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Posted by
Andrea Bennett on Monday, October 06, 2008 at 6:29 PM to
Airfare Tips
By Andrea Bennett
Part one of a two part article
They're elusive. The airlines don't like to talk about them (we asked). And determining their legitimacy from among the myriad websites that claim to specialize in them is a Herculean task. We're talking about consolidator fares, those secret airfares the airlines release in limited "buckets" to companies that re-sell them for big. Yes, they do still exist and you can get them, but as with any purchase (such as “grey market” electronics), you'll always trade something for the price break. There are reliable ways to get them, just as there are ways to get burned. And just because they're specially negotiated deals doesn't mean you might not be able to find a better published fare on your own.
The Backstory
To understand what consolidator fares mean today, you'll need a little history. Decades ago, it became clear to airlines that only selling highly visible, published airfares to travel agents and consumers made it easy for competing airlines to beat their fares and make off with their customers. To ensure they could fill up less popular flights, airlines began quietly selling discounted seats through consolidators. They reasoned that a little revenue per seat was better than none, and because the discounted prices weren’t published, other airlines wouldn’t be able to swoop in and drive down overall prices. You’d often find these fire sale fares in ethnic storefront travel agencies or even bodegas, which offered them only sporadically. According to Bob Harrell of New York airline consultancy Harrell Associates, the airlines employed plenty of tactics to get around pre-deregulation rules about tariffs, which required large numbers of seats sold this way to be part of a tourism promotion. “They’d print up five brochures, pass them around, and call it a tour,” he says.
Consolidators Today
Consolidators have come a long way since those early, often risky times. Airlines now see consolidators as a reliable distribution channel, negotiating annual contracts with them, establishing revenue targets, and tightly controlling ticket sales through a specific kind of booking class, or “bucket.” If you were wondering, consolidators and bucket shops are essentially the same thing, though the name, like the practice, has been refined over time. The fares are also known as “private” and “bulk” fares. But for the record, not every unpublished fare is a consolidator fare; military discounts, corporate discounts, and other specially negotiated fares – such as cruise and package fares – are also considered “unpublished” and are almost never consolidator fares.
We talked to Greg Rholl, Vice President of Pricing and Distribution for Minnesota consolidator Centrav, one of the largest consolidators, with contracts with more than 30 airlines, who ran us through the process: A consolidator will have a contract to sell private fares at a lower price than the published fare. If there’s a printed ticket, only “bulk” generally appears on the receipt. They generally can’t – or won’t - sell the ticket straight to you, but will offer it through a travel agent (including an online travel agent such as Travelocity or Expedia), or agencies such as the ones that advertise in Sunday newspaper travel sections. The agent adds their markup – keeping the margin slim so they’re not out-priced by published fares – and passes the remaining savings on to you. True consolidators don’t buy in quantity or ahead of time. Rather, they pull availability from their assigned class until the airline decides to close the window. It can be a great way to find a fluke fare, and consolidators now keep each other honest. Centrav, for instance, is a charter member of the United States Air Consolidators Association, which requires that its members sell at least $20 million in consolidator fares and have uninterrupted sales of at least two years. This may not mean much to you, since you can’t buy tickets from the USACA, but it should: If your trusted travel agent chooses a dicey consolidator that reneges on the deal or goes under, you’ll be relying on your credit card or your agent’s integrity to buffer you from the loss.
In the second half of this article, the best ways to shop for consolidator tickets
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Posted by
Tracy Stewart on Wednesday, October 01, 2008 at 12:21 PM to
Airfare Tips
Ok, so as we've established, carting the kids along on your travels can be a little bit of a headache. At least the getting-there part of the trip. There's the unavoidable sippy cup mishaps, the disapproving glares from other passengers, and -for the solo travelers - the seat kicking, and (everyone's fave) the crying. So, how can parents and passengers survive the upcoming holiday travel blitz, minus the headaches? Minus the crying? How do you keep your little angels in check on those long dull flights? What's your smooth operator approach to handling junior seat kickers? Share your parenting travel tips, tales, and advice with us below! And maybe your wise words will be of use to other folks flying with/alongside the kiddies this season.
