Cheap Tickets

From wikipedia:

CheapTickets is an online travel services company focusing on the leisure market. It sells airline tickets, hotel and condo rentals, rental cars, customized vacation packages, and cruises.

CheapTickets was founded in 1986 in Honolulu, Hawaii by Michael and Sandra Hartley when inter-island carrier Mid Pacific Air gave 3,000 tickets to Hartley's employer at the time, advertising firm Regency Media, as payment for its services at the time Regency closed its Honolulu branch. The tickets were advertised via newspaper classified ads and sold out in two weeks. The company grew into an airline ticket consolidator, acquiring seats from airlines at rates low enough to allow the company to resell them at fares lower than the airline's normal published airfares.^[1]

It opened its first call center in Honolulu in 1987, and would later open call centers in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Lakeport, California, Los Angeles, California, and Tampa, Florida.^[2] It launched its web site in 1997, becoming a pioneer in Internet travel sales.^[3] The company operated brick and mortar agency locations in Hawaii, California, New York, and Washington which were closed by the end of 2001, by which time they accounted for just 2% of the company's business.^[1][4]

The company was acquired in 2000 by Cendant. In July 2006, it was part of the sale of Travelport to the Blackstone Group, part of a division known as the Travel Distribution Services Division and later spun off as Orbitz Worldwide.^[5]

[edit] References

• "About CheapTickets". Retrieved on 2006-12-20.

1. ^ ^{a b} Torres-Kitamura, Maria (September 1996). "Up, up and away." (Reprint), Hawaii Business. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
2. ^ Staff writer (2001-06-05). "Business Briefs", Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
3. ^ Lynch, Russ (2001-08-13). "Cheap Tickets bought out", Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
4. ^ Lynch, Russ (2001-08-02). "Cheap Tickets’ profits plunge 76 percent", Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
5. ^ Gelsi, Steve (2007-05-10). "Orbitz files second IPO, eyes $750 mln", MarketWatch. Retrieved on 2007-10-22.

Sold Out

John Morgan writes:

Max Deale writes in the voice of the snake oil salesman and reading Sold Out... So What! my inner monologue reflexively channeled Hayes Barnard. Sold Out... So What! drips with exclamation points, big money declarations, personal testimonial and guarantees up the wazoo. But in a world where good old fashioned puffery has given away to the complex con-game of the multi-million dollar ad campaign, and everyone too slick and focus-grouped to dare appear the braggart, Deale's quaint man on a soapbox spiel has a disarming charm; And if you can cut through it, a few handy tips for ticket buyers.

Deale's tactics aren't revolutionary. Waiting for the day of the show to buy tickets off Craig's List or Ebay is pretty underwhelming even among the ranks of homespun wisdom. But like the wheel or gravity, the genius of discovery is lost in the retelling. It's that none of Deale's strategies challenge common sense that makes me buy into his hype. I won't do him the disservice of listing them, but each is intuitive and actionable, and if by no means full proof, with little effort, each should work. For now.

The ease and simplicity of Sold Out... So What! is also its downfall. I may be too courteous to compress Deale's 90 pages into 900 words, retag it John Morgan's Badass Tacks to Circumvent Scalpers and Upgrade Your Seats, but in a world where intellectual property is a dying concept, someone will. And it won't take a lick of effort. Because, aside from some anecdotal padding, every tool, tactic and idea put forth by Deale comprises about two pages of content. And once the cat's out of the bag, and 17 wiki's contain derivatives of Deale's double-dealing, stadium and brokers will adapt and the party's over.

Cheap Tickets In Asia

Report:

AirAsia has been voted as the “Best Budget Airline in Asia” for the third year in a row in a recent poll conducted by SmartTravelAsia.com. The ‘2008 Best in Travel Poll’ solicits votes from visitors to the website and readers’ choices regarding their favourite travel brands.

Ten regional low-cost carriers were finalists in the poll, and AirAsia received 30 per cent of the votes – the highest of any airline in the competition. In fact, the category winner beat its closest rival by a 12 per cent margin. Jetstar Asia was the second-place vote winner.

