US Airways ticket no longer sold through Expedia

Subject: US Airways No Longer Sold at Expedia.com.
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003
From: US Airways Dividend Miles

It is with great disappointment that I write this, knowing that many
of our customers sometimes purchase tickets via Expedia. However, I
felt it only appropriate to immediately notify you that US Airways
tickets will no longer be available through expedia.com.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Expedia arbitrarily raised the fee it
charges customers to purchase a US Airways ticket (from $5 to $8.99).
This higher fee only applies to US Airways and our customers. This
action - taken without notice - unfairly puts our customers in the
middle of discussions with Expedia about its desire to significantly
increase the commission it charges US Airways for selling our tickets.

By taking the action it did, Expedia also represented to the public
that our fares were higher than those of our competitors because
Expedia factored in its higher fee for US Airways tickets.

As a result, we have notified Expedia that, effective immediately, US
Airways tickets will no longer be available for sale online through
expedia.com.

Customers have every assurance that travel already purchased through
Expedia will not be affected. If you need any other assistance with
your reservation, please call our reservations department at
1-800-428-4322 and one of our professional sales representatives will
help you.

I want to remind you that there are other convenient choices for
purchasing US Airways tickets online, including through
http://www.usairways.com, where there are no booking fees, where low
fares are always listed, and where customers earn bonus Dividend Miles
with their purchase.

In the event we can work out an agreement with Expedia that is
mutually beneficial, we will quickly restore Expedia's ability to sell
US Airways tickets. Meanwhile, like some other carriers, our fares
will not be available through Expedia. Your interests are important
to us and we will do everything possible to make our fares and
schedules widely available.

Thank you.
Sincerely,
B. Ben Baldanza
US Airways Senior Vice President
Marketing and Planning

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 09:24:49 -0500 Fly Guy wrote:

:Subject: US Airways No Longer Sold at Expedia.com.
:Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003
:From: US Airways Dividend Miles

:It is with great disappointment that I write this, knowing that many
:of our customers sometimes purchase tickets via Expedia. However, I
:felt it only appropriate to immediately notify you that US Airways
:tickets will no longer be available through expedia.com.

:Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Expedia arbitrarily raised the fee it
:charges customers to purchase a US Airways ticket (from $5 to $8.99).
:This higher fee only applies to US Airways and our customers. This
:action - taken without notice - unfairly puts our customers in the
:middle of discussions with Expedia about its desire to significantly
:increase the commission it charges US Airways for selling our tickets.

Nothing obvious about this on Expedia's site.

Why would Expedia do this?

--
Binyamin Dissen
http://www.dissensoftware.com

Lots about it over at news.google.com

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ed...irways+expedia




"Binyamin Dissen" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 09:24:49 -0500 Fly Guy wrote:

:Subject: US Airways No Longer Sold at Expedia.com.
:Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003
:From: US Airways Dividend Miles

:It is with great disappointment that I write this, knowing that many
:of our customers sometimes purchase tickets via Expedia. However, I
:felt it only appropriate to immediately notify you that US Airways
:tickets will no longer be available through expedia.com.

:Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Expedia arbitrarily raised the fee it
:charges customers to purchase a US Airways ticket (from $5 to $8.99).
:This higher fee only applies to US Airways and our customers. This
:action - taken without notice - unfairly puts our customers in the
:middle of discussions with Expedia about its desire to significantly
:increase the commission it charges US Airways for selling our tickets.

Nothing obvious about this on Expedia's site.

Why would Expedia do this?

--
Binyamin Dissen
http://www.dissensoftware.com

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 19:18:20 GMT "Mike Cordelli" wrote:

:Lots about it over at news.google.com

:http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ed...irways+expedia

I don't see anything explaining Expedia's decision other than it was related
to a contract dispute.

:"Binyamin Dissen" wrote in message
. ..
: On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 09:24:49 -0500 Fly Guy wrote:

: :Subject: US Airways No Longer Sold at Expedia.com.
: :Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003
: :From: US Airways Dividend Miles

: :It is with great disappointment that I write this, knowing that many
: :of our customers sometimes purchase tickets via Expedia. However, I
: :felt it only appropriate to immediately notify you that US Airways
: :tickets will no longer be available through expedia.com.

: :Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Expedia arbitrarily raised the fee it
: :charges customers to purchase a US Airways ticket (from $5 to $8.99).
: :This higher fee only applies to US Airways and our customers. This
: :action - taken without notice - unfairly puts our customers in the
: :middle of discussions with Expedia about its desire to significantly
: :increase the commission it charges US Airways for selling our tickets.

