American tests simpler fare structure in some cities NEW YORK (AP) =97 The world's largest airline has taken a tiny step toward= =20 placating corporate travelers fed up with the huge disparity between=20 business fares and leisure fares. American Airlines launched a simplified=20 fare structure in a small number of markets last week, lowering the price=20 of tickets bought at the last minute by as much as 40%. The apparent goal=20 is to steer business travelers away from rock-bottom, advance-purchase=20 fares that have become popular during the economic downturn. It's all part= =20 of an effort to compress the wide range of airfares, which many corporate=20 travel managers say is at the root of business-travelers' frugality this=20 past year. In many cases the cheapest business fare is five times more=20 expensive than the least expensive leisure fare. In response, many business= =20 travelers now purchase tickets far in advance and they search the Internet= =20 for the best deals around =97 strategies typically associated with leisure= =20 travelers. Under the changes made by American, the lowest one-way walk-up fare between= =20 Dallas and Los Angeles is now $647, down from $1,078. Between New Orleans=20 and Seattle, the lowest one-way walk-up fare is now $604, down from $907. In contrast to the cheapest fares aimed at leisure travelers, which have=20 tight restrictions, walk-up fares are fully refundable and travelers can=20 make schedule changes or fly stand-by at no extra cost. "They're going to=20 be surprised by how many business travelers are going to take them up on=20 it," said Terry Trippler, a Minneapolis-based travel consultant. Leisure=20 travelers aren't so lucky, though. They will face tighter restrictions on=20 the least expensive fares, including requirements to purchase such tickets= =20 30-days in advance instead of 14-days in advance. To be sure, the fare=20 structure being tested by American is extremely limited. It will affect=20 passengers on just 23 routes, less than 1% of the carrier's total schedule,= =20 which has some 12,500 domestic city pairs. However, analysts say it could mark the beginning of something larger if=20 American succeeds in attracting more higher-paying business customers. "We= =20 hope it works and is replicated by the other network carriers," said David= =20 Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association in Washington. The new= =20 fare structure was first reported Friday by the industry publication Travel= =20 Weekly. American and United Airlines depend heavily on corporate spending=20 and have been especially hurt by business travelers' increasing efforts to= =20 avoid the higher fares. In September American's chief executive, Don Carty,= =20 said: "The problem for us is that only about one in a dozen passengers is=20 flying at full coach fares." That's significant, he added, because nearly=20 half of American's sales come from traditionally higher-paying business=20 travelers. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (chgdev) http://www.chagdev.com/ (Chaguaramas Development Authority) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************