American Airlines withdraws fares from Orbitz sites

American Airlines has withdraw the distribution of fares through consumer websites powered by Orbitz, including orbitz.com and cheaptickets.com.

American Airlines has withdraw the distribution of fares through consumer websites powered by Orbitz, including orbitz.com and cheaptickets.com.


US Airways fares are to be pulled from Orbitz on September 1.


Corporate clients that use Orbitz for Business to book travel are not affected by this change, according to the airline.


American said: “Our goal is to keep fares low for customers while remaining competitive with low-cost carriers. We were unable to reach a deal with Orbitz with economics that allow us to do that.


“There are thousands of other options available for customers to shop and compare our fares, including through online travel agencies, brick and mortar travel agencies and through our own websites, aa.com and usairways.com.”


Tickets already purchased from American and US Airways via Orbitz remain valid for travel. But changes to existing bookings must be made through each airline’s reservations department.


Orbitz said “Our sites offer hundreds of airlines, which are eager to capture the revenue American is choosing to forgo and we will continue to show our customers a broad range of flight options to thousands of destinations in the US and worldwide.”


American previously pulled its fares off the online site in December 2010 in a dispute over Orbitz receiving flight information direct from the airline rather than via global distribution systems.