In the complicated world of airfares, the search for cheap flights got a lot more difficult for passengers. In the past week, both Delta and American Airlines have pulled their airfares from popular online search engines.
This past week, American failed to reach an agreement with Orbitz and airfares for American Airlines flights will no longer be available through Orbitz and their online site. In a similar agreement, Delta Airlines pulled their airfares from cheapoair.com, OneTravel.com, and Bookit.com. While these airfares are still being sold on Travelocity and Priceline, it makes the future of airfares very uncertain.
Many argue that these moves by American Airlines and Delta Airlines were an attempt to save money and increase revenues by cutting out the middle man. If passengers book fees on airfare search engine sites like Orbitz, the airline must pay them a fee for doing so. By not allowing their airfares on these sights, this saves them money and forces passengers to book directly with the airline website where other options like travel insurance and other add ons can bring in more revenue.
The impact on air travel and airline passengers
While other airlines have not made this move, they will keep a careful eye on how this works out for American and Delta. Southwest has always advertised their airfares on their website only and recently ran a commercial to see how many people were aware of this. However, this move could signal a change in the airline industry. Here's how air travel and airline passengers may be affected.
1. Rising costs - One effect of this move could be higher airfares. One thing consolidator search engines do is to bring all airlines together to help offer the cheapest flights. This may mean combining flights on two different airlines to save you money on your trip. However, if some of those airlines are no longer available for purchase, entire flights may need to be booked on airline web sites. This may lead to more expensive flights since cheaper flights on other airlines can't be combined.
2. Cheap flights more difficult to find - Aside from the rising costs of having to book your flight through one airline, this may also mean a lot more research to find the cheapest flight. Finding more affordable flights will mean some airfare search engines may not help you find the cheapest flight and you may need to look on individual airline sights to compare. This will mean more time and effort for travelers.
Keeping this in mind, it's important to note that airfare search technology, even when it combines airlines together for cheaper flights, may not be your best option. With these new changes, it's even more important to note that there are other ways to find good airfares - like these 6 tips to find the cheapest flights. These may be more important than ever now.
3. Travel agents may become popular again - Travel agents have always been an important part of the travel industry. Even with the rise of technology, travel agents have still been viable and very helpful in finding great deals for travelers. If other airlines follow American and Delta, travel agents may be called upon to take on the work that travelers once did themselves on the internet. With international airports in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Oakland and the complicated process of booking travel, finding great deals will be harder and travel agents may grow in popularity once again.
Airline fees, higher airfares, and the increased costs of travel have been a burden for many travelers the last few years. As airlines look to increase their revenues and cut costs, many may follow the lead of American and Delta by eliminating their airfares from popular travel sites and search engines like Orbitz. And even with new fees that can help travelers like the Farelock fee, finding cheaper flights may become more difficult.
The airline industry is constantly changing. Lately, this has meant more fees, higher costs, and more frustrations for passengers. Where this latest move by Delta and American leads is uncertain at this point. However, many experts agree - it's not good news for travelers.
Read American Airlines' press release on removing their airfares from Orbtiz.
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Comments
Great article! I'd heard about this but wasn't sure what it meant for consumers. You explained it in a clear, matter of fact way. Thank you!
Trends like this are cyclical and perhaps next year Delta and American will feel they need to resign up on the search engines. Way to keep us up to date on what is going on.
Bottom line - I think they are being cheap and just don't want to pay the middle man. After all, Southwest has done this for years and it has worked for them so they may be trying the same model. We will have to say how it works out and how we, travelers, are affected by this.
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