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Posted by
Tracy Stewart on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 11:40 AM to
Airfare Tips
We get asked a lot of questions here at AFWD and --chalk it up to great minds thinking alike --some questions we see in our inbox on an almost daily basis. So we thought we'd take a sec to round-up some of these frequently asked questions (besides the usual "Who does your hair?" Ok, no one ever asks that. But hey, you could show a little interest!). If you haven't pondered the answer to at least one of these, chances are you will down the road.
Split Fares
Q. I wanted to buy a ticket from A to C but it was $1000. Then I discovered that the fare from A to B was only $300, and a second fare from B to C would only cost $200 round-trip. I called the airline rep and was told I'd have to buy a through ticket and couldn't split the fare. Why not?
A. Find out...
Bereavement Fares
Q. There's been a death in the family and I need to fly to _______ tomorrow. All the fares I've seen for a last minute trip are beyond expensive. Are bereavement fares still an option?
A. Read On...
Consolidator Fares
Q. I hear about consolidators all the time. Which ones, if any, are reliable? Should I even consider it?
A. Find out...
Travel Insurance
Q. Do you recommend buying travel insurance, even on shorter trips? And is it possible to buy after booking my flight?
A. Read On...
When to Buy?
Q. When is the best time of the week to find the lowest fares? I've always been told Tuesdays and Wednesays. Is that true?
A. Find out...
Fair Credit Billing Act
Q. What happens if I buy a ticket and the airline goes belly up? Will travel insurance protect me?
A. Read On...
Nonstop vs. Direct
Q. What's the difference between a nonstop flight and a "direct" flight? Or are they the same thing?
A. Find Out...
Against all Odds
Q. I have a very narrow window of time in which to make my connection from ______ to _____ and I'm worried I may miss it. What are my chances?
A. Read On...
Skipping a leg of your trip
Q. I recently was trying to get a good fare from A to B, and was not having much luck when I thought I would try departing from C. I found a great deal but then saw it connects in A. Can I just scrap C and get on in A, like I wanted to in the first place?
A. Find Out...
Lost Luggage
Q. My luggage was lost and the sum the airline is offering in compensation is nowhere near their limit of liability. What can I do?
A. Read On...
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Posted by
George Hobica on Friday, August 08, 2008 at 8:57 AM to
Airfare Tips
As you know, our fare widget appears on several airport web sites, including Dayton International. Well, yesterday we got a call from the Dayton Airport asking if we could help a passenger in distress. Seems that Airtran had cancelled her flight to Charlotte, but she absolutely had to get there last night for a volleyball tournament the following morning. Airtran was willing to refund her $220 fare (under Rule 260, involuntary refunds, in its contract of carriage); but they would not Rule 240 her on United or USAir (they just don't do that, pretty much ever, as our Rule 240 chart explains). She was welcome to buy a last minute "walk up" $440 RT ticket on USAir, however, but that was way beyond her student budget.
So what, Dayton International wondered, should they do (by the way, it was very nice of them to help her, don't you think). Well, the answer, as it turned out, was bidding for travel on Priceline.com. So we bid $200 RT for the flight and were offered a $230 RT fare for travel that night that would get the stranded passenger to Charlotte "sometime between 6 PM and 1 AM the following day." Sure, we had no idea what the airline was, or the flight times (that's the way it is with bidding on Priceline) but this was a pretty decent last minute fare. We know some of you don't love Priceline (maybe it's those TV ads). But if you are looking for a last minute deal, they are your best and sometimes only hope. Tracy has used them several times this year in family emergencies, so we practice what we preach.
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Posted by
George Hobica on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 at 9:53 AM to
Airfare Tips
Gabriel, our crack Senior Fare Analyst, has discovered some crazy low $106 RT "travel any weekend" fares on United to or from Cincinnati and to or from Salt Lake City. This means you can depart any Friday or Saturday and return any Monday/Tuesday for a full 330 day period! For example, Cincinnati to LA is just $106 RT, or $148 RT with taxes. We haven't seen crazy low fares like these in ages. And note: you DO NOT have to return the following Mon/Tue. It can be ANY Mon/Tue within 330 days, subject to holiday sell outs.
In fact, we found 113 routes so far in this sale. Check out our Cincinnati and Salt Lake City fare pages to see them!
Here's an example:
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Posted by
George Hobica on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 3:38 PM to
Airfare Tips
With fares going higher, and low fare seats getting scarcer, there is no better time than now to brush up on your flexible date search skills. If you don't particularly care when you fly as long as there's a cheap fare, flexible is the way to go.
