Weird little business battle raging right now, sort of like the periodic battles cable television providers have with networks over fees. There’s no requirement that travel sites have all flights, Southwest Air has never been a member of Orbitz or Expedia, and SWA seems to do all right. However, seems like AA will lose some business by being recalcitrant, we shall see.
The standoff between American Airlines Inc. and online travel agencies intensified Thursday when Expedia.com changed how it displays American’s airfare search results.
American Airlines wants travel distribution providers to use its Direct Connect technology to book travel, giving it a more direct relationship with customers so it can lower its distribution costs. Expedia calls the new model ‘anti- consumer.’ Fort Worth-based American’s fares no longer appear on Orbitz .com after those two companies couldn’t agree on a contract this week. In an apparent move to support Orbitz’s stance in that dispute, Expedia dropped American’s flight prices from its display screen and moved American’s results to the far right side of its search results.
That’s important because most online travel sites show fare search results by listing the cheapest flights starting on the left side of the screen. Expedia’s changes hurt American’s display in the rankings and could push more bookings to other carriers, even if American’s fares were the cheapest on a given search.
If more airlines opt out of online travel agencies in hopes of luring fliers to book directly, consumers would face a confusing fare-shopping landscape. Consumer advocates fear that fare comparisons would be harder to make among carriers if only some airlines participated in different travel sites.
(click to continue reading Expedia joins Orbitz in obscuring listings of American Airline fares | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Headline | National News.)