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Most airlines today choose to make web fares available only on their own websites, because these fares are so low it would be uneconomic to offer them through the higher cost channels. (It is, in fact, very common throughout the retailing world for stores or catalogs to also have a website, and for that website to offer a few prices that are below the prices charged for the same goods in the store or the catalog.) However whether an airline chooses to make its web fares available through CRS''s to travel agents and the websites that rely on CRS''s is strictly an individual airline decision, and will remain so once Orbitz is up and running. Several third party websites (such as intellitrip.com) today take web fares from various airline websites (which they can do, because nothing is more public than a website) and display them in one place for their customers. And of course travel agents can book web fares off an airline''s website for a customer if they wish (although whether they get a commission on that booking is up to the individual airline).

It is absolutely clear that airlines do not have the ability to drive consumers to channels which the airlines, rather than consumers, prefer. If one or more airlines attempted to do so, the others would increase their market share by appealing to those same consumers through the channel those consumers prefer. No airline can afford to turn its back on any subgroup of consumers. No airline can afford to be anything other than as competitive and as attractive as it can possibly be through each channel to the consumers that prefer that channel. This is a reality that grows ultimately out of the fact that the airline business is a very low margin business - any airline that lost even a small group of passengers would be at risk of swinging from profitable to money-losing in an instant. Airlines scrap for every last passenger because they have to.

First, there is our high-powered, yet friendly, search engine. It guarantees you more travel options and the lowest publicly available fares. And that includes Internet-only fares for nearly thirty airlines. This capability, along with our commitment to unparalleled customer care, is what sets us apart from all other travel-planning Web sites. Explore the Difference in depth. It was obvious that the current state of the online travel market really didn''t serve the true needs of today''s travelers. The airlines shared a vision of the perfect travel site, one focused on the consumer. A site that would provide comprehensive and unbiased travel information as well as one that would make planning and buying travel on the Internet easy and hassle-free; instead of the usual scavenger hunt. Travelers will have all the information; so they can make informed decisions.

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