Entry No.63f

IT Writers Awards

When it comes to holidays, sometimes it seems cheaper to go overseas - there are so many competitive packages to destinations like Thailand and Bali for much less than what a resort holiday in Australia would cost. Change may be on the way, however, with new entrants to the domestic market tipped to push down domestic airfares.

Those who can remember the troubles that beset Compass Airlines when it attempted to compete with the big boys Qantas and Ansett may be a little sceptical about new players Impulse Airlines and Virgin Blue. Judgements on longevity aside, the arrival of these companies has sparked a mini price war - and focused attention on booking flights online.

Impulse Airlines led the charge with its special introductory rates available only online. Qantas and Ansett soon reacted. Virgin Airlines launched soon after. Following the logic of e-commerce, it would appear that letting customers book their own flights creates cost savings for the airlines and thus reduces fares, and this is generally the justification for online-only heavily-discounted fares. But is it really cheaper to buy a ticket online?

PC World set out to investigate the issue by attempting to book a return flight from Sydney to Brisbane over the airlines' Web sites. To make a good comparison, the test booking was for a flight from Sydney on 2 October, to be in Brisbane in time for lunch, returning on 5 October, to be back in Sydney for dinner. All quotes were taken on the same day (31 August 2000).

We also assessed how easy the airlines make it for you to book online. This issue mostly comes down to the question of whether you can quickly search the flights you want and then go straight to booking. Is the process easy to follow? Are the conditions of the flight and price clearly displayed?

And, lastly, do you have to jump through hoops to make the booking? In other words, would it be simpler to just go into a travel agent or phone the airline direct and have them do the work for you? 

We also obtained a couple of quotes over the phone for comparison - and to test the theory that online means cheaper. Here's what we found.

Virgin Blue

Virgin Blue is the latest offshoot of Richard Branson's Virgin empire. While a delayed start due to a wait for approval from authority CASA caused an early hiccough, the airline hopes its no-nonsense ways will quickly win over Australian consumers.

The first flights on Virgin Blue took place on 31 August, and a "$48 for 48 hours" promotion resulted in the sale of 14,580 seats - the equivalent of 90 full 737-400 planes, the airline said.

The general premise of Virgin Blue is to strip out the "extras" that add to the cost of airline seats. What this means is that you won't get a ticket (you quote a booking number and show photo id on check-in, like the e-tickets offered by the major airlines), there's no lounges or frequent flyer schemes, and if you want food, you can buy some on the plane. At the time of writing, the airline offered flights between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

The online booking system is clearly set out at Virgin Blue. The site takes you through five steps to make the booking. The first step involves choosing the flight route (origin and destination, one-way or return) and the date you wish to fly. Your choices are then displayed, showing the flight times and the prices for each leg of the trip.

For the Sydney to Brisbane leg, all the choices were priced at $90 (excluding GST) except for a flight at 12.45pm for $99.09. On the return trip, all flights were priced at $60 except for the 5.45pm, which was $90. In comparison, a phone quote was priced at $99 Sydney-Brisbane, $69.74 Brisbane Sydney - but it came to the same price of $168.74.

We chose the 10.30am flight to Brisbane and the 1.40pm to return (which arrives in Sydney at 4.15pm because of the daylight savings-induced time difference). At the next step, the itinerary was displayed along with the conditions of the fare and the general terms and conditions of the airline. Once this is reviewed you can then book the flight.

Impulse Airlines

Impulse got the ball rolling on cheap seats by slashing its fares for those who booked seats online. The move certainly propelled the airline from its background in regional flights into the mainstream.

Impulse's online booking system is similar to Virgin's in that it follows a five-step process, and a no-nonsense attitude also prevails. Before you start, the airline clearly sets out the conditions of the online bookings - a helpful feature since you can decide before going too far whether such a booking is right for you. In essence, the Web bookings are non-transferable and non-refundable - summarised as "use it or lose it".

On the Sydney-Brisbane trip most flights are $100 except for two late in the day which are priced at $80. Having all the flights listed this way is a useful feature and lets you obtain the best possible price. On the return leg, flights ranged from $60 early in the day to $100 in the afternoon and back to $80 for the 7.40pm flight.

Based on our criteria, a suitable flight would cost $176.00 (including taxes) - so long as it was booked online (using a "Red Hot deal" price available for travel until 8 October). We were told, however, that if customers are concerned about submit-ting their credit cards online, the booking could be taken over the phone so long as they were ready with all the details.

