Airline Plans To Cancel All Flights Booked Through 3rd Party Websites

[sandbox]

http://techdirt.com/articles/20080808/1057031933.shtml

[Gregg]

If true, that s***s.

But, given the other info in that link, I smell a rat.

Snopes doesn't have anything on it though.

[Xairbusdriver]

I'm old enough to remember when we flew because we wanted to. Now we only fly when we have to. Same goes for rail travel in the US. You now must fly to Europe to enjoy that mode of reliable, convenient, clean, roomy travel. Of course we know why we have to pay so much for gasoline, too. Thanks to the interweb, however, we don't need to travel as much!

[Highmac]

Ryanair is a law unto itself. It was recently reported that the airline was going to charge extra for luggage in the hold (not excess baggage - any baggage), then a later report said it was banning hold baggage at all! If it can't go in the cabin it doesn't go at all.

The other thing upsetting the cheap airlines like Ryanair is that Europe is going to force them to tell people what they will actually pay to travel. Some of them used to advertise very low fares (£19 - $38 to Spain) adding "plus charges and taxes". But try to find out what they are! It's only when you've booked and filled in the details they actually tell you what you will pay - £90 ($180). By that time you're pretty well committed. I don't mind that they charge for meals - I don't want them anyway on a two-hour flight!

[Xairbusdriver]

Many US Airlines used to charge an extra $25 - $50 for any bag over 50 pounds. Now some of them have decided that people will be happy to pay for every bag! $15 for the first one then $25 each for the next ones. Soft drinks are $2.00. etc.

So far, I've not seen any ads talking about how great the service on a particular airline is. Since most now have "hubs," you don't have much choice about which airline you choose, if you live in one of those hub cities. Memphis is a hub for Northworst, so they only have to match fares with airlines flying to any of their non-stops. That pretty much means only five or six cities. All the rest can be any fare they can get the public to swallow! It's one reason many people drive to Little Rock, AR or Nashville, TN to fly on Southwest. Even with the cost for parking and gas, the final fare will be cheaper with Southwest than Northworst. Of course, Southwest never had any "service" to begin with, so there is even less difference between them and the others. Besides, some people appear to enjoy being treated as tiny-bag-of-peanuts-eating-cattle!

Oh well, we always include a nice box of snacks, fruits and bottles of water when we travel in our four-wheelers! And there is always a 'cabin attendant' within arms reach!

[sandbox]

It doesn't affect us because we always go online to the carriers, but for those who use Expedia or whatever, it could be a bummer.

There are 4 airports within 25 miles and they all have eAccounts. If you need to fly out of here, reservations take no time at all. The best deals we've found are from the carrier if you make them well enough in advance.

Tia http://www.tampaairport.com/

Pie http://www.fly2pie.com/airlines_destinations/

Srq http://www.srq-airport.com/

Albert Whitted http://www.stpete.org/airport/

For the places that I frequent Jet Blue works for me http://www.jetblue.com/wherewejet/

Jane uses airtran
http://www.airtran.com/cities/index_destinations.aspx

You can always catch a seaplane along to coast or to the Keys.

[tacit]

QUOTE(Gregg @ Aug 9 2008, 02:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If true, that s***s.

But, given the other info in that link, I smell a rat.

Snopes doesn't have anything on it though.

Nope, it's true. It's been brewing for a while; Ryanair has filed lawsuits against third-party ticket resellers.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/09/ry...aping_bravofly/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/11/ry...raping_victory/

The basic argument is this: The airline seeks to set itself up as the cheapest carrier in Europe. Other third-party ticket resellers sell its tickets, but charge more for them, bringing the ticket prices up to about the same as they are for other carriers. The customer ends up paying $200 for a $100 ticket, but doesn't get any extra services for the extra $100, and has no idea he paid double what the ticket is worth...because the third-party resellers don't tell him what the ticket is actually worth. They simply pocket the extra hundred bucks and laugh all the way to the bank. This hurts the customer, and it hurts the airline that's trying to establish a reputation for cheap tickets.