...I consult Clarkhoward.com everyday for the ATL El Cheapo fares.....I am a big fan of his (he is no fan of the 'Big Six' either). I am surprised he made this deal with WorldSpan..... Bryant Petitt Cumming, GA --- dmueller7@lycos.com wrote: > Hello from bizjournals.com! David Mueller > (dmueller7@lycos.com) thought you > might like the following article from the Atlanta > Business Chronicle: > > http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/travel/airlines_airports/2003/02/17/atlanta_story8.html > > Worldspan bringing 'transparency' to airline ticket > prices > > > Mary Jane Credeur Staff Writer > ------------------------------------------------------------ > Worried about paying too much for airline > tickets? > > A new service by travel e-commerce firm Worldspan > L.P. will let buyers > compare today's ticket prices with historical > prices over the past 12 > months. > > Atlanta-based Worldspan's FareAware search > service goes live Feb. 14 > exclusively through local consumer advocate Clark > Howard's Web site ( > > http://www.clarkhoward.com > > ). The site is free for users, and Worldspan gets > a small cut of every > ticket purchased through the FareAware service. > > "The fare structure is very complicated and we > believe this will help > reduce some frustration and angst the customer > has toward [booking] > travel," said Worldspan CEO Paul Blackney. "This > is an opportunity to > give the consumer more information and help them > book travel > efficiently." > > No other travel booking company or airline > currently offers a 12-month > ticket pricing comparison tool. > > Industry watchers say the availability of such a > tool might make some > airlines uncomfortable because it lends more > transparency to their > opaque pricing practices and may lead some > consumers to hold off on > travel until ticket prices come down. Worldspan > is jointly owned by > subsidiaries of Delta Air Lines Inc., Northwest > Airlines Inc. and > American Airlines Inc. > > "Airline prices are more fickle than Hollywood > marriages — one minute > they're up, one minute they're down and there are > a lot of outside > forces that come into play," said Henry > Harteveldt, senior analyst with > Forrester Research Inc. "There are capacity > issues and competitive > issues, geopolitical and economic factors. Buying > an airline ticket is > not like going to the Gap and buying a T-shirt." > > Deflated or depressed airline prices are > especially critical as airlines > struggle to recover from the 2001 terrorist > attacks and the lingering > recession. Additionally, the current model of > airline pricing and > operations returns razor-thin profits, if any > profits are made at all. > > "It's nearly impossible for these guys to make > money because they have > to sell 80 percent or even 90 percent capacity > just to break even, and > these thresholds change every day on every flight > for every route," > Harteveldt said. > > 'Pandora's box' > > Inspired by the Internet e-commerce boom, online > travel booking services > like Expedia Inc., Travelocity L.P. and Orbitz > LLC were created in the > late 1990s to snare more revenue on distressed > inventory and unsold > seats. > > Online services quickly claimed nearly a quarter > of all air travel > bookings, and conditioned consumers to conform > their travel plans around > the availability of cheaper flights. > > "There was a sea change when information moved > from the travel agents > directly into consumers' hands, and there is no > going back," Blackney > said. "Pandora's box was opened when you gave > people the Internet." > > Now Worldspan wants to push more information out > to the consumer. > > FareAware has been under development for nearly a > year and cost > Worldspan about $1 million to build, although the > company relied heavily > on its existing ticket processing technology to > make the new product > work. > > Worldspan gathers its historical fare data from > the 5.8 billion travel > transactions it processes each month, then > compares that data against > current lowest prices for tickets on specific > routes. > > Unlike many fare-search tools that are led by > less-flexible departure > times or dates, FareAware is led by ticket > pricing first and shows date > and time availability later during the search. > > The idea is to help consumers navigate the > complex airline ticket > pricing mechanisms by giving them another data > point to consider when > buying tickets, said Niel Bainton, vice president > of strategy and new > business development for Worldspan. > > "If consumers are flexible, FareAware can help > them book tickets in > advance at a very good rate," Bainton said. "This > helps create some real > transparency [to ticket pricing]. Nobody else has > ever offered a > historical pricing benchmark before." > > At first, FareAware will only include 15 > departure cities and limited > destination cities based on high-volume routes. > The service is available > only through Clark Howard's site because > Worldspan wanted to position > the product as a search tool for budget-conscious > leisure travelers. > > Howard met with Worldspan a year ago when > FareAware was under > development, and informally shared his views on > what consumers would > want in such a product. > > New models > > Although Howard has not endorsed FareAware, he > believes the concept is > "brilliant" and that every business that books > travel tickets or > reservations will soon have "clear and obvious > pricing models." > > "Most pricing models today are tired and outdated > — it's a matter of > 'Let's see who we can con into paying too much > for their ticket,' " > Howard said. "The industry is moving to > transparency in pricing, but > it's kicking and screaming the whole way." > > Howard says Web sites for discount carriers like > AirTran Airways Inc. > and Southwest Airlines Co. have some of the most > straightforward pricing > models available. > > "Instead of trying to play a game of hide and > seek, they lay it out for > you and show you all the prices they have for > these flights at these > times," Howard said. "How great is that? People > understand that, and > they trust that." > > Although analysts believe the FareAware service > may "raise the hackles" > of the Big Six full-fare airlines, all of the > carriers are under > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com