CheapTickets permanently eliminates flight booking fees

www.cheaptickets.com

CheapTickets.com has revealed that it is permanently doing away with all booking fees on flights, making it the latest online travel operator to eliminate the charges, as companies look to capture a greater share of bookings from airline websites in the continuing travel slump.

Last week, Expedia removed its booking fees permanently, while Expedia, along with Orbitz’s CheapTickets and Sabre’s Travelocity.com had earlier cut fees on a promotional basis.

Other online booking companies, including Hotwire.com and Priceline.com permanently eliminated airline booking fees on most tickets in 2007.

The elimination of the fees, which range from $7 to $12 per ticket, makes it possible for online agencies to offer customers the same prices found on airline websites. The companies are hopeful that the move will see more consumers booking with them directly, rather than simply using their sites to compare prices and then booking via the airline website.

Approximately 31 percent of consumers who use an online travel agency currently go to the airline website to make a booking, according to travel research specialist PhoCusWright. There is already some indication that online agencies are retaining more consumers since the introduction of “no booking fee” promotions, according to Travel Wise Research analyst Jake Fuller.

For more information on this article please visit online.wsj.com.

www.cheaptickets.com