Online travel giant Expedia has fired the next shot across the bows in the battle against American Airlines’ new booking system.
From January 1 the company stopped listing American’s flights in protest at the airline’s newly introduced system that requires agents to go directly to American to obtain fares rather than through the GDSs.
Many believe the move makes the comparison of fares between airlines more difficult for agents and the public and offers little benefit to the consumer.
The system does, however, represent significant cost savings for American.
Expedia’s sites Hotwire and TripAdvisor will also no longer list American’s fares. Expedia’s corporate travel site, however, does still list the flights.
by Dinah Hatch
