Posted by unregistered user at 8/5/08 12:24 a.m.

Haha... important cities like Dallas!

Posted by voiceofcommonsense at 8/5/08 5:54 a.m.

Who cares?

Posted by unregistered user at 8/5/08 6:56 a.m.

Wow. I knew that the airlines were getting desperate but this seems a little over the top.

Posted by unregistered user at 8/5/08 8:00 a.m.

So, American is making it more difficult to buy their plane tickets now?

Posted by unregistered user at 8/5/08 9:31 a.m.

Very stupid move on American's part. My 13 employees and I fly American almost exclusively because it is often the lowest cost/best schedule, and their own site is always $5 cheaper than their competitors. But, as another writer noted, we'll have to check Kayak, then AA, separately. A stupid marketing move.

But AA has made so many stupid marketing moves... like their "Deal Finder" that is built on proprietary software and only runs on certain versions of the PC platform, locking out everyone else including business owners (like us) who are on the Macintosh platform.

American Airlines marketing and tech folks are just plain dumb.

Posted by unregistered user at 8/5/08 10:01 a.m.

AA consistently treats its customers the worst (both in-flight and when booking), but people continue to favor it because it's cheaper.

Not good incentive to get its house in order.

Personally I'll pay the tiny bit extra and go with an airline that actually TREATS me like the "valued customer" everyone gives lip service to. Respect is worth more than money.

Posted by unregistered user at 8/5/08 11:25 a.m.

Unbelievable! I always use Sidestep because it makes it easier to find flights that fit my schedule AND see quickly what that convenience is costing me. I doubt that I'll even consider looking at American directly because finding flights is hard enough as it is.

Very short sighted!

Posted by StriderWA at 8/5/08 11:45 a.m.

American Airlines was one of the pioneers of online ticketing for airlines, anyone remember their SAABRE interface on Prodigy and AOL back in the early 90's? Of course, SAABRE was extremely propietary, so perhaps a return to their roots?

I think though that you can still choose AA through Expedia and hotwire and the like. Everyone has to have a place to unload last min vacant seats, just not at a dirt cheap.

Posted by unregistered user at 8/5/08 1:42 p.m.

I always used Kayak as a starting point, then go to AA (or other providers) to see if I got the best price. This doesn't signal the end of the world, but AA appears to want to set their own price and not pay a middle-man. This will probably still impact their bottom line in inderect costs, but biz is biz. They are sure to lose business travelers as well, to teleconferences and other employer saving alternatives. Air travel is becoming a double edged sword, airlines know if they go too high on prices, means fewer asses in seats. I know what my limit is on flying. You know the industry is hurting when Jet Blue charges for pillows and blankies :)

Posted by lsanders at 8/5/08 3:35 p.m.

For Kayak.com's official statement on the email you reference in your post, check out word from the source at the Kayak.com blog. We posted the statement earlier today to help clear things up a bit....

http://blog.kayak.com/2008/08/05/latest-kayak-statement-on-american-airlines/

Posted by unregistered user at 8/6/08 8:52 a.m.

AA does not want to see the flights available through its site AA.com next to the same flights available on orbitz/cheaptickets. OBZ/CTX make money by charging a "service fee" - this is typically a small amount like $5-10 or so, but much higher that what AA would pay kayak for a click (besides, OBZ/CTX also pay kayak for referrals) - so why on earth would AA not want to be shown next to booking alternatives that are higher - or are they? hmmmm. Maybe AA discounts the price it extends to OBZ/CTX? hmmmm ... maybe the airline would like to charge a "service fee" on AA.com - now or in the future ...hmmmm.
None of these are great news for the consumer.