At this point the battle between American Airlines and Orbitz, Expedia and other distribution systems is beginning to resemble one of those messy Hollywood divorces. Both sides blame the other, and each says they have only good intentions in the matter.
But for the traveling public, who’s right and who’s wrong is less relevant than the fact that for many individuals, travel is about to get even less enjoyable.
Here’s just a couple examples of what we might be looking forward to in the future.
If Orbitz doesn’t issue American Airlines tickets then some would say, fine, people who want American can go elsewhere.
But what if someone is booked on United Airlines through Orbitz out of Dallas, an American hub, and the flight is canceled. Will an Orbitz customer service agent be able to back up a stranded traveler on an American flight?
Will an airport agent be able to help, if help means revalidating the ticket onto American? Because it will be obvious to a trained agent that it’s an Orbitz ticket. (In fact, Priceline travelers already face this sort of “discrimination,” because many airlines won’t change their tickets, even with weather cancellations.)
For the uninitiated, what happens when an airport agent changes a ticket between from airline A to airline B, they start a process that means airline B gets some compensation. When airlines have space, they routinely take less compensation for helping each other out than they might for selling the ticket directly. But the system means that next time it might be airline B that needs help with a canceled or delayed flight.
Again, if it’s Orbitz, that whole expected later compensation system may not work.
In addition, it stands to reason that even if American is willing to accept an Orbitz or Expedia ticket in a weather or other emergency, a traveler holding such a ticket is going to be the lowest of the low on the food chain.
While it doesn’t always come into play, airlines do know who their preferred agents are. In fact, our agency has a preferred relationship with British Airways which means that, once in a while, a client is surprised with a free upgrade when the flight is oversold. The same technology that allows an airline to reward travelers will at least no doubt make them aware of which travelers are from agencies — online and otherwise — that they don’t do business with.
What about American Airlines code-shares? Through “Oneworld,” the carrier codes-shares with a number of international airlines. AA’s relationship is particularly serious with British Airways. (In fact, even as an experienced agent, I have to look carefully to make sure which flights are flown by which airline, especially between the U.S. and London. It’s less obvious than even United-Continental code-shares, and those two carriers are half-merged.)
Presumably British Airways flights are unaffected, but what about flights operated by American Airlines but sold as British Airways. Again, what happens if a traveler wants to change a ticket?
Clearly, this whole situation is a work in progress, and a messy one at that. Whether American comes to some settlement with these various distribution systems and agencies, or whether they end up starting a trend, no doubt there will eventually be some hard and fast guidelines for consumer protection.
But in the short run, in what has already been a tough winter for the traveling public, it’s hard to see how it can be anything but an even bigger mess.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
