Posted by Andrew Hickey on Jun 2, 2009 in
Travel 
Expedia has announced it will put an end to airline booking fees for good. Do I believe them? No way!
It looks like with a combination of a poor economy and less people traveling, mixed with plain old competition has brought all four of the top travel booking websites to waive airline fees permanently. Yesterday Orbitz.com announced it was removing all airline ticket booking fees on domestic and international flights. Travelocity said the same thing as well yesterday (coincidence?). Both of those websites just so happen to break this news upon hearing that Expedia said the same exact thing just last week.
So it is pretty clear that these companies are out for your hard earned dollar and will do anything to get it. Who would have predicted this 6-months to a year ago? Waiving airline booking fees? That is what makes these companies a majority of their cash. How on earth can they survive in the long term?
What started as a friendly little promotion by the big three, looks to now be just a standard when you book airline tickets via their sites. The other big dog in the game, Priceline.com, has been waiving airline booking fees since 2007.
Oddly enough, out of all four of the travel websites (Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, and Priceline), only Priceline saw a profit in the first quarter of 2009. So will the waiving of the airline booking fees by the others bring them the same luck as Priceline? Only time will tell.
But waiving fees is very risky, as most travel companies make their money that way, which is why most analyst see this as just a simple extended promotion. They feel that once the economy is stronger and people are traveling more, that we will see the return of the fees. I agree.
But like most businesses that struggle to turn a profit, the only next thing left to do is either shut down or merge. My money is on the latter. Perhaps an Orbitz.Expedia.com will debut by Christmas.
Source: Reuters
Tags: air, airfare, airline, booking fees, expedia, fares, opaque, orbitz, priceline, Travel, travelocity
Posted by Andrew Hickey on May 27, 2009 in
Travel
Want a cheap alternative to flying into and out of Chicago? Check out Lansing Airport, which is only 90 minutes away.
A start-up airline, which is being run by the former founder of the defunct airline Skybus, will be making travel very affordable…if you are willing to fly into lesser known airports and cities. Toledo, Ohio based Jet America is advertising $9 non-stop, one-way tickets between six U.S. cities, starting July 13. Those six cities include:
- Lansing, Michigan via Lansing Airport (60 minutes from Grand Rapids; 90 minutes from Detroit).
- Melbourne, Florida via Melbourne International Airport (Under 90 minutes from Orlando).
- South Bend, Indiana via South Bend Regional Airport (90 minutes from Chicago).
- Newark, N.J. via Liberty International Airport (Under 30 minutes from New York City).
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota via Minneapolis International Airport.
- Toledo, Ohio via Toledo Express Airport (60 minutes from Detroit).
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Rumored cities to be joining the Jet America itinerary include Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem; Charleston, West Virginia; Chicago/Rockford, Illinois; Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Florida.
For more information, and to book one of their cheap tickets, head on over to Jet America.
By the way, enter for a chance to win any Lonely Planet guidebook of your choice by simply leaving a comment. Also vote for the Top 10 Best Town Squares. You have until Saturday and I will be posting the results all next week.
Tags: air, airfare, charleston, chicago, cincinatti, cleveland, columbus, dayton, detroit, fares, florida, illinois, indiana, jet america, jfk, lansing, melbourne, michigan, minneapolis, minnesota, new jersey, new york city, newark, OHIO, orlando, pittsburgh, rockford, south bend, st. paul, st. petersburg, toledo, Travel, winston-salem
Posted by Andrew Hickey on Apr 9, 2009 in
Travel
Fares to Europe are plummeting. But analyst say be patient and wait before purchasing Euro travel for later this year. Prices are expected to drop even further!
USA Today’s Dan Reed wrote a very interesting article about the lack of interest right now in international travel due to a poor economy. In it he explains how many travelers that have purchased tickets for travel to Europe might be in store for a price adjustment. What does that mean for you the consumer? More moolah in your pocket before you head off to Madrid, Dublin or some other European hotspot that has come down drastically in price since the start of the new year.
