Buy 3, Get 1 Free

[BoeingBoy]

US Airways Announces Buy Three Online, Get a Free* Travel Award Offer
Thursday February 12, 2:58 pm ET

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- US Airways is offering a "Buy Three Online, Get One Free*" program which rewards customers with free* travel for purchasing tickets and flying on US Airways, US Airways Express or US Airways Shuttle between Feb. 13, 2004 and June 15, 2004.

Press Release

Jim

 

[OldGuyinPA]

Seems like nothing more than ...dust in the wind....

To little..To late...Did ya see those PHL fares....

 

[BoeingBoy]

OldGuyinPA,

Now let's see -

It's not targeted to a specific market or competitor, unlike AMR's deal in BOS & NY.

It's of fairly short duration.

The lowest fares don't qualify.

Applies only to tickets purchased through the web site.

"Free" tickets have lots of restrictions.


Conclusion #1: an attempt to boost web site sales.

or

Conclusion #2: an attempt to boost revenue for the short term.

Jim

 

[JS]

This is just a copy of UA's promotion.

 

[etops1]

exactly what i was thinking. ual does the same thing

 

[BoeingBoy]

JS & etops1,

You mean we don't have a visionary CEO who is keeping us at the leading edge of the industry? I'm shocked!!!

Jim

 

[AKA_trvlr64]

.................Tickets must be purchased at usairways.com .....................


THAT'S THE CATCH!! Most business travelers have to use a corporate travel agency. No extra free tickets in my future for spending all my time flying around the country. No big deal I really need to stay home more.


Thank god for fine print. BBB and the boys made this fine print plain as day.

 

[Piedmont4US]

.................Tickets must be purchased at usairways.com .....................


THAT'S THE CATCH!! Most business travelers have to use a corporate travel agency. No extra free tickets in my future for spending all my time flying around the country. No big deal I really need to stay home more.


Thank god for fine print. BBB and the boys made this fine print plain as day.

But it lowers US's distribution costs if you book at usairways.com.

 

[AKA_trvlr64]

It might lower your distribution costs but the real EYE OPENER is that US is not truely following how UA and AA implemented their promotions. US is forcing customers to only use the website to obtain that free ticket for flying. UA and AA are not.

US's base population is a business traveler. "Mom and Pop" once a while flyer doesn't help to keep US flying like I do.


Oh well.

 

[More Facts and Less Emotion]

Why not make it drive costs lower by selling tickets through the website?

Looks smart to me.

Not drinking Kool Aid. Just facts.

 

[Piedmont4US]

I didn't know US had to follow what AA and UA does every single time.

 

[AKA_trvlr64]

I didn't know US had to follow what AA and UA does every single time.

That's not the point. Just another fine print GOTCHA.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Under the "Big print giveth, small print taketh away" heading...

Buyer beware: “Three-then-freeâ€￾ airfares
Heavy on the fine print, light on savings
Frank Polich / REUTERS
A traveler walks by as passengers wait to check in at the United Airlines terminal at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago

By Adrien Glover
Updated: 6:21 p.m. ET Feb. 18, 2004

At Budget Travel you, the traveling consumer, come first, which is why we’re peeking under the hood of the rash of “three-then-freeâ€￾ airfare deals that cropped up last week. Are they too good to be true? Well, that depends on the fine print. Let’s take a look.

Article

Jim

 

[JS]

From MSNBC:

But wait—could it be that easy? Sadly, the answer is no. The airline’s lowest fares are excluded entirely from this promotion...

This is false!

... and to spell it out, no economy-class ticket including a Saturday night stay is eligible.

MSNBC is assuming that the lowest fare in every single market that UA serves requires a Saturday night stay. While that is true in most markets, MSNBC, typical of NBC, makes assumptions and jumps to conclusions by whining "the airline's lowest fares are excluded entirely".

Maybe these morons should read the fine print which they are complaining about, which I will repeat here with emphasis added:

Qualifying Booking Classes: Qualifying travel may be booked in any booking class in United First, United Business or United Economy Class. The fare purchased must be a valid, published fare. This promotion is not valid on government fares.

 

[Dea Certe]

AKA Trvlr64,

Couldn't the corporate travel departments get a little more savvy and start using the website?

I'm don't know how the corporate travel agents work, but would that be possible? Seems like it might make good sense and save some dollars for the travel budget.

Dea