American Airlines Parts With Expedia And Orbitz

Tickets for American Airlines flights are no longer sold at Expedia or Orbitz. American (NYSE: AMR) will have to rely on its own site AA.com and smaller travel sites. Orbitz and Expedia have such a large part of the air travel e-commerce industry, that American’s ticket sales are bound to be hurt.

American put a brave face on the incidents, but part of its are not likely to be accurate.

Expedia has chosen to no longer offer American Airlines fares on its website. Customers looking to compare flights or fares online should visit other travel sites such as Kayak.com or Priceline.com for the most accurate and up-to-date information, or you can always find our Lowest Fares Guaranteed and No Online Booking Fee at AA.com. American flights can also be purchased from a wide range of accredited travel agencies across the globe.
Tickets for air travel on American are no longer available for purchase on Expedia, however, owing to a commercial dispute, Expedia’s actions to remove American may mislead some customers to believe they have fewer choices, even in situations where American’s fares are lower than other airlines, or when American offers superior schedules.
As of December 21, 2010 schedules and airfares for flights on American Airlines and American Eagle are also no longer available on Orbitz.com or websites powered by Orbitz.com

Expedia says that American essentially manipulates fares and blocks information about prices so the the e-commerce site’s customers cannot be certain that they are getting the lowest fare.

American may lose revenue short term, but if other carriers join it so that online air ticket purchases migrate to airline sites, Expedia will in trouble.

Douglas A. McIntyre