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Net Loss
ChrisCrossings · December 30, 1999

Note: Last week's column about buying tickets from an airline site drew a ton of e-mail - some from agents upset about my suggestion that they book illegal tickets, others from travelers who supported the emerging Internet reservations tools. So this week, I've opened the mailbag to answer a few of the letters.

Q: I was waiting for more information on hidden cities and back-to-back fares in your last column. I wish more sites would endorse this practice. I certainly do. I work as a reservationist for a major airline and I just resent the fact that it "forbids" this knowledge to be dispensed.

I remember once a young woman called and needed to get to Denver as cheap as possible from New York, one way. We had an extremely low fare to Albuquerque for about $89 and a much higher fare to Denver at about $300, one way. I knew she would have to change planes in Denver to get to Albuquerque, so I suggested she "go to Albuquerque". With a little bit of double-talk and "read between the lines" lingo on my part, she got the hint and bought a ticket to Albuquerque with the routing to Denver. Hence, she got off in Denver for an $89 fare. I strongly emphasized she take only carryon luggage. She understood and I made her day -- and mine.

-- An Airline Res Agent

A: Way to go, Res Agent. I'm thrilled to get a note from the "other" side of this argument suggesting that the airline industry isn't a heartless, monolithic machine.

I think it's important for travelers and travel agents to understand that the rank-and-file airline employees like you don't set onerous policies designed to squeeze every last dollar of profit out of customers. It is, rather, senior management toward whom we must focus our discontent.

You wanted me to explain hidden cities and back-to-back, so here it goes. In a hidden city booking, you're trying to get from point 'A' to 'B,' but the fare is outrageously high. However, the airline offers a deep discount on a flight from point 'A' to 'C' with a stopover in 'B'. So your agent books you on that flight and you get off at the stopover without using the last leg of the journey.

In a back-to-back ticket, you're trying to get from point 'A' to point 'B' without staying over a Saturday night. As a result, the price is outrageously high. So your agent books you two sets of round-trip tickets - which are still less expensive than the first flight - and you simply throw away the unused portion of the itinerary.

Q: Please note that back-to-back tickets are considered illegal by the airlines (another example of profiteering) and that agents printing up these tickets are risking a "debit memo," a letter sent from airlines to agents demanding what the original ticket would have cost. They know when we issue back-to-backs, and enforce it.

You advocate using an agent for very dangerous illegal operations. I wouldn't issue one to a client unconditionally, and any agent who does, in this increasingly surveillanced issue, is foolish, and desperately grasping for the pitiful five percent commissions that the airlines are throwing us as they watch agencies' doors close for good. Pardon my anger, but you should know better if you write a travel column.

-- Kenneth Aaron

A: You're right, back-to-backs (and hidden cities) are technically illegal. When an agency is caught issuing one of these tickets, it can be held liable for the difference in ticket costs. But a traveler won't be.

I think that's unfair, because it demands that travel agents exercise control over their customers in way they can't. For example, what if a traveler takes a vacation in the Florida Keys and decides to never come back? Then the agent gets stuck with a debit memo.

I find it difficult to believe that you don't issue back-to-back tickets. Every agent has a breaking point, at which the more expensive, unrestricted fares are so ridiculously high that they feel duty-bound to either use one of these booking tricks or show a client how to do it on the Internet or by calling the airlines' toll-free number.

A good agent will also know which airlines to try these shortcuts on. American Airlines is sure to send over a debit memo on the first or second offense, while Continental Airlines is a pushover when it comes to back-to-backs.

I also wanted to mention that while I understand the agency perspective, I was dispensing this advice to a traveler. And in this particular case, a hidden city or back-to-back ticket might well have been in the consumer's best interest.

Q: For the first time in months, on the subject of buying airline tickets online, someone has actually painted a fairly accurate picture of the situation. You're absolutely right, any reputable travel agent would have voided those tickets. Too many Internet travel writers (are there any other kinds these days?) don't take the time to tell their readers how to avoid the traps, or even mention that there are traps, on the airlines' travel sites.

I'm also concerned about those folks who think they got a great deal because they "bought it on the 'Net" but didn't bother to check to see what it would have cost them from a travel agent. Right now, travel agents are winning most of those comparisons, usually because that advertised "bargain" Internet fare is no longer available.

-- Rick Will

A: Funny you should mention the price comparisons. I just shopped for tickets to California and decided, just for the heck of it, to call an agency and "compare." It turns out the agent found an extra-cheap redeye flight that saved me about $300 from the lowest price on GetThere.com's booking engine. As long as agents can do that, they'll have my business.

Q: While buying tickets from an airline site, I came across some unusual price gouging. I tried to book a ticket on Continental's Web site from New Orleans to Austin, and after putting in my dates and times, I pressed the 'best priced options' button. I was surprised by the result since I had already checked around on Travelocity and found the 'best price' on Continental to be $50 lower. But Continental's Web site was not giving me the same flights I found on Travelocity. It wasn't until I hit the 'best possible schedule' button (which the Web site warns may result in higher) and put in the exact same flights I found on Travelocity, that I got the same fare.

-- Sanket Vyas

A: I'm not surprised. As I've been saying all along, you really have to do your homework before you buy online.

Q: Your answer on using a ticket agent was spot on. Yeah, we all have to learn to do things differently, but so much of this so-called self-empowerment is about dismissing that there is any skill and expertise inherent in the next guy's work. By golly, maybe the travel agent was really providing some service to the customer which was justified in paying for. Heaven help us when the HMO's get on line with self-diagnosis and self-treatment Web sites.

-- Douglas Taylor

A: Now there's a troubling thought - a world in which the HMOs bypass doctors and go straight online. Let's hope it never comes to that.

Q: While I applaud your suggestion to use a travel agent, I must disagree on the point of "avoid paying a pesky travel agent commission." The traveling public does not pay a commission to travel agents. The airlines pay a pitiful five percent commission of the base fare, before taxes are added.

- A Travel Agent

A: OK, Travel Agent, you got me. I should have said, "service fee" instead of "commission." Sorry.

Q: Don't you read or understand the ticket rules? I've been messed up more times than I care to remember by my "friendly and competent" travel agent. The airlines aren't trying to seduce you, just streamlining ticket purchase that will benefit themselves and the passenger.

-- Barbara Pappy

A: My point was that the rules aren't spelled out clearly enough when you buy a ticket online. But that's not the real problem here. The real problem is that you seem to be working with an incompetent travel agent. My advice: Either fire your agent and find another one, or if you feel comfortable taking your chances online, then try booking it yourself. As long as you're aware of the potential problems of using an airline Web site, go for it.

Christopher Elliott's column appears on Thursdays. All e-mailed questions to ChrisCrossings become property of Ticked.com and may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. You may reach Elliott at chris@ticked.com. Or visit his home page at http://www.elliott.org.