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Orbitz promises easier online travel booking
By MICHAEL SHAPIRO © St. Petersburg Times, published May 27, 2001 Forget about modesty: Orbitz, a new online travel-booking site, says it will "change the online travel experience forever." Owned by five of the six largest U.S. airlines, Orbitz (www.orbitz.com) is poised to launch in June, with the ability to scan more than 2-billion itineraries for each flight query and root out sale fares previously available only at individual airlines' Web sites. "It's the end of the scavenger hunt," says Orbitz chief executive officer Jeff Katz. Instead of searching lots of airline sites (Delta.com, AA.com, etc.), travelers should be able to see many deals with one search. Orbitz will access information from 455 airlines, as well as 210 hotel chains, 42 rental-car companies, 30 tour operators and eight cruise lines around the world. Thirty-four of the airlines will allow Orbitz to display their Web specials, such as last-minute weekend bargains. Will Orbitz mean lower fares? In some cases, yes. Will it herald an end to comparison-shopping on the Web? No. It is difficult to evaluate a site before launch, but Orbitz's test version shows promise. For a typical query, Orbitz will return more than 100 choices. Selections are neatly arranged on a matrix, so they are easily scanned by the shopper. "We'll have the most low fares in an unbiased (not ordered to favor particular airlines) display," Katz said. "With the matrix, (consumers) will see it all." Orbitz is not without controversy. More than 20 state attorneys general raised concerns about the airline-backed site, but Orbitz was cleared for takeoff in April by the federal Department of Transportation. However, both DOT and the Justice Department say they will watch Orbitz for signs of anti-competitive behavior. Expedia, the second-leading travel site after Travelocity, thinks Orbitz's arrangement with its charter members is unfair. "Imagine if the car companies got together to create a single "separately managed' company," said Suzi LeVine, Expedia's marketing manager. The American Society of Travel Agents has called Orbitz "a cartel of the airlines that means to do damage to the competition." What impact will Orbitz ultimately have on the marketplace? Different studies have reached opposite conclusions. A report written by MIT economics professor Jerry Hausman -- financed by several of Orbitz's leading opponents, including ASTA and Southwest Airlines -- concluded that Orbitz will force airline customers to pay $3.2-billion in higher fares by edging out low-fare carriers and multiple-airline independent Web sites. But a study from the Progressive Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank, said Orbitz could save consumers millions of dollars annually. As Orbitz has prepared for launch, Expedia and Travelocity have aggressively promoted their own discounted fares. Expedia has made some nifty innovations, most notably its Special Fares -- bargains negotiated directly with airlines. Travelocity has a similar program called Good Buy, and both sites are integrating Priceline-style specials -- low fares for those willing to let the site pick the airline and flight times to a chosen destination. In my random, unscientific tests searching for a 21-day advance from Tampa to Chicago, Expedia and Orbitz each found one-stop fares for $197; Travelocity was just a bit higher at $203. But Orbitz turned up the lowest nonstop fare: $201 on American Airlines; Expedia and Travelocity each found nonstops of $211. This indicates Orbitz probably tapped into a special on AA's Web site. The lesson here is that no site can honestly claim to offer all choices. Comparison-shopping remains essential -- and not just at the big booking sites. Sometimes the best deals are uncovered by discounters, such as CheapTickets.com, AirTreks.com and Lowestfare.com. Fare-comparison sites such as Qixo.com and Farechase.com can be helpful, and a browser plug-in called SideStep (www.sidestep.com) scours airline sites. In some cases, especially for complex itineraries, calling a discounter or travel agent is still the best bet. * * * Michael Shapiro is a travel columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and is author of Internet Travel Planner.
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