Getting the best deal on the price of a plane ticket increasingly comes down to where you book.
Frontier announced policy changes Wednesday that will go into effect this summer, including charges for a carry-on bag and reduced rewards earned. The fee for carry-ons will be $25 to $100 (previously free), and rewards will apply to 25% of miles flown (instead of 50%) That is, if you book somewhere other than on FlyFrontier.com. Travelers who do buy tickets through the site are exempt from the forthcoming changes, the airline says: They'll pay nothing for a carry-on, and receive full miles for flights taken.
Experts say consumers can expect to see more enticements to book directly, as airlines try to steer travelers to their own sites instead of online travel agencies, or OTAs, such as Expedia or Orbitz. The feud is an old one: Airline sites offering fee-free booking had an edge over OTAs until just a few years ago, when OTAs began eliminating booking fees that added as much as $12 per ticket to fliers' bills. Now, the lures include exclusive promotions, add-ons and, at least for Frontier, fee waivers. “It's simple math,” says Rick Seaney, chief executive of comparison site Farecompare.com. “If it costs you, the airline, $16 to sell a ticket somewhere else and $2 on your own site, you have some money to play with.” Whether by carrots or sticks, carriers are gaining a sales edge. In 2012, 36% of travelers booked travel on an airline's site, versus 33% on an OTA, according to research firm PhoCusWright. Just a year earlier, OTAs had the lead, with 37% using them and 34% buying direct.
At stake is revenue, says George Hobica, founder of fare-tracking site AirfareWatchdog.com. Not only do airlines avoid paying commissions to those third-party sites of roughly $25 per ticket, but they can also sell travelers extras like lounge passes, insurance or even hotel lodging. “They sell so many things on their website that, if you don't go to their website, you'll never see,” he says. But airlines have to walk a fine line, says Terry Trippler, founder of airline-policy site ThePlaneRules.com. Only Southwest has been successful at allowing booking via just its own site. For the rest, particularly big airlines, booking sites represent too much business to alienate, he says. “When they want to run a special, they need the worldwide coverage and promotions OTAs give them,” he says.
Consumers' best strategy is still to start by comparing rates and availability on a general fare-search site. (See also: 10 things travel sites won't tell you.) “If you only go to an airline's site, you're not comparison shopping,” Seaney says. Then hit up the sites of the top few contenders to see if there are deals or other perks that make one airline or booking site better than another. (OTAs have their own exclusive perks, including reward programs, coupon codes and steeply discounted vacation packages.) Some of the airline-only variables travelers might encounter:
Added services. American Airlines' new “Choice Fares” ‘ which for an extra charge bundle in perks like priority boarding, waived change fees, mileage bonuses and free checked bags ‘ can only be purchased on AA.com, says Hobica. The same holds true for United's “FareLock” feature, which for a fee holds reserved fares for 72 hours or seven days.
Seat assignments. Want to pick your seat? On Frontier, only fliers who book direct can select their seat in advance of the flight. (Others get their assignments at check-in.) JetBlue currently only allows its extra-legroom seats to be booked through JetBlue.com or its reservations hotline.
Fares. Airline agreements with travel sites often preclude them from offering openly cheaper fares for the same itinerary, but there may still be flash sales, coupon codes and Twitter deals, Seaney says. Spirit has its $9 Fare Club, for example, while JetBlue offers Tuesday deals through its @JetBlueCheeps Twitter feed. Recent exclusives included select one-way fares from $59.
Fees. Not only are Frontier fliers who don't book direct the only ones subject to carry-on bag fees, they also pay higher rates for change fees ($100 versus $50), pet fees ($125 versus $75) and other charges.
Flight availability. “Sometimes the fare will be the same, but the inventory will be different if you go to the airline site,” Hobica says. AirfareWatchdog.com has seen cases where only one website (often, the airline's) had nonstop flights listed, and the others only noted connecting flights.
Miles earned. Frontier customers who book outside the carrier's site are currently awarded 50% of miles flown; under forthcoming policy changes, they'll get 25%. More commonly, airlines offer bonus miles for fare booked directly, Seaney says. Alaska Airlines currently offers 1,500 bonus miles for vacation packages purchased at its site; Air Canada recently offered 2,000 bonus miles on select routes using a promo code.
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