Ansett

The first thing you notice with Ansett's online booking system is that you have to register - even if you just want to check pricing and availability

Before you register you must accept the airlines terms and conditions - which are pretty much the general ones most airlines outline. Registration requires address and phone details, and a login and password. You can then make a booking, check pricing for your flight or view your booking details online.

For our day and time selections, we checked "discount fare" and were offered four combinations with flights for $110 each way, a $327 budget return fare or a five-day advance return ticket for $633.60 (all excluding GST). The $110 seemed competitive, it's just a pity that we couldn't actually book it (it was "unavailable" - that is, no seats left). The only flight available for online booking was the full fare of $633.60. Checking back the next day using the same search, only the $633.60 fare was available and the other choices had gone.

Phoning Ansett gains a greater range of fares. The cheapest on our chosen days is a 9.50pm flight to Brisbane for $163.90 (including GST) and a 1.10pm flight back for $55 - making a total of $218.90. Not quite competitive with the Impulse and Virgin prices, and only available by compromising on times. Sticking to the original plan would cost $408.10 - using the $55 fare Brisbane to Sydney and a full economy fare for the Sydney-Brisbane leg. As a comparison, we were quoted $706.20 for a full economy, return fare.

Qantas

Qantas also requires registration before you can book a flight - and what a process! Three screens demanding everything from date of birth to credit card details. Luckily, if you want to just check pricing and availability, you don't need to log in.

Qantas has lots of choices for time - as you would suspect with the number of flights it operates - but the search results are not listed with prices. This means that to get the best possible price, you need to choose an option for each way and have it priced, then go back and change the options, get a price, and so on.

Not only is this tedious, but you have the sneaking suspicion that somewhere buried deep is a really bargain price if only you try every permutation! 

Most of the combinations within our search range were priced at $419.54 (including GST) with one at $484.44 for a later flight out of Brisbane. There is an option to search for cheaper fares at different times on the day you want to fly - but all results came back at the same price: $419.54. If we wanted an unrestricted fare (the earlier results were based on the "lowest fare" option) the price would be $709.94 (including GST).

And don't think logging in as a frequent flyer will help you - when we tried this, the flight was quoted at the higher price of $484.44! However, if you are a frequent flyer you can bypass the lengthy registration process.

Calling the Qantas call centre netted more realistic options. At the time, the airline was offering a $55 each way special. While seats were available for the return leg at this price, there were none left for the Sydney-Brisbane leg. Instead, we were offered a fare for $99 Sydney-Brisbane, which brought the return trip to a total of $154 (including GST) - $265 cheaper than the online effort.

Qantas does have a separate section at its site for special fares (a special of $66 each way for Sydney-Brisbane was on offer when we checked) but you can only book some of these flights online. The $66 deal, for example, could not be booked at the site.

What did we learn

It pays to shop around. Not all online flights are necessarily cheaper

For the newer players like Impulse and Virgin with their simplified fare structures, the Net is the place to go. There was no disparity between these airlines' online and over-the-phone prices.

For Qantas and Ansett, however, their complex pricing means it pays to call for a price - in Qantas' case the price quoted by the phone sales rep was over $250 cheaper. Admittedly, this was a special deal, but it doesn't seem too much to ask that if airlines want customers to adopt online booking, their specials be available online as well.

AIRLINE Virgin Blue

FLIGHT DETAILS 10.30am Sydney – Brisbane 
1.40pm Brisbane - Sydney 
PRICE Online: $168.74 
Phone: $168.74 
BOOKABLE ONLINE? Yes 
CONTACTS www.virginblue.com.au 
13 6789

AIRLINE Impulse Airlines 
FLIGHT DETAILS 10.30am Sydney – Brisbane 
1.50pm Brisbane - Sydney 
PRICE Online: $176.00 
Phone: Standard fare $327.80, but Web Hot fare of $176 also offered 
BOOKABLE ONLINE? Yes 
CONTACTS www.impulseairlines.com.au 
13 1381

AIRLINE Ansett 
FLIGHT DETAILS 9.40 Sydney – Brisbane; 1.50pm Brisbane – Sydney 
10.05am Sydney - Brisbane;1.10pm Brisbane - Sydney 
PRICE Online: $637.34 
Phone: $408.10 
BOOKABLE ONLINE? Yes 
(for the more expensive fare) 
CONTACTS www.ansett.com.au 
13 1300

AIRLINE Qantas 
FLIGHT DETAILS 9.45am Sydney – Brisbane 
1.10pm Brisbane - Sydney 
PRICE Online: $419.54 
Phone: $154 
BOOKABLE ONLINE? Yes 
(for the more expensive fare) 
CONTACTS www.qantas.com.au 
13 1313

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