: Nothing obvious about this on Expedia's site.

: Why would Expedia do this?

--
Binyamin Dissen
http://www.dissensoftware.com

"Binyamin Dissen" wrote....

I don't see anything explaining Expedia's decision other than it was
related
to a contract dispute.


Baldanza (US Airways senior vice president of marketing and planning) added
that Expedia likely increased the customer fee on US Airways transactions
after Expedia could not negotiate higher fees paid to it by the airline.
"The extra burden on the customer came about because of their frustration,"
he said.

http://www.btnmag.com/businesstravel...play.jsp?vnu_c
ontent_id=2048124

~August

In article , Binyamin Dissen
wrote:

Nothing obvious about this on Expedia's site.

Why would Expedia do this?

As a guess, they were making one to two points less commission on US
Airways tickets and this fee covered the difference between their average
commission and their typical commission on US Airways.

--
_Deirdre http://deirdre.net
"Dogs may have kept us company on the hunt, but it was the cats who
insisted we invent houses and discover fire." -- Khiem Tran

~August muttered....


"Binyamin Dissen" wrote....

I don't see anything explaining Expedia's decision other than it was
related
to a contract dispute.


Baldanza (US Airways senior vice president of marketing and planning)
added that Expedia likely increased the customer fee on US Airways
transactions after Expedia could not negotiate higher fees paid to it
by the airline. "The extra burden on the customer came about because
of their frustration," he said.


".....and we at USAir are willing to cut off our noses to spite our faces,
calculating that the poor fools who shop at Expedia are not worthy to ride
in the grand coaches of USAir."

If Baldanza believes that folks who shop at Expedia (for
covenience/speed/some modest comparability/etc.) are likely to visit the
USAir website regularly (since the reason they go to Expedia is so as not
to have to visit airline websites), he may have made a sad miscalculation,
another in a series for which USeless Air has become notorious.

Sooner than prviously expected, we may see USair signs on the walls of
saloons, right of there gathering dust between Eastern and Braniff, while
Maryanne K. fruitlessly waits in an empty terminal at Philly for flights
never again to depart for Europe or even Pittsburgh (which city is
according to a couple of newspapers actually beyond bankruptcy, so broke
that conventional bailouts cannot be mounted and with few if any expandable
revenue streams).

TMO

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 08:36:51 -0600 Olivers wrote:

:~August muttered....

: "Binyamin Dissen" wrote....

: I don't see anything explaining Expedia's decision other than it was
: related
: to a contract dispute.

: Baldanza (US Airways senior vice president of marketing and planning)
: added that Expedia likely increased the customer fee on US Airways
: transactions after Expedia could not negotiate higher fees paid to it
: by the airline. "The extra burden on the customer came about because
: of their frustration," he said.

:".....and we at USAir are willing to cut off our noses to spite our faces,
:calculating that the poor fools who shop at Expedia are not worthy to ride
:in the grand coaches of USAir."

:If Baldanza believes that folks who shop at Expedia (for
:covenience/speed/some modest comparability/etc.) are likely to visit the
:USAir website regularly (since the reason they go to Expedia is so as not
:to have to visit airline websites), he may have made a sad miscalculation,
:another in a series for which USeless Air has become notorious.

False assumption.

People, in general, check out the various Expedia-like sites to get ballpark
figures and then check the airline sites for cheaper web-only prices.

That is why USAir is making such a public big deal.

Of course, to the limited subset who find difficulty typing more than Expedia,
there mat be a loss of sales. But I doubt there are many.

--
Binyamin Dissen
http://www.dissensoftware.com

Binyamin Dissen wrote:
Of course, to the limited subset who find difficulty typing more than
Expedia, there mat be a loss of sales. But I doubt there are many.

Can anyone name any trip for which Expedia has the best fare? From what I
can see they're invariably beaten by Travelocity, Orbitz, the airlines' own
sites, or most commonly, all of the above.

miguel
--
See the world from your web browser: http://travel.u.nu/

Miguel Cruz muttered....

Binyamin Dissen wrote:
Of course, to the limited subset who find difficulty typing more than
Expedia, there mat be a loss of sales. But I doubt there are many.

Can anyone name any trip for which Expedia has the best fare? From
what I can see they're invariably beaten by Travelocity, Orbitz, the
airlines' own sites, or most commonly, all of the above.

I agree, but on the record, Expedia's sales volume indicates that it draws
a susbantial following (and repeat business), likely under a typical
American marketing approach, the "one stop does all" doctrine.

If Binyamin's rigth, Expedia's business would have a built in
decline...(apparently, it doesn't).

TMO