The category “Best Budget Airline in Asia” was first introduced in the awards in 2006, and AirAsia has been the top vote-getter since that time.

In its review of the awards, SmartTravelAsia.com stated: “The Best Budget Airline in Asia poll is a broad measure of the newer airlines’ ability to deliver not just low prices and cheap tickets, but also reliable schedules, decent service - and the occasional smile. Route network and access play a major role.”

The chief executive officer of the AirAsia Group, Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes commented: “It is a great honour for us to receive this accolade, as it reflects on our commitment in providing guests with the best services. We strive hard to ensure that our guests derive utmost satisfaction when flying AirAsia, and being chosen as the Best Budget Airline will only make us strive even harder to deliver better services.”

Airline Prices Increase

From India:

Mumbai: Rising Indian airfares show no sign of pausing even though airline fuel prices are expected to fall in the coming weeks.

Indeed, the big three airline groups—Jet Airways (India) Ltd, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and National Aviation Co. of India (Nacil)—are all considering raising fares by between 10% and 20%, airline executives say.

Downtrend: Passengers at the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi. The number of people travelling by air had fallen to 3.04 million in July, down 12.65% from a year ago. Photograph: Madhu Kapparath / Mint

The rest, mainly low-cost carriers, have not taken a decision yet on fares for September and October, but typically follow the lead of so-called full-service airlines.

The potential price hikes come at a time when oil marketing firms have indicated that there will be a downward revision of jet fuel prices, also known as aviation turbine fuel, or ATF, by at least 15% for September, triggered by dropping global crude oil prices.

India’s carriers expect to post a combined loss of $2 billion, or Rs8,680 crore, in 2008-09, primarily due to high prices of jet fuel, which constitute up to 60% of the operating cost of some airlines.

ATF sells in New Delhi at about Rs71,000 a kl, up from Rs69,000 in July. In February, the same fuel sold at Rs45,000 a kl at the Capital’s airport. Fuel costs for India’s airlines have tripled in the past three years.

Jet Airways needs to increase its fares by at least 20% to cover its cost of operations and make a reasonable or small profit, said Sudheer Raghavan, the airline’s chief commercial officer. “We are not bothered about what our competition is doing on fares, but we will be increasing fares in September and October,” he said on the sidelines of an event to launch Jet’s service to Dubai from Mumbai.

Fighting For Cheap Tickets

Here's a report from Vietnam:

VietNamNet Bridge - Low prices (and not so low prices), high discomfort seem to be the motto of no-frills airlines whose ticket prices start ticking upwards the minute you spot them.

As tourists flock to shopping havens like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Bali during this promotional season, no-frills airlines in Ho Chi Minh City are offering too-good-to-believe discounts to these destinations.

More often than not, the discounts are too good to be true.

Our intended destination is Singapore, so we browse Tiger Airways’ website and are delighted to find a two-way fare of around $230. When we phone the agency, however, the price has somehow climbed to $310.

“Fees are $10 and $20 for baggage, and …” the woman goes on and on.

We call another Tiger Airways agency, only to be warned: “Prices change every minute. If you do not book in an hour, you will be sorry”.

Having no choice at hand, we rush to its office on Le Thanh Ton Street as fast as we could, and… you guessed it… the fare is now $360.

“You want to buy or not. Prices will continue to rise”. Another warning is issued.

Disappointed, we change our itinerary to Malaysia and a telephone check to an Air Asia agent confirms the fare at $192 on the condition that “you must come here in one hour”.

Profusely sweating and heavily panting, we reach the office on Ham Nghi Street, and are shocked to hear that the charge has skyrocketed 31 percent to $252.

“You are 5 minutes late”, the agent coldly explains.

“Faster, dad!”

Running against time to get cheap tickets is only the beginning of the race.

You also must have the stamina to fight for the best seats since discount ticket holders are not allotted seat numbers and must find them on their own.

The resulting free-for-all is an unruly scene as hundreds jostle against each another the minute stewardess motions us to enter.

