This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@juno.com. They love to gouge and it shows. psa188@juno.com /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Share the spirit with a gift from Starbucks. Our coffee brewers & espresso machines at special holiday prices. http://www.starbucks.com/shop/subcategory.asp?category_name=Sale/Clearance&ci=274&cookie_test=1 \----------------------------------------------------------/ $21.5 Million to Germany. Round-Trip. December 22, 2001 By LAURENCE ZUCKERMAN So much for the online discount. One day last week, Ed Baker, a management consultant in Atlanta, thought he would take advantage of the fare sales being offered in the wake of Sept. 11 to book a flight to Germany next June to visit his parents. He logged on to the Delta Air Lines (news/quote) Web site and punched in his request for a flight to Hamburg with a return three weeks later from Munich. The quoted fare: $21,469,423.27. And that was for coach. Several repeated tries brought up the same fare. "I thought about buying it on my American Express (news/quote) card just to see what would happen," Mr. Baker said. It is true that most large airlines charge higher fares for passengers who arrive at one city and return from another. It is also true that the airline industry has lost billions of dollars since Sept. 11 and desperately needs to increase fares if it hopes to return to profitability. Nonetheless, Delta said the $21 million ticket was a glitch in its system. "We're still investigating," Catherine Stengel, a Delta spokeswoman, said. She added that the computer would not have allowed Mr. Baker, or anyone else, to buy a ticket at that price. "It would send up a flag," she said. The cost of the ticket quoted by Delta's offline reservation system yesterday, according to Ms. Stengel, was $1,364.63. The Delta Web site quoted a fare of $1,624.63 yesterday, a discount of $21,467,798.64 from the earlier online price. A few hours later, the fare rose to $21,469,373.35, a decline of $49.92 from the first $21 million ticket. But even the cheapest price is still too steep for Mr. Baker. "It will be lower," he said. "I am just going to sit tight for right now and wait to see if any new sales pop up." http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/22/business/22AIR.html?ex=1010020252&ei=1&en=170a63754459c199 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact Alyson Racer at alyson@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company