Competition between airlines and online travel sites is heating up as disputes between the travel portals themselves continue to go public.
In the most recent spat, US Airways pulled its flight listings from Expedia.com after the site increased the fee it charges customers to book on the airline. The transaction price went to $8.99 from $5 just before the busy Thanksgiving travel season. Earlier, Northwest Airlines pulled its listings from the Cheaptickets.com site to protest at the way the site displayed the airline's offerings. Northwest said the site gave more favourable display position to carriers paying the site's higher fees.
Other travel suppliers are fighting back against the travel sites, with the Hilton hotels chain recently making a public guarantee that its site would offer the lowest price compared to the travel portals. Other hotel chains such as Marriott have taken similar steps. Analysts say this sort of rivalry would likely increase as the US economy revives and travel picks up.
The disputes foreshadow the initial public offering by Orbitz, which raised $316 million. This could bring in about $94 million directly for the travel portal. It also brings a payback for the five airlines that established the website. American, United, Delta, Northwest, and Continental originally invested about $215 million in Orbitz.
Source: Airline Business
