Beginners' Guide to the Delta Forum

Spiff

LexPassenger:

Thanks for the help. I have to travel on specific dates. I think I may have another solution that I'll let you know about if it works. Southwest wants about $250 so I can't go much more than that or my company, which is not stupid enough to pay Delta $950 for the same destination will object.

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"Sire, it is not a revolt. It is a Revolution!"

GG

$950 to Cleveland?!?

My first reaction is: why not drive? Is that too radical an idea? 350 miles/70mph = 5 hours. By the time you drive to the airport, fly, connect, fly, get your rental car, etc. how much time does flying save? An hour? 90 minutes? And that's if all your flights are on time.

I know this is FLYERtalk, but there are times when the alternatives might be worth considering...

(UBB coding corrected)


[This message has been edited by GG (edited 07-25-2001).]

Spiff

GG: Definitely a good and valid idea. I hate driving, though. Even the occasional 1.5 hour trip to CVG isn't enjoyable to me. 5 hours by car to me is no fun at all. Also, my meeting is near the airport, so I don't need a rental car. Thank you for the suggestion, I do appreciate it.

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"Sire, it is not a revolt. It is a Revolution!"

L-1011

Try itasoftware. It gives me a number of low fare alternatives We through Su for $294 (TWA), $328 (UA) and $624 (DL).

We through Fr comes out with $208 (CO+UA) and $251 (TWA).

I have found it being a very good source to use for shopping around for a low fare. You cna't buy there, but it gives you all the fare information you need to get that particular fare through your TA or the airline.

/Pete

[This message has been edited by L-1011 (edited 07-25-2001).]