All of a sudden airfares business travelers know and expect dramatically increased due to subtle changes rolled out by several major U.S. based airlines. The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), who anticipated the ramifications of this change, recently publicized these changes to its members. As a result, travel agencies are better equipped to help their clients navigate the complex new fares and pricing structures and to start saving them money.
Booking travel test reveals work around
Changes made by American, Delta and United Airlines include the introduction of “Combination fare rules,” which prohibit certain one-way fares from being combined on the same passenger name record. For example, if a traveler needs to fly from Los Angeles to Chicago one day, from Chicago to Dallas the next, and from Dallas back home to Los Angeles, the price to ticket all of that at once can be more than double the price of purchasing three separate one-way tickets.
Can’t imagine how you could save by booking separately? Test this yourself! Just this morning we tested it and found that it cost roughly $800 for one ticket and only $460 for three tickets.
How does the fare rule change affect you?
This newest rule change highlights the increasing challenges of the business traveler and the companies that support them. Constant monitoring and expert navigation in the world of ever-changing airline rules is fast becoming a basic business necessity. Online travel agencies, search engines and airline websites simply can’t provide the level of personal attention needed to sustain real value to their customers.
You should know, earlier this month ASTA’s Government and Industry affairs teams met with senior officials at the Department of Transportation on this and other issues to raise the concern, and continue to discuss the issues with the airlines, Global Distribution Systems, ASTA members and other stakeholders.
The good news for JTB clients is because we constantly monitor changes, we spotted what was happening early on and quickly figured out a work-around solution. Our dedicated JTB travel consultants not only identified changes, they also adjusted our clients’ reservations, ensuring that the additional costs were avoided.
For more information about our managed travel services, please see here.
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