“Faster, dad” a boy about 10 years old shouts as he elbows his way through for a seat next to the window.

As the plane lands we can see from above an airfield packed with Air Asia aircraft. A Malaysian passenger next to me explains it is not an international airstrip but a special one reserved for low-cost airlines.

Thankful that our ordeal has come to an end, we embark.

Best Budget Airlines In Asia

From Macau:

AirAsia has been named Best Budget Airline in Asia for the third consecutive year in the annual SmartTravelAsia.com poll, beating out Jetstar Asia and Nok Air.
“The poll is a broad measure of the newer airlines' ability to deliver not just low prices and cheap tickets, but also reliable schedules, decent service - and the occasional smile,” says SmartTravelAsia.com.
With 30 percent of the votes, AirAsia maintained a strong lead, with Jetstar Asia next with 22.5 percent of the vote and Thai Airways' Nok Air with 8.4 , reports ETravel Blackboard.
Rounding out the top five were Tiger Airways and Cebu Pacific. The other airlines in the 10 finalists were Virgin Blue, Air Deccan, SpiceJet, Viva Macau and Hong Kong Express.
Indisputably top of their list as the first choice, is Singapore Changi Airport, which secured a solid 33 percent of the vote to propel it upwards from second in 2007 (then with 16.8 percent of the votes). Clearly, the shopping facilities, greenery, and colour – as well as the addition of gleaming Terminal 3 – have made Changi a formidable competitor.
In the Best Airports Worldwide survey, Hong Kong International Airport fell from first to second position.
Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok secured 14.6 percent of the vote (a drop from 22.4 percent in 2007). Hong Kong airport (which ranked first in 2006) was comfortably clear of third-ranked rival, Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok, a vast improvement on the old Don Muang Airport. Suvarnabhumi picked up a solid 10.5 percent of the votes indicating it has sorted out much of its earlier teething issues. It improved by one position over 2007.

Cheap Tickets Give You More Bang For Your Buck

Report:

Heather Johnson of Brooklyn Park adheres to an entertainment and eating-out budget of no more than $100 per month for her family, and uses her connections to stretch those dollars further. For example, she's purchased cheap tickets to places such as the Minnesota Zoo through work and her insurance company, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Be sure you know about discounts offered through your employer.

Reader Sören Erickson's tip is to work where you'd spend all of your money anyway. Erickson worked at a bar during his years at Minnesota State University.

"It pays well, work is often fun, on your off days you'll likely get a deal from friendly bartenders, and it will minimize how much money you spend at the bar since you'll have to work nights," wrote the 31-year-old Farmington resident on my blog: www.startribune.com/kablog.

Be careful. Without discipline, this strategy will backfire and you'll spend your entire paycheck before you get home.

Finally, if you feel peer pressure to spend money and want to cut back without missing out, consider having a frank conversation with your social circle about setting a spending limit.

You could also try what 29-year-old Katie Wenigmann calls an "ATM diet," where you take a certain amount of cash out at the beginning of the week and it has to last until the next week no matter what.

For Wenigmann, who brings a bag lunch and cooks at home all week to afford eating out on the weekends and wishes her indebted friends would do the same, setting a spending limit or starting a group ATM diet might help her good habits rub off on her good friends.

Cheap Air Tickets

From the Washington Times:

Who says that cheap plane tickets are a thing of the past? How would you like to go skiing in Utah this winter for less than $150 round trip from the East coast, including all taxes? Rather visit a warmer place? How about a ticket to Hawaii for less than $300?

Yes, these are real prices, but you might need to do some homework to get them. Airlines now publish low fares less frequently and often pull them off the market within hours.

We've all heard travel experts warning that air fares have nowhere else to go but up, mainly because of record-high jet-fuel prices, as well as predictions that the era of affordable air travel is over.

Cheap Tickets

Report:

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The survey by SurveiOne research institution showed in flying, the cheaper ticket price has been the main consideration for Indonesian passengers.

