Airlines dangle 'buy 3, get 1 free' bait The promotions are aimed at high-fare customers. Tickets bought on most=20 cheap fares requiring Saturday night stays =97 the kind many vacationers buy= =20 =97 don't count. People who take three qualifying trips in three months earn= =20 a free ticket. United Airlines was first to launch the promotion, coinciding with a new=20 advertising campaign aimed at business travelers. But all airlines are=20 grappling with intense price competition and a three-year slump in business= =20 travel that has led to deep losses for most. "There's definitely a lot to=20 be gained by enticing the business traveler to come back," says airfare=20 analyst Steve Hendrickson of Sabre Airline Solutions. A passenger on an=20 unrestricted coach fare can be worth six times the revenue of a passenger=20 on a Saturday night stay fare, he says. "The big motivation for airlines is= =20 to just get a few of them," Hendrickson says. Industry data show why=20 airlines miss big spenders. Hendrickson's analysis found people flying from= =20 the East Coast to the West Coast produced $326 million less revenue last=20 summer than in summer 2000. He divided the passengers into two groups:=20 "premium" passengers, who paid more than $350 one way, and those who paid=20 less. The premium group's share of all passengers fell to 10% in 2002 from= =20 18% in 2000, and it accounted for $314 million of the revenue drop, he says. United's move was initially viewed by the other carriers as "an act of=20 desperation," says Michael Koetting, senior vice president of the corporate= =20 travel firm TQ3 Travel Solutions. But they matched United. The airlines are= =20 hoping that a free ticket will persuade some travelers to fly more with=20 them or squeeze in trips they might not have taken. Some travelers also=20 might be induced to overspend. TQ3's spot check of round-trip fares for a=20 weekday trip next month found: Atlanta-Los Angeles. Delta's lowest=20 qualifying fare is $511, although a $250 fare is available with seven-day=20 advance purchase. The difference is $261. Minneapolis-Phoenix. Northwest's= =20 lowest qualifying fare is $342, but there's also a 14-day advance purchase= =20 fare for $27 less. Houston management consultant John Hedgcock says he'll=20 commit to Continental instead of taking occasional flights on American.=20 "I'll be more likely to take a slightly worse schedule or slightly worse=20 fare because of the option of being able to get a free ticket," he says. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************