Executive Travel

* Name: Godfrey Harris

* Position: President

* Company: Harris/Ragan Management Group

I needed to fly from Los Angeles to Panama recently--a brief visit to attend a series of functions to launch a book I had co-authored on U.S.-Panamanian relations. My travel agent booked me and asked me to sit down before she told me that the fare would be $1,400 for an economy seat.

I couldn’t believe the price, especially in light of the fact that people sitting on either side of me--occupying the same space, eating the same meals, getting the same service--probably paid half what I was being asked to pay. Two days before the flight, I decided to call London to speak with a travel wholesaler we know, to see if they could do any better. The wholesaler faxed back that they could ticket me on the same flight for $890 plus tax. I relayed this to my travel agent, who appealed to her Continental Airlines representative. Miracle of miracles! The rep then found a fare for $839.45.

I took that and learned something in the process. I had unwittingly forced one Continental rep to bid against another, not another airline against Continental or another mode of transportation against an air carrier.

The lesson for everyone is clear: You never know what your persistence can produce until you push as hard as you can on the forces that are seemingly denying you what you want for illogical reasons.