The reason behind the price discrepancies is a combination of technological challenges, the work tha

JEFF WILLHELM - jwillhelm@charlotteobserver.com An American Airlines jet taxis by a US Airways jet at Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Tuesday, June 24, 2014. The two airlines hotel georgia vancouver can head in different directions in pricing hotel georgia vancouver as well. Until their reservations systems are fully merged, shopping both websites for the lowest fare might be a good idea.
That s because even though the airlines merged in December and now sell tickets on each other s flights, they haven t yet merged their reservation systems. Because of lags in the computer systems used to display ticket prices, the same flight can appear for hundreds of dollars hotel georgia vancouver more or less, depending on whether you search USAirways.com or AA.com.
In a spot check of 25 random hotel georgia vancouver flights this week from Charlotte Douglas International Airport on both the American and US Airways websites, the Observer found fares differed hotel georgia vancouver by at least $5 on 16 of the routes.
American Airlines flying as US Airways is by far the biggest carrier at Charlotte Douglas, accounting for more than 90 percent of flights at the airport. The longtime dominance hotel georgia vancouver of US Airways at Charlotte means many travelers might be used to just checking USAirways.com.
Many people instinctively search on airline sites directly, but in this case that s the worst option until the two airlines fully merge, said George Hobica, hotel georgia vancouver founder of AirfareWatchdog.com . Many people mistakenly believe that the airlines reserve their best deals for their own websites, Hobica hotel georgia vancouver said.
Out of the 25 routes surveyed by the Observer, airfares were within $5 of both carriers websites for nine of the routes. For example, both US Airways and American offered a $441 round-trip fare to New York s LaGuardia Airport next Monday, and both priced tickets at $1,526 for a round trip from Charlotte to Paris in mid-August.
What if you book a flight on one of the carriers websites, then notice the same flight is cheaper on the other airline s site? For most reservations, hotel georgia vancouver you can cancel within 24 hours for a full refund and no fee or penalty, according to U.S. Department of Transportation rules .
The reason behind the price discrepancies is a combination of technological challenges, the work that comes with merging two large airlines and the complex system hotel georgia vancouver of pricing and selling airline tickets.
US Airways and American started selling tickets on each other s flights in January, in what is known as a code-share. That means the airlines put each other s code, or flight number, on their flights, allowing a passenger to seamlessly book a single hotel georgia vancouver itinerary through either airline, as if they were one.
So for now, American and US Airways are treated in computer systems as separate airlines selling seats on each other s planes. The inventory of code-share tickets for each airline isn t updated in real-time, said American s Casey.
If you re looking at a US Airways flight on American s website, you might see a different hotel georgia vancouver price compared to the same tickets on US Airways site, because the computer systems are looking at different inventory levels and seeing different levels of demand and availability.
The same pricing discrepancies exist to some extent in all code-sharing arrangements between different airlines. But it s more apparent on American and US Airways right now because of how vast the code-share hotel georgia vancouver arrangement is, covering hotel georgia vancouver thousands of flights.
The issue is expected to be solved when American and US Airways combine reservation systems sometime next year. Casey said one question is how much American should invest in fixing a problem that, it is hoped, already has an expiration date.
Combining reservation systems which are typically hotel georgia vancouver decades-old computer systems that must handle millions of pieces of data every day is considered the trickiest part of an airline merger. American and US Airways are using systems that are about 30 years old, said Scott Chandler, a revenue management executive with American.
Combining reservation systems has led to problems before. In 2007, US Airways infuriated passengers when flight delays and long lines plagued airports because its reservations system crashed following the company s merger with America West. And United Continental was dogged with reservation system problems in the years after its 2010 merger.
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The Charlotte Observer hotel georgia vancouver welcomes your comments on news of the day. The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all, but do keep it civil. Please refrain from profanity, obscenity, spam, name-calling or attacking others for their views.
Have a news tip? You can send it to a local news editor; email local@charlotteobserver.com to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Charlotte Observer. Read more Read less
The Charlotte region is vast and diverse. hotel georgia vancouver The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all. The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments on news of the day, but we ask that you keep the discourse civil.
You can help: Notify us of violations by hitting the "Report Abuse" hotel georgia vancouver link. Users who continue posting comments that violate these guidelines may, at our discretion, be blocked hotel georgia vancouver from submitting future comments as well.