Airlines Introduce New Fares, End Discount Pricing

After a four-week campaign of discount fares that was only moderately successful in boosting air travel, the airlines today introduce a complex new fare structure with sharp increases from the promotional fares.

On Monday, the last day that the discounts could be purchased, most airlines reported a surge in telephone inquiries. American Airlines said it had well over 200,000 calls, up more than 28% from a normal day. United and Continental also reported a heavy volume of calls.

The airlines could not say how many of those calls resulted in reservations.

Ralph E. Conner Jr. of El Monte Travel said, “We had quite a day Friday, and we sold more than the normal amount of tickets on Monday. People were aware it was the end of the special, and we told them too.”

The new fares that take effect today are restrictive, allowing seven- and 14-day advance reservations and a new 21-day advance booking. Fares will also be based on mileage.

It is estimated that fares will increase as much as 42% from the short-term promotional fares. For example, the promotional round-trip fares between Los Angeles and Dallas-Ft. Worth were $238 during off-peak travel times and $278 during peak times for trips taken between mid-March and May 19. Between May 19 and Sept. 30, the rates will be $318 off-peak and $358 peak. Those fares compare to the new rates of $508 off-peak and $548 peak.

However, the new fares are not uniformly higher than the prices that were in effect before the promotional campaign. New seven-day fares might cost as much as 25% more than previous seven-day fares. But the newly introduced 21-day fares will be about 10% less than those that previously required 14-day advance notice.

The promotional campaign, which began in mid-March, was designed to lure travelers back into the air after the recession and Gulf War had walloped the industry. It was a qualified success.

Only American Airlines, which introduced the promotions, was willing to reveal how many discount tickets it had sold.

American said that between March 14 and April 4 about 3.5 million of a total of 6 million bookings, or 61%, were promotional fares. “Our goal was to get people back on airplanes, to get them thinking about travel and making travel plans,” a spokesman said. “And they have done that.”

But other carriers were not quite as pleased.

“Domestic business has seen some improvement, but overall bookings are still below where they were at this same time last year,” a USAir spokeswoman said.

Chris Lepistow, senior vice president-sales for Continental Airlines, said bookings are “up significantly” but “still behind last year.” He predicted there will be more “sales.”

Delta Air Lines said it had seen a “considerable” increase in domestic reservations. But the airline said it was not possible to quantify how much of the improvement was due to the promotions and how much to the ending or the Gulf War and renewed confidence in the economy.

CHANGING AIR FARES Below are fares for American Airlines flights under the old pricing system, under the promotional campaign ended Monday and under the new system that takes effect today. All are for round-trip flights during peak travel times with tickets purchased within seven days of departure. American’s fares are generally matched by competitors.

Route Old Promotional New Los Angeles-Dallas/Ft. Worth $578 $278 $548 San Francisco-Chicago 602 318 648 San Jose-Dallas/Ft. Worth 602 278 578 New York City-Raleigh/Durham 405 158 348

Source: American Airlines

Staff writer Denise Gellene also contributed to this report.