Various Air Links etc. Many airlines offer last minute NetSaver fares for webizens.
.c The Associated Press The Travel Channel - Keyword: Travel The major U.S. airlines regularly offer Internet deals. How to participate: --- American Airlines NetSAAvers are sent via e-mail to subscribers at no charge. International lists are sent Monday for departures on Thursday that return on Monday or Tuesday. Domestic lists are sent Wednesday for departure Friday night or Saturday, and return Monday or Tuesday. It also offers some first class fares, as well as special offers from Hilton Hotels and Avis Rent a Car. Subscribe to the mailing list at: http://www.americanair.com --- American Trans Air Net Fares are available only on the Web. Access the site at: http://www.ata.com --- Carnival Air Lines Cyberdeals are e-mailed on Wednesday for weekend getaways. Subscribe to the mailing list at: http://www.carnivalair.com --- Continental COOL (Continental On Line) fares are e-mailed free to subscribers on Wednesday. Some international destinations are included, as are some discounts on car rentals from National. Travelers must depart on Saturday, and return Monday or Tuesday. Subscribe to the mailing list at: http://www.flycontinental.com --- Northwest CyberSaver fares are posted on the Internet at 3 a.m. EST Wednesday for travel Saturday and returning Monday or Tuesday. CyberSaver travel to Europe is Tuesday through Thursday, making the trips slightly longer than a weekend. Access the site at: http://www.nwa.com --- TWA TWA started e-mailing its special fares in January. They are sent Wednesday, and do not always require travel to start the follwing weekend. The same fares also are available at TWA's web site. It also offers discounted car rentals with Alamo. Access the site at http://www.twa.com --- USAir E-Savers fares are sent free to subscribers via e-mail on Wednesday for travel the following Saturday and returning on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. Tickets must be purchased at the time of reservation. All fare specials originate in: Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York, Newark, N.J., Washington, Charlotte, N.C., and Baltimore. USAir also offers international fares, e-mailing them on Sunday for travel the following Wednesday, and returning no later than Sunday. Subscribe at http://www.usair.com AP-NY-02-18-97 1633EST Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. ***************************************************** By KAREN SCHWARTZ Business Writer .c The Associated Press NEW YORK (Feb. 18) - Thanks to the Internet, Jim Fairburn keeps a home in Minneapolis and an office in Chicago. He's not telecommuting. Instead, the deep airline discounts he gets online allow him to work in one city and fly home for weekends in another. ''I would not have been able to afford a $600 commute every weekend,'' he said, explaining that he makes the trip about three times each month using the special fares, which lower the cost to about $70 for the round trip. Most of the major airlines offer special Internet discounts, with savings of up to 90 percent. With the belief that some cash is better than no cash, the carriers use the offers as a last-minute way to fill planes that would otherwise fly with empty seats. And since they promote the offers over the Internet, they have virtually no advertising costs. ''We believe it is business that we would not otherwise have gotten in any other form,'' said Steve Cossette, senior director of distribution planning for Continental Airlines, which offers its Continental On Line Travel Specials, or COOL, to more than 70,000 subscribers each Wednesday via e-mail. American, which pioneered the concept when it launched its NetSAAver program nearly a year ago, made more than $1 million from the incremental fares in its first eight months and sends its weekly list to more than 250,000 people. USAir, TWA and Carnival Air Lines also send their weekly Internet promotions for free to subscribers via e-mail. Northwest and American Trans Air post their fares on their Web sites. And Delta expects to offer specials at its Web site by yearend. A recent Northwest CyberSaver offered a round-trip Detroit-to-Seattle fare for $179, a savings of 69 percent off the 21-day advance purchase fare of $572, and 88 percent off the full fare of $1,496. There are variations from airline to airline, but in general, the offers are posted Wednesday for flights departing the following Saturday and returning that Monday or Tuesday. And despite the low fare, a passenger can still collect frequent flier points on the flight. ''It works out great if you want a long weekend,'' said Jerry Brown, president of C/A Communications in Dallas. While Brown claims he's not an Internet expert, he's been able to find fares to Florida, Los Angeles, and even Calgary in the Canadian province of Alberta. The deals are not for everyone. In addition to the restrictions on travel dates, the cities and fares vary from week to week, and while some major cities appear, so do a lot of out-of-the-way places. And one naysayer, Florida lawyer Donald Pevsner, contends the fares just aren't fair. In a petition to the Department of Transportation, he argues that consumers are being deceived because, if they call the airline and ask for the lowest fare available, they often won't be quoted the Internet fare. The traveler, or travel agent, needs to know to ask for it. The airlines say there's nothing that requires them to offer all discounts to all passengers. For instance, airlines offer special rates to government employees and senior citizens. And, Continental's Cossette said, a traveler would be quoted the Internet fare on his airline if they happened to be departing and returning on the dates when the fares were available. ''It's sort of like a lottery,'' he said. There's more than money at stake for the airlines. They're excited about the Internet fares because they are attracting a new type of flier - young Web surfers who don't yet have a loyalty to a particular airline or frequent flier program. ''The Wall Street Journal went online and found that 60 percent of the online subscribers were not (news)paper subscribers,'' Cossette said. ''We're seeing a similar phenomenon - a significant group of these people are new customers. This, frankly, was a pleasant surprise for us.'' As the popularity of the program has caught on, the airlines have expanded them to include discount hotel rooms and special car rental rates. Northwest complemented a $69 round-trip Minneapolis-to-Chicago fare with a $49 per night rate at a Chicago Radisson hotel. Also becoming a part of the offering are Internet fares to destinations in Europe, Canada, Mexico and Central America. (American offers separate e-mail on Mondays with its international fares.) Continental will even sometimes allow travelers to combine frequent flier miles with the special fares. For instance, a traveler might be able to use 5,000 points and $19 for a ticket. For Fairburn, a telecommunications manager for an major drug company, the international fares allow him to attend meetings he couldn't otherwise afford. He recently flew to Amsterdam on a $285 Internet fare, a 70 percent savings. ''I was just there for a one-day presentation,'' he said. ''I couldn't have done it any other way and I couldn't have found it any other place.'' And while the fares help his business, they also help his down time. ''On the odd weekend when I'm completely tired of work, for $70 to $120 I got golfing'' - in Miami or Orlando, Fla. For his leisure travel, Fairburn looks at the Internet postings as an exciting game of chance - an opportunity to get away to a destination that won't be known until the 11th hour. ''In a particularly cold Minnesota winter, Phoenix and Miami make an attractive destination at an affordable rate,'' he said. ''I could blow that much money on dinner and a movie.'' AP-NY-02-18-97 1632EST Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. ****************************
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