Delta: Use Website Or Pay $1 More

Delta: Use Website Or Pay $1 More
Leisure-Oriented Surcharge Hits Biz Buyers, Prompts Alaska and Northwest Moves

By Jay Campbell

Delta Air Lines' $1 surcharge on domestic fare components not booked on its Website drew a mixed reaction from the corporate market. But whether buyers like it or not, it's clear that experimentation with fare levels based on how tickets are distributed is here to stay.

Within days of the Delta announcement, Alaska and Northwest Airlines chimed in with changes of their own. Alaska said it would charge $10 for all transactions that require delivery. And Northwest, going the other way from Delta, said Website bookers would be given a 5 percent discount.

The latter idea would have sat better with travel managers, who expressed frustration and some confusion over Delta's logic.

"Are these really the same people who came up with the brilliant idea of letting me use my corporate card and get my rates on the Delta Shuttle?" asked Philip Dunphy, manager of corporate travel for Pfizer in New York, which bought close to 17,000 segments from Delta in 1998. "We're trying to simplify and reduce costs, not charge for the cost. How much revenue are they really generating, and how does this simplify the system?"

So far it appears that only Delta's largest customers are able to negotiate away the fee. Said one mega-agency, "Our customers are getting it back. Delta's not going to screw with the big guys."

Some suspected that corporate users of Trip Manager, the booking system provided by Delta-owned CRS Worldspan, would be exempt from the surcharge. But Cindy Heston, manager of worldwide corporate travel for Thomson Consumer Electronics in Indianapolis, said, "We're getting hit too. I understand the motivation, but the idea that corporations will use Delta's Website is ludicrous."

John Heilner, a consultant with Stamford, Conn.-based Management Alternatives, guessed that Delta will end up flying solo on this one or even withdraw the charge after other carriers fail to match.

Northwest vice president of distribution planning Al Lenza said, "It's fair to say that, like a lot of carriers, we're experimenting and testing new things. We understand that corporations will not be able to use our Website for all the things they need--and we're working on developing that capability--but for now, there is a large component of unmanaged business travel that could be booked on our site.