AIRLINE INDUSTRY Low fares continue to rule the way

The Internet has made finding bargains a lot easier for travelers.
By AUGUST COLE
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
SAN FRANCISCO -- The proliferation of no-frills air carriers and the advent of online ticketing has made this one of the cheapest times to fly since the industry was deregulated.
But don't assume that buying the first ticket you find from a headline-grabbing low-cost airline or a travel Web site promising the lowest fares constitutes an automatic bargain.
As airlines get more creative with their cost cutting, in ways that most may not even notice, it is making it more difficult for travelers to know just what they will find on their low-fare excursions.
Fortunately, the due diligence needed to find the real deals is best done online. And it's getting easier every day.
Consumers have been able to benefit from one of the changes that looks like it will be permanent in what is otherwise a constantly changing airline industry: Internet-based ticket distribution.
"The permanent change is now that consumers expect their choices to be presented to them," said Cara Kretz, vice president of marketing at ITA Software, which is used by online site Orbitz as well as individual carriers such as Continental Airlines and America West.
Best benefit
Even the impartial U.S. General Accounting Office has found that consumers have an edge when they use the Web. The key is transparency: A decade ago, pricing information was hard to come by. Now, it's on the desktop in the den.
"Travelers who do not buy airline tickets online may be at a disadvantage in not having access to these [Internet-only] fares," the agency wrote in a July study on airline ticket distribution.
But the ability to search for lower costs on the Web isn't the only factor at play. There are other issues, such as whether a flight is direct and what airport it arrives and departs from, that can make the difference for time-pressed or money-conscious fliers alike.
"Sometimes the best price isn't the best value," said travel expert Terry Trippler of Cheapseats.com.
For many leisure travelers, direct flights are worth the premium they'll pay. For example, a coast-to-coast run from the New York area to Los Angeles can take 50 percent more time if you end up stopping just once. But a five-hour nonstop flight may cost twice as much.
Looking around
If you can pick your local airport, look closely at the roster of carriers serving the area you want to get to. If you depart from New York's JFK and are willing to fly to Long Beach Airport, direct flights can be cheaper than a flight with a connection that originates in Newark, N.J., just outside of Manhattan.
That's because low-cost operator JetBlue has taken JFK as its home turf. Ticket prices tend to fall on routes that see the planes decked out in the JetBlue livery because bigger carriers such as American Airlines don't want to give up customers to their far-smaller rival.
And even if a low-cost operator doesn't have the lowest fare on a given route, you can be sure their competition has helped bring down prices in general. That makes looking in the low-fare carrier's vicinity a good bet.
"The low-fare carrier doesn't even have to fly the route. It just has to fly close by," said Trippler.
One major drawback to the discounters: In some cases, like canceled flights, bigger is better. Larger network carriers with more relationships with other airlines have an easier time of rerouting travelers than an airline with just one or two flights a day on a certain route.
You may not get a meal on a JetBlue flight, but you do get leather seats and satellite TV. Though they fly far fewer routes than the major carriers, they pride themselves on being as different in their employee culture as they are with their financing arrangements.
"We have the ability to charge low prices because we founded our company a certain way and we manage it a certain way," said AirTran President COO Bob Fornaro in an interview after the company's quarterly report.
Getting closer
They also can go their own way when it comes to selling tickets.
Don't go looking for JetBlue on Orbitz or Expedia.com. They say they prefer to sell directly on their own Web site because it cuts yet out another layer of costs and puts the company that much closer to the customer.
In fact, it's always a good idea to check individual airlines' Web sites, even if the carrier distributes its tickets more widely than does JetBlue, because most airlines favor their own site.
"We want to send AmericaWest.com all that we can. It's the cheapest distribution channel by far," said Chris Stanley, director of Internet distribution for America West Airlines. To get people to keep coming back, the site will have the cheapest prices for the carrier's tickets, he said.
For the industry, ticket distribution costs are coming down as airlines shift to server-based software technology. And selling flights on a big travel Web site still costs much less than selling through a travel agent.
"I don't know if any particular supplier is looking for one solution for everyone. They know it's to their benefit to be as distributed in as many places as possible," said ITA Software's Kretz.
No one really knows what air-travel demand is going to look like this fall after Labor Day. Summer season demand has been OK, but that's largely in comparison with last year's weak results.
If people shy away from flying around the Sept. 11 terrorist-attack anniversary, and that reluctance carries over until later in the fall, ticket pricing will remain as competitive as it has this summer.
Some general rules
For travelers already planning fall or winter holiday trips, experts say a few general rules are worth keeping in mind.
UPlan or be willing to cut it really close. "The 21-day booker is more likely to get the best deal, except for the last-minute deal," said Travelocity spokesman Al Comeaux, who said the company's data shows a big sale is under way.
UIf you do buy early and then prices fall, forget having buyer's remorse. Any additional discounts from current low fares are likely to be small.
URemember to check the airline's site itself, even if you think you've gotten the best deal elsewhere. Promotions that give bonus miles for an online purchase can make the trouble worth it. Just to be sure, Trippler also suggests calling a travel agent to see if they can do even better.
USearch using broader blocks of time around your travel dates. It allows you to see the window of opportunity for a certain fare and gauge the lowest possible ticket price. The more flexible you are, and not just on dates, the hotter the deals will be.
UDon't forget to check your e-mail. Most carriers and Web sites will let you sign up for a distribution list that includes some of their best deals. And the extra time to set up an on-site list of cities you want to travel to can also pay off.
UTake your time on the search but be careful not to burn through a whole afternoon. If an extra 10 minutes of Web surfing saves you $50, that's worth your effort. But two hours to shave $5 may be selling your own time short.
With such a focus on rock-bottom prices, the danger is that air travel becomes a commodity. Flying can begin to feel the same no matter what color the jet is: The seats are often cramped, everyone is carrying on too many bags, the air is stale and being offered a full can of ginger ale without asking is rare.
Already, consumers are looking for a bit more, Trippler finds.
"I think that we are at the end of the curve where people want to get point to point at a good price," he said. "Now, people are beginning to look and to see 'what I am getting?'"