This is a big one in the airline vs ticket vs distribution race, and if you’re booking AA flights, from December the 1st, don’t head to Orbitz.
According to ATWOnline, American Airlines will be terminating the right for Orbitz (and Orbitz allfiated companies) to ticket their flights, citing
Orbitz of course is annoyed, citing this as a “broad attack on the distribution landscape”. To you and me – this is buying tickets from online travel agents who don’t sell the extras that AA want you to buy.
AA is crying away that “GDS’s (Global Distribution Systems) lack the technology to display ancillary products appropriately, and to merge the carrier’s local customer data in order to present personalised offers”. Again to you and me, they’re trying to squeeze more money out of the consumer to buy things like seats, luggage etc.
Currently, only Orbitz is hit. Expedia and Travelocity have not made any comment on the matter.
The technology provider to Orbitz – TravelPort (who also own a large stake in the company) denies it is not ready and unable to meet AA’s needs, citing “Travelport is ready, willing and able to work with AA to deliver the customization AA is talking about.”
As a customer, I’d be worried. Least of all, comparison choices will fall to the wayside and it will be impossible to compare fares easily. I’d also be worried if this starts “spreading” to the other major travel retailers as this has the opportunity to make things very difficult in the future when you’re hunting down a ticket whilst milking you for every penny….