Summer and fall fares will continue to drop analyst believe, so if you are currently in possession of tickets to Europe, you may want to contact your airline and see if you qualify for some cash. The other way to get back some green is to simply cancel the ticket. Yes you will most likely incur a penalty when doing so, but even after they levy the fine the difference in price may leave you with some extra dollars to spend on the trip. Just a heads up, you will NOT get a cash refund, but instead the airline will provide you with a voucher good for future travel.
For example, if you were to have booked a flight from Los Angeles to Paris in January for travel this July, it would have set you back $1250 round-trip. That same route as of this article is $884! That is a difference of $366 in a matter of 12 weeks. If you were to be hit with a charge for requesting the price adjustment, lets say $150 (which is what American Airlines charges), you would be left with $216 in your hand. That will buy you plenty of baguettes and stinky cheese in France!
I am not immune to this crazy fare season. Yes, yours truly booked early for European travel this summer, only to see my “amazing price” to Poland go even lower two months after purchasing the tickets. It has since gone well above what I paid for the seat, but seeing my fare go below what I paid for it was shocking and upsetting. Airlines are expected to drop their prices for travel after October 26 by 25-40% very soon. So sit tight if you are thinking of spending turkey day in Turkey or new year’s day in Dusseldorf. You may see even more unbelievable sales in the near future.
Um, can we get another round-trip NYC-Madrid for $207 please!?
For more on European airfare refunds, check out USAToday.com
Tags: airfare, dublin, dusseldorf, europe, fares, france, los angeles, Madrid, Paris, poland, Travel, turkey, usa today
Posted by Andrew Hickey on Mar 8, 2009 in
Travel 
Reykjavik, Iceland is one of many international spots you can visit for under $500.
Over the weekend I came across more unbelievable NYC fares to top international cities for last minute travel, as well as later in the year. Now if you are not from the NYC area don’t fret, you could easily grab a domestic flight to NYC and then transfer to your final destination. Spain, Ireland, England and Italy are among the many countries that are offering “recession friendly” prices. Here is a list of 15 locales (round-trip, taxes and fees included):
- Dublin, Ireland: Continental Airlines: $298, March 17-24/$311, April 6-15 or 17/$311 May 6-10 or 13.
- Shannon, Ireland: Continental Airlines: $301, March 26-29/$313, April & May.
- London, England: Virgin Atlantic: $376, April 8-13.
- Barcelona, Spain: Iberia: $206, March/$229, early April & late October-early January/$367, May & September.
- Madrid, Spain: Iberia: $213-$229, March/$229, late October to early December/$367, May & September.
- Rome, Italy: Multiple airlines: $367-$402, April & May/$421, September & October/$303-$344, November & December.
- Venice, Italy: Iberia: $390, April, May, September & October/$315, Christmas and New Years fares through Orbitz.
- Paris, France: Iberia: $319, March, October and November/Air France: $402-$409, April & May.
- Nice, France: Air France: $393, March 18-24, April & May.
- Berlin, Germany: Multiple airlines: $350, mid March/$380, April & May/$342, December 25-January 5.
- Munich, Germany: Multiple airlines: $421, March-May/$430, September/Iberia: $344, October 30-November 11/$353, November 14-22/Iberia: $344, December 25- January 12.
- Athens, Greece: $459-$463, April & May/Continental Airlines: $404, early May.
- Zurich, Switzerland: $389, March-May/Iberia: $360, November 20 or 21-28/Iberia: $319, December 10-24.
- Oslo, Norway: Continental Airlines: $371, March 17-23, April 5-13 & April 7-15.
- Reykjavik, Iceland: IcelandAir: $488, April 1-15 & $460, April 2-10.
Links:
Air France
Continental Airlines
Iberia
IcelandAir
Orbitz
Virgin Atlantic
Tips:
For easier travel search, check out Kayak.com
If you visit an airline’s website and their low fares are no longer available, be sure to check out opaque travel sites like Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia & CheapTickets. Sometimes they will offer a much lower rate than the airline.
If you have spot any amazingly low airfare drop me a line.
Tags: Air France, airfare, airline, Athens, barcelona, Berlin, Continental, dublin, fares, iberia, IcelandAir, London, Madrid, Munich, nice, Oslo, Paris, Reykjavik, rome, shannon, Travel, venice, virgin atlantic, Zürich