To help you, we've put together this nifty chart (we're all about charticles these days, have you noticed?) and some important tips to help you distinguish between the various Web sites offering flex search.
Most sites let you search only over a 30 day period of your choice, both for the outward bound and the return flight (these include Cheaptickets, Hotwire, and Orbitz). Allegiant and Southwest, however, allow you to search over one 30 day period on the outbound and any other on the return. Then there are Travelocity and Cheapair, both of which allow a 330 day search. Only problem is, they're not very good at guaranteeing that there will be seats available at the fares initially shown in the search, whereas the other sites do a better job at this (the reason is that these searches take up a lot of computer processing power, and you can't have it both ways: a long date range search, or better seat availability predictions).
And there are other distinctions between search sites, as the chart below shows. Some do one-way searches, others don't; most allow you to search for more than one seat, Travelocity doesn't; some do searches on routes from the US and Canada to international destinations (even if they say they don't); and others do not. And some charge fees, others give you a free ride.
Alaska Airlines in July (2008) added a nice 30 day search; and American has had a 31 day search for quite a while, as has Southwest. But most airlines are limited in their flexible date searches, which is a shame.
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Posted by
George Hobica on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 11:09 PM to
Airfare Tips
Every week, we hear a new sad tale about how someone thought they were covered by trip insurance, but later found out that a hidden loophole allowed the insurer to refuse coverage.
How about the woman who bought the bike tour through Holland but when the biking tour company cancelled because there weren't enough participants, her request to cover her non-refundable airfare to Europe was denied (reason: failure of a tour company to operate a tour is not covered). Oh, and she had to still pay her insurance premium.
How about the woman whose mother was diagnosed with cancer just before a trip? She claims that because her mother wasn't a US citizen and lived outside the US, the insurer denied coverage when she was forced to cancel her trip (her mother wasn't traveling).
Or did you know that some policies deny coverage for all amateur sporting events and training? So when a mother learned that her teenage son was seriously injured during football practice and decided to cancel her trip, her insurer refused to cover her (again, the son wasn't the one traveling).
Why was YOUR travel insurance claim denied? Tell us by leaving a comment. We'll compile a list of the 25 most surprising reasons for coverage denial so that other travelers will be forewarned.
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Posted by
George Hobica on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 10:20 PM to
Airfare Tips
by DAVID LANDSEL
People who never before considered travel insurance might look back on this turbulent summer as the one that pushed them over the edge. And if you’ve shopped around for an airline ticket lately, you can’t help but have noticed that somewhere in the process your airline has offered to sell you what looks to be a fairly cheap insurance policy, usually for $9, $12, $15 or a similarly affordable amount, per trip.
Should you bite? Not until you read the policy carefully, and getting a copy before you buy requires quite a bit of mouse clicking.
All airline-sold policies, such as this one sold by Northwest, have one serious flaw: they don’t cover the airline’s default. And most don’t cover pre-existing medical conditions under any circumstances.
Some may not even cover airline-caused delays in their trip interruption clauses.
And in any case, travel insurance, whether bought from an airline or online travel agency, or the insurer directly, often is less protective than it sounds.
Trip interruption, for example, is very narrowly defined. Usually, it covers only an interruption after your trip has begun, so if you’ve put down a $1000 deposit for a trip and a month before departure the airline “interrupts” your plans by announcing that it no longer serves your origin or destination cities, then you’re on your own. Same thing for trip cancellation: you can cancel your trip for a limited number of covered reasons, but if the airline cancels your route, that's not covered. Interesting loophole in one policy we saw: if a family member (say, your son) gets injured in an amateur sporting event (say, a football game) you won't be covered if you decide to cancel your trip.
Spirit Airlines, for example, sells insurance for $12 per domestic flight, which seems very reasonable. There’s one major problem however: you’re not covered if Spirit should go belly up.
Compare that with a policy bought directly from a major travel insurance company.
AIG Travel Guard's “Essential” plan costs about $24, depending on various factors, for a typical domestic trip by air, but as with Spirit’s insurance, there’s no coverage for default. For that, you’d need to upgrade to an Essential Expanded policy, and then to abide by a "14 Day Wait" clause, which means that the airline would have to default more than 14 days after the date coverage went into effect.
