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These computer glitches are guaranteed to charge you more forairfare by 123wert sdfsf
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These computer glitches are guaranteed to charge you more forairfare |
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Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
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A CBS station in Minnesota recently reported that Delta Airlines was charging higher airfares to frequent fliers when they loggedinto their account – and lower fares when they were not logged in. According to MSNBC , Delta claimed that this was "a computer glitch" thathad been fixed after three weeks. But as far back as February 2010, fliers were complaining online to Delta that they were being quoted higher fares when they loggedin. Their official Company Representative even addressed the issueand promised to look into it… Some of those complaining theorized that Delta was slow to fix theproblem because it benefited them – it"s easier to selltickets at a higher price to frequent fliers already loyal to thebrand. Or as The Washington Post wrote, "Airlines have long internally discussed chargingmore to frequent fliers with a willingness to pay." This "glitch" wasn"t the first that Deltasuffered – and that benefited its bottom line at the expenseof its most loyal customers.
I uncovered a problem withDelta"s SkyMiles back in March that didn"t receive anyattention until Money Talks News was about to report it. (See Did Money Talks News Make Delta Do the Right Thing? ) So what should you do to avoid these glitches that never seem tofavor the flier? 1. Perform multiple searches Don"t log into your airline when you start ticket-shopping.Stay logged out and compare prices on different carriers. You canalways add your frequent flier number when you make your purchase. 2.
Search for one seat at a time Airlines offer many different prices for the same seats. They groupthese seats into what they call price buckets . Each time one bucket sells out, the airlines quote customers aprice from the next – and it will usually have higher prices. But what if you need two tickets, and there"s only one seatavailable at the lowest price? Most airlines" computers willactually offer you both tickets at the higher price.
To save money, always specify one traveler until you find thelowest price. Then, search again with the actual number oftravelers and see if the price changes. If it does, you can alwaysbook one seat at the lower price and make a separate reservationfor the others at the higher price. Note that this trick also works for booking award seats at thelowest mileage levels.
3. Call to book awards If you"re using your miles to travel outside of the country,there"s another online glitch that can hurt you: Airlineslove to boast of their partnerships with other carriers, but thevast majority have neglected to include these flights in theironline award searches. As a result, you can pay more miles for fewer options if you justlook online for award seats. The next time you want to use yourmiles to visit a destination served by an airline partner,don"t trust their online search engines – just pick upthe phone and call for help.
If they try to charge you a"telephone booking fee" for a partner reservation thatcan"t be booked online, ask them to waive it. I"vefound they will. 4. Get a refund If you made a reservation or purchased a ticket, only to find outsoon afterwards that a lower fare was available, try to get yourmoney back.
The Department of Transportation issued new rules earlier this year requiring that airlines be able to "hold areservation without payment, or cancel a booking without penalty,for 24 hours after the reservation is made, if they make thereservation one week or more prior to a flight"s departuredate." Bottom line… Realize that airlines operate their websites not as a publicservice but as a profit center. Sure, those sites make bookingtravel much easier, but you need to be just as skeptical about themas you would about a "Going Out of Business Sale" at alocal store. You don"t stroll in there and just assume thoseare low prices, right? In both cases, you need to be skeptical. DON'T MISS: You can see the difference between rich and poorneighborhoods from above. I am Construction & Real Estate writer, reports some information about stackable plastic bins , studio apartment furniture.
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