| NORTHWEST AIRLINES PROPOSES
ADDITIONAL BOOKING FEES ON TICKETS In what industry experts consider yet another “hidden and selective fare increase”, Northwest Airlines caught consumers and travel agencies off guard with the announcement that it will impose new fees for travelers who don’t use their website to book reservations. Northwest announced Tuesday, that effective September 1, it will apply fees to domestic tickets issued through United States and Canadian travel agencies that use global distribution systems. GDS systems, the long-held agency booking tool that travel agents use to compare fares and flight availability on many airlines at a time, provide the industry’s most thorough and unbiased fare search. Additionally, it provides travel agencies with complete control of a client’s reservation record and facilitates our ability to best serve our customers with regard to exchanges, schedule changes, and after hours assistance. Fees will range from $3.75 to $7.50 per ticketed reservation, and will not be part of the ticket cost, but will be charged monthly, through the travel agency. Additionally, on August 27, Northwest will begin charging consumers $5.00 per transaction for all tickets booked through its’ reservation centers, and $10.00 for tickets purchased at the airport. |
Northwest
Airlines' Policy Represents More Customer Contempt
U.S. DOT and States Attorneys General should investigate
August 25--The Business Travel Coalition (BTC) today voiced concern in an Open Letter to be sent to major airline CEOs over a new policy announced by Northwest Airlines. The policy seeks to transfer some $70M in product distribution costs to customers through additional charges. (See AP story for details.) Charging customers for something they are already paying for in the price of their tickets would appear to be an unethical business practice that the U.S. Department of Transportation and States Attorneys General would want to consider investigating.
ASTA today condemned Northwest Airlines' (NW) announcement that effective Sept. 1, 2004, it will begin charging travel agents $7.50 roundtrip or $3.75 one-way for bookings made in a Global Distribution System (GDS) for travel within the 50 United States, a fee which will be collected via a monthly invoice. In addition, effective Aug. 27, 2004, Northwest plans to charge consumers a $5 fee for bookings made through its call centers and a $10 ticket fee for tickets purchased at an Airport Ticket Office (ATO) for travel within the 50 United States.
August 25 -- Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, San Jose, CA, and Helena (Mont.) Regional Airportairports have been selected to participate in TSA's Access Control Pilot Program in addition to the eight airports selected in April.
The pilot program will test Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) technology, anti-piggybacking technology, advanced video surveillance
technology and various biometric technologies
August 24 - Following negotiations with the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&G), which represents some United Airlines ground employee groups at London Heathrow, United confirms that the carrier and the T&G have reached an agreement on pay, and that the proposed strike action for Friday, August 27, has been called off.
United
Airlines Announces $5 Increase to Fuel Surcharge
August 20 - Effective immediately, United Airlines has increased its existing
$10 each-way fuel surcharge by $5. United's $10 fuel surcharge has been
in place since February 2003.
August 25 -- London Heathrow continues to suffer from some disruption, and some flight cancellations will have to be made on Wednesday 25th August.
August 26 -- Although official Russian sources have downplayed speculation that the crashes of two commercial jets Tuesday night were owing to acts of terrorism, the investigation into the twin disasters is being led by the FSB--successor to the KGB--rather than the Air Accident Commission of MAK.
Ted
Announces Fare Sale to Popular Leisure Destinations
Chicago, Denver and Washington D.C. flights are on sale from $49-$99 each
-way. This sale offers customers who purchase Ted tickets today through
August 31, 2004, great savings to popular leisure destinations like Arizona,
Florida and Las Vegas. Fares are good for travel on Ted from Sept. 1,
2004 through Dec. 15, 2004, and tickets must be purchased 14 days in advance
with a minimum one-night and maximum 30-day stay.
August 24 -- AirTran Airways would provide fares directly to the AgentWare travel agency clients.
Aug. 19 – Instead of driving to nearby cities for lower air fares, Cincinnati-area business and leisure customers can now enjoy hometown convenience with Delta Air Lines’ new, low SimpliFares. Effective immediately, Delta is introducing bold, simple, affordable air fares from Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport. Unrestricted fares will drop by as much as 60 percent on some routes
Sale fares for non-stop flights to and from Washington Dulles International Airport are priced at $29, $44 and $54 one way, depending on the destination. Connecting fares through Washington Dulles are priced at $59, $74 and $84 one way. All sale fares require a 14-day advance Internet purchase at FLYi.com, are limited and may not be available on all flights. Travel must be booked between now and Aug. 30, 2004, and completed between Aug. 29 and Dec. 19, 2004.
Effective September 1, 2004, there will be no special meals on domestic, Caribbean and Latin American routes in coach and first class. Only flights to and from Europe will offer special meals, which must be ordered 24 hours in advance.
August 12 -- US Airways announced today that, as part of its Transformation Plan, it will discontinue nonstop service from Pittsburgh on 20 routes operated either by US Airways or US Airways’ wholly owned and affiliate Express carriers, beginning in November.
Amtrak will operate its normal schedule during the Republican National Convention. The majority of all trains operating in the Northeast Corridor (Boston-New York-Washington, D.C.) during this time will require passengers to make reservations ahead of time. The reservation requirement for the week of August 28- September 2 is designed to ensure passengers a seat on the train.
August 24, 2004 -- The Port Authority is ready to handle thousands of travelers that will visit New York City during the Republican National Convention that begins Sunday, August 29, along with hundreds of thousands of daily commuters who use the agency’s bridges, tunnels, terminals and PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) rapid-transit rail system.
Amtrak will resume its full Florida service, effective Wednesday, August 25, 2004. Some Florida service has been disrupted since Hurricane Charley made landfall, due to damage to rail infrastructure owned by CSX Transportation and used by Amtrak. Repairs have progressed sufficiently to enable service restoration.
President
Bush Inks Biometric Passport Deadline Extension
August 10 - President George W. Bush yesterday signed into law legislation
extending by 12 months the October 2004 deadline requiring passengers
from visa waiver countries to have passports containing biometric information
that can be scanned by computer.
America West will add service between its Las Vegas hub and 11 existing destinations, beginning Sunday, Oct. 31, 2004. Flights will be added between Las Vegas and the following cities: Chicago/O'Hare; Denver; Los Angeles; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Oakland, Calif.; Orange County, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City; San Jose, Calif.; Seattle/Tacoma; and Vancouver, British Columbia. With these new flights, America West will offer nonstop service from Las Vegas to 54 destinations, more than any other airline, with 133 daily departures.