For full default coverage with fewer (but by no means no) loopholes, you need to buy AIG Travel Guard's more expensive standard and then add an upgrade that includes coverage not only for situations in which the airline might suddenly disappear, but also acts of terrorism and pre-existing medical conditions.
Bottom line? To be really protected, a better insurance policy covering a typical trip by air (and just the air travel portion, not hotels or a cruise) might cost more than $40. A far cry from Spirit’s $12, but look at the differences in the two policies.
Spirit's can be called, politely, minimal. There's a flat $300 for cancellation or interruption -- read on, you'll see this is absurdly low -- $500 for travel delays (doled out at amounts of up to $100 per day), a $500 reimbursement for loss of baggage or travel documents, and a $100 pay-out for baggage delay.
AIG's "My Travel Guard" policy, on the other hand, covers the entire quoted trip cost in case of cancellation or interruption, $1,000 in case of stranding for return air, $500 for unreasonable delays (maximum of $100 per day), $10,000 for medical expenses in the case of accident or sickness, $100,000 for emergency evacuation and -- how grim! -- the repatriation of remains, $500 compensation for loss of baggage, $100 for baggage delay, plus, the option to purchase a plethora of upgrades.
WHY DO I EVEN NEED ADDITIONAL INSURANCE?
Many people believe that additional coverage isn't necessary, that they already have plenty.
While Travelocity's plan is flimsy like Spirit's, you've got to give them credit for at least one thing -- addressing the matter of whether or not purchasing the coverage they sell is even necessary. Points to remember: People tend to think their credit cards include ample coverage. You may be right, but you may be wrong. Additionally, does your health insurance cover you outside of the United States? Does it include an emergency evacuation plan?
One notable point at which Travelocity stumbles, though, is with its trip cancellation policy (that is, if you have to cancel for some reason.)
Travelocity will refund the full cost of the trip, sure -- up to $2,000, as it points out incessantly throughout one policy document (note that it says "total trip cost" in one place and "total trip cost up to $2,000" in others. Other policies only cover up to $500 per flight domestically or $800 for international travel.
AIG's policy, detailed above, covers the entire quoted trip cost at the time of purchase. Even AirTran's otherwise fairly flimsy policy, sold via a company called Stonebridge, does not state a limit.
There are other important differences between Travelocity's policy and a typical travel insurance policy directly from the source. However, essentially you're seeing a pattern here. Like elsewhere, say, at Orbitz, insurance purchased from a third party is always going to be cheaper than if you bought directly, but the policy will always be relatively weak -- no matter which agency's name is attached to the plan that the third-party is selling. (In Travelocity's case, it's selling through BerkleyCare, a division of AON).
MEET THE RENT-A-PLAN
It's easy to find the holes in third-party coverage -- sometimes you don't even have to look through the policy document, which is nearly always readily available for your reading pleasure.
Things get a little more blurry when you're looking at the policies sold by the major carriers. These policies are typically a little more meaty than those sold by lowfare airlines and online travel agencies.
American, Continental, US Airways and United all partner with AccessAmerica, and in American's case, not only do the plans seem like they're for real, better still, they sell for as little as $16-17 per trip for an average domestic trip. American’s “Comprehensive Trip Protector” sells for 6.25% of your total ticket cost. And while it includes things like $500 for baggage delay coverage, which is along the lines of what you'd get directly from a major travel insurance company, the maximum trip cancellation/interruption protection is $3,000 per trip, and emergency medical transport to $50,000. Plus, there’s no protection from default (not that we expect American to cease flying anytime soon, so maybe it’s an irrelevant point.)
As the old saying goes: you get what you pay for.
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Posted by
George Hobica on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 2:27 PM to
Airfare Tips
By DAVID LANDSEL
After Northwest’s announcement this week that they’ll be jumping on the first-checked-bag charge bandwagon, it seems as if increased luggage fees are here to stay. Finally, after all these years of reading about shipping your luggage in advance (and shrugging it off as too involved and possibly too expensive), you’re ready to play.
But is sending your worldly possessions ahead cost-effective? It all depends.
