Executive Travel : Airlines Dismayed Over ‘Back-to-Back Ticketing’

As anyone who flies frequently on business can tell you, the cost of a full business-class ticket can far exceed what the leisure traveler in the next seat over paid. This has been a source of irritation for business travelers as long as there have been differences in fare rates.

The airlines, which depend on business travelers as their bread and butter, created the discount tickets to attract leisure travelers and build traffic volume. To do that, they built in certain restrictions, such as advance-notice and minimum-stay requirements.

But the discrepancy between the two classes of fares has created a practice known as “back-to-back ticketing,” in which customers buy two staggered round-trip tickets to take advantage of discount prices. Up to 20% of business travel is ticketed this way, estimates John Fazio, vice president of the National Business Travel Assn., even though in many cases it is specifically prohibited by airlines.

Because of this, many travelers won’t admit they do it. Similarly, many travel agents and corporate travel planners, fearful of repercussions from airlines, won’t acknowledge making such ticketing arrangements.

Indeed, back-to-back ticketing has been a longstanding conflict between airlines and travel arrangers. In the past year, however, the American Society of Travel Agents has been lobbying airlines to change their practices, and some airlines are beginning to respond.

“It’s a touchy area for the airlines because they don’t want to antagonize their customers,” said Tim Neale, spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., a Washington-based trade group representing the airline industry.

“What bothers the airlines about it is they lose revenue,” said Don Garvett of New York-based SH&E;, an airline industry consulting firm. “On the other hand, it is a difficult practice to prevent and creates ill will.”

Here’s how it works. Say you have a business trip that requires you to fly from Los Angeles to New York on Wednesday, May 18, returning on Friday, May 20. You don’t qualify for the minimum stay required to get a discounted ticket; therefore, you pay full fare, which is $1,000.

However, let’s say the airline is offering a special 60% discount if you stay over a Saturday night. So instead of buying one round-trip ticket as described above, you buy two round-trip tickets for $400 each, for a total of $800, thus saving $200.

The first ticket is a round-trip departing from Los Angeles on May 18 and returning June 3. The second is a round-trip ticket departing from New York on May 20 and returning June 1. You can use the first half of each ticket to complete your trip and throw away the second halves, or if you plan carefully enough, use the second half of each ticket for future travel.

Airlines’ responses to the practice vary.

Alaska, America West, American, Northwest, TWA and USAir all have language in their tariff rules prohibiting the use of “two or more tickets” issued at round-trip fares for the purpose of circumventing minimum-stay requirements.

“To put it simply, we don’t like it,” said John Austin, a spokesman for Northwest Airlines. “And when we find it’s going on, we have confiscated tickets.”

The airline has also audited travel agencies suspected of issuing back-to-back tickets.

Neither United nor Continental has specific language in its tariff rules, but spokesmen for both airlines said they discourage the practice and reserve the right to charge full fares for people found in violation of the Saturday night stay requirement.

Delta used to have language prohibiting back-to-back ticketing, but it removed it last year after discussions with the American Society of Travel Agents and its own consumer groups.

Southwest Airlines has gone one step further. It doesn’t prohibit back-to-back tickets and no longer requires a Saturday night stay.

Some airlines, such as Continental, have increased their computerized monitoring of ticketing arrangements to try to detect back-to-back tickets.

If you are caught using such a ticket, Continental will deny you boarding, a spokesman said.

There are unresolved legal issues on both sides. Some travelers argue that once they’ve paid for a ticket, it’s their right to use it or not use it. “It’s like if you buy the special at a restaurant but you don’t eat the dessert,” airline consultant Garvett said. “Does that mean you shouldn’t have been allowed to order the special?”

Technically, however, when you buy an airline ticket, you’ve entered into a contract and must abide by its terms, he said. The rules are not published on individual tickets but are laid out in each airline’s tariff regulations.

As airlines have begun trying to police tickets more thoroughly, travelers have gotten more creative in purchasing their tickets. For example, some travelers use different names on the tickets to avoid being flagged by the computer, Garvett said. Others buy their tickets at two different agencies when making back-to-back arrangements. Still others purchase each leg of the trip on a different airline.