news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

American Airlines was ordered by a judge to let Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (OWW) resume ticket sales, the same day Sabre Holdings Inc. asked a federal court in Texas for permission to sue the carrier over access to flight data.

Illinois Circuit Court Judge Lee Preston in Chicago yesterday ordered AMR Corp. (AMR)’s American to reinstate Orbitz.com’s and Orbitz for Business’s ability to ticket its flights. Preston overturned a decision denying a request by Travelport LP for a preliminary injunction. Travelport owns about 48 percent of Chicago-based Orbitz.

“‘The court agreed with Travelport that an injunction should have been granted against AA in December which would have prevented AA from terminating its contracts with Orbitz,’” Travelport said in an e-mailed statement.

source: Bloomberg

American Airlines employees have been visiting travel agents in several states over the last few weeks carrying several documents ” nondisclosure agreements about their discussions and direct-connect licensing contracts.

The airline apparently is making a big push now to get travel agents to sign the direct-connect contracts because of a looming big day on the calendar, June 1.

By late January, after Sabre had biased American Airlines’ displays and hiked the airline’s GDS fees, and American had filed suit against Sabre and Travelport, Sabre and American agreed to put the legal battle on hold and to put the displays and fees back to normal while the two sides attempted to negotiate a new agreement.

source: tnooz.com

American Airlines says it will offer “‘happy hour'” pricing next month to customers buying alcohol on flights departing during the 5-o’clock hour. The promotion is a return of one AA tried this past December.

Starting May 1, the carrier’s “‘5@5’” happy hour promotion will feature $5 alcoholic drinks on flights in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean that depart between 5 p.m. and 5:59 p.m. (local times).

source: USA Today

The nation’s third-biggest airline has filed suit against Orbitz Worldwide, the second-biggest online travel site, and Travelport, the company behind Orbitz’s reservation system, saying they’ve taken “‘unprecedented’” steps to discourage use of American’s preferred direct booking pipeline.

American’s push for travel agents to start using its direct link to find its fares and flights rather than the centralized systems that currently pool most airlines’ price information has set off a series of clashes.

Brian Hoyt, a spokesman for Orbitz, called the lawsuit “‘completely baseless. … Their goal is to make it harder for consumers, to make it harder to comparison shop.’”

source: USA Today

In what could be a thawing in a cold war over how airline tickets are sold, Expedia Inc. settled its dispute with American Airlines Inc. Monday and put the Fort Worth-based carrier’s fares and schedules back on its online travel site.

Expedia had pulled American’s inventory from its Expedia.com travel portal Jan. 1 after American yanked its fares from Expedia rival Orbitz.com. At issue was how the travel sites obtained American’s fare information.
The new agreement, its terms undisclosed, restores American’s flights to Expedia immediately.

In a joint statement, the two said Expedia will use Direct Connect, but by using technology provided by a traditional global distribution system, or GDS.

source: Dallasnews.com

BA and AA announced in the wake of a transatlantic alliance that flights between the UK’s main airport and the Big Apple will now depart every hour between 1pm and 8pm. Flights to Chicago and Miami will also be evenly spaced.

A BA spokesman said: “‘We are finally able to align all our flights and offer customers more frequent services. Previously, our services would depart at the same time as AA’s.'”

From the end of this month BA and AA will operate a total of 11 flights a day between Heathrow and JFK on a new timetable, thanks to a partnership that allows them to co-operate on schedules and pricing.

source: Guardian.co.uk

A former British Airways computer specialist was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison for plotting with the American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki to kill hundreds of people by blowing up a United States-bound plane. Rajib Karim, 31, left, from Bangladesh, was convicted last month of four counts of preparing for terrorist attacks. He had already pleaded guilty to five other terrorism offenses, but denied plotting an attack in Britain. Justice David Calvert-Smith recommended that Mr. Karim be deported after completing his sentence.

source: nytimes.com

Travelers flying with American Airlines at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will now be able to tag their own bags at self-service kiosks.

The six-month trial by American will allow passengers to print and tag their own luggage without direct supervision by an airline employee. Ticket agents will still check passenger IDs, scan luggage tags, and place bags on the conveyor belt to be scanned by the Transportation Security Administration.

source: Fox News.com

American Airlines recently established an AAdvantage Facebook page, which currently is handing out airline miles in exchange for Facebook “likes.”

After clicking on the like button, you can embark on the Mystery Miles Journey.

Enter your AAdvantage number ” or importantly, enroll in the loyalty program if you are not already a member ” and the airline will deposit 100 to 100,000 miles in your account as part of the promotion, which runs through the end of March.

source: tnooz.com

The UK threatened to pull out of the trans-Atlantic Open Skies air travel agreement if the US government did not approve British Airways’ alliance with American Airlines, according to leaked cables revealed via WikiLeaks.

A British official also warned that Spain might see progress on extending the Open Skies agreement as “‘closely linked’” with the BA/AA alliance, which also includes Spanish flag carrier Iberia.

The warnings centred on discussions around the second stage of the Open Skies agreement, which involved relaxing restrictions on ownership of US airlines and on European carriers’ rights to fly within the US.

source: telegraph.co.uk