However, you can generally expect shipping ahead to be more secure, not to mention convenient, considering the long lines at the counters this summer. Also not to mention: You’re far less likely to have your bag “mishandled” (that’s the fun word the Department of Transportation uses) by your airline or the TSA. And if any of these shippers lose your bags, which is unlikely, at least they'll be sorry.
Furthermore, airlines won't insure many types of articles, such as electronics, business items (such as samples), and other valuables.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
If you opt to send your luggage separately, you’ve got options. Many options.
First of all, you can treat your bags as if they were any other package, dropping them off with FedEx, UPS or your friendly neighborhood post office. In fact, you don't need a bag or suitcase at all (see tip below).
Should it feel odd to you, shipping your personal effects across the country as if they were an unwanted sweater or pair of shoes heading back for the warehouse, there are multiple luggage shipping services for you to choose from, with names like Luggage Free, Luggage Concierge, Sports Express, The Luggage Club. (You are sensing a trend, here, yes?). They are very expensive (see chart), but they do provide door to door service and packaging.
We’ve chosen two services – Luggage Free and Luggage Concierge – pitting them against traditional shipping methods and, of course, what it would cost to put your bags on board two very different airlines – Delta and Southwest.
As you can see from the chart, Southwest has moderate luggage fees compared to older legacy carriers such as Delta. And FedEx Ground is your best bet if you don't want to schelp your belongings yourself.
| Rates based on round-trip shipping |
45 lb bag Hartford
to Tampa |
55 lb bag Philadelphia to Los Angeles |
75 lb bag
Salt Lake City to Washington |
1 oversize bag (65 linear inches) at 75 lb
Las Vegas
to Fort Lauderdale |
| Delta |
$0 |
$180 |
$300 |
$650 |
| Southwest |
$0 |
$50 |
$100 |
$100 |
| UPS Ground |
$83.50 |
$133.84 |
$165.76 |
$165.76 |
| FedEx Ground |
$71.06 |
$106.30 |
$132.84 |
$132.84 |
| US Postal Service (Parcel Post) |
$69.60 |
$92.08 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Luggage Free 5-day |
$228.50 |
$261.50 |
$327.50 |
$327.50 |
Luggage Concierge
Ground |
$200 |
$248.84 |
$280.76 |
$280.76 |
HELPFUL HINTS
1) Whether it’s overpaying for cheap boxes at the post office or paying your luggage concierge to pack it in feathers (or whatever), remember to protect your belongings.
2) If you can’t ensure that you’re going to be at your destination when your luggage arrives, make sure someone is there to sign for it (such as the bell desk at your hotel, or the receptionist at the branch office).
3) Staying in one place at the other end? Ditch the suitcase – it is added weight you don’t need to be paying for. At the end of your trip, just repack in the original boxes and ship home.
4) One of the benefits of using a dedicated luggage service is that where necessary, packaging tends to be included in the charge – not generally the case when shipping via usual methods.
5) Some hotels do charge a fee for storing your luggage, but chances are your parents and office receptionist won't. It's a good idea to call your hotel ahead of time and let them know you're expecting something.
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Posted by
George Hobica on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 10:51 AM to
Airfare Tips
In addition to making frequent flyer miles harder to spend, airlines are expiring miles, if there's no activity in your account, faster than ever.
But one easy and painless way to make sure there's activity in your account is to do some online shopping using the airlines' "shopping malls." Even if you spend just a few bucks, you'll keep your miles safe for at least another year. And in addition, you can add some serious miles to your account if you're a heavy online shopper.
For example, at time of writing, Northwest is offering four miles for every dollar spent with the Apple Store, one of their shopping partners. So if you buy a $2500 iMac computer, you get 10,000 miles. That's a huge bonus.
Generally, these online shopping partners offer at least one mile per dollar spent, but sometimes they award 10 miles or more. And if you use your airline affiliated credit card, you get an extra mile, but the credit card miles pale in comparison to the shopping miles you can earn.
Scores of well known retailers participate in these airline malls, including Brooks Brothers, Circuit City, The Container Store, Dell Computer, Drugstore.com, Sears, Target, and Walmart, to name but a few.
Keep in mind that although the airline shopping sites listed below work with many of the same retailers, American might be offering 4 miles with a particular retailer while Northwest could be offering just half that, so you've got to shop around while you're shopping around.
Links to airline shopping malls
American
British Airways
Continental
Delta
Northwest
United
US Airways
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