The SurveyOne’s researcher, Anang Ghazali, mentioned 42.9 percent respondents chose a cheaper ticket price as their main reason while 27.70 percent considered good service, 9 percent the security aspect, 4.50 percent for comfort, and 2.6 percent for the airlines’ reputation.

The survey was conducted together with the survey for consumer behavior and expenses in various categories. It included 1,400 respondents in four cities: Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Makassar.

“It began in the middle of last year,” said Anang yesterday.

The survey also covered the most favorite airlines. Anang said Lion Air is used the most (31.5 percent), followed by Garuda Indonesia (27.9 percent), Adam Air (13.3 percent), Merpati Nusantara Airlines (9.7 percent), Air Asia (4.2 percent).

Out of the five airlines, Garuda Indonesia is the only airline that does not offer cheap prices as they have full service. Lion Air plans to give full service next June.

The survey report is almost the same as the report by the National Airline Company Association (INACA). They said domestic passengers in 2006 used Lion Air (25 percent), Garuda Indonesia (20 percent), Adam Air (14 percent), Batavia Air (11 percent), and Sriwijaya Air (9 percent).

The market for airlines in Indonesia is growing rapidly as the low cost carriers started in 2001. The number of customers continuously increases.

According to the Directorate General for Air Transportation, the number of domestic passengers in 2007 increased 15.14 percent to 36.13 million passengers; to 34.01 million passengers in 2006, 28.8 million in 2005, 23.76 million in 2004, from 19.18 million in 2003.

Meanwhile, the number of passengers for the international route in 2007 increased by 9.25 percent to 13.93 million passengers; to 12.75 million passengers in 2006, 11.57 million in 2005, 11.8 million in 2004, from 10.7 million in 2003.

Cheap Tickets Rail

Report from the UK:

CHANGES to the national train ticketing system have caused confusion among rail passengers, with cheap fares no longer available on certain services.

Tickets across the country have been renamed in what has been described by rail bosses as a simplification of the system.

But rail companies have been criticised for taking the opportunity to bring in even tighter restrictions on when cut-price fares are available.

East Midlands Trains, which is based in Derby, used to offer a discounted fare on the 9.04am Derby to London service but that is not available any more.

And people travelling from Birmingham to Derby on Cross Country Trains can no longer use a cheap day-return ticket during afternoon rush-hour.

George Hogg, 21, of Jessop Street, Ripley, travelled from London to Derby yesterday and said: "I did notice an increase in the price of my ticket.

"I do think it's quite typical of the rail companies but some advance tickets still cost less than £5, which is amazing."

Also at Derby train station was James Preston, 61, of Moor Rise, Holbrook, who said: "If you want to go somewhere, you've got no option but to pay."

Andrew Dyson, director of Platform Five publishing in Sheffield – which publishes Railways UK magazine – has investigated the price rises.

He said: "None of the fares have actually gone up but some restrictions on cheap tickets are tighter, so fares have risen by the back door.

"With East Midlands Trains, there doesn't seem to be much to benefit customers, although the odd change does."

The changes, which were introduced last week by the Association of Train Operating Companies, mean that tickets for on-the-day travel are now split into two categories.

Open tickets are replaced by "anytime" fares and both cheap day and saver returns have become "off-peak" tickets.

The move follows the first phase in May, when a whole range of options for single train journeys were replaced by "advanced" tickets.

David Mapp, commercial director of Association of Train Operating Companies, said: "Passengers told us they want a simpler fares system and we are responding."

Eco-Friendly Travel

If rising flight prices and environmental concerns are keeping you at home, check out Search Green Travel before you hang up your traveling shoes.

As co-founders the the eco travel blog Go Green Travel Green, we launched Search Green Travel as a free tool that helps users find cheap flights and save the environment at the same time.

With the hype about carbon footprints and increasing concern global warming, we wanted to create an easy way for travelers to reduce their environmental impact. And we know that in the today's economy, travelers can't afford to spend more. So Search Green Travel is a simple way for travelers to be greener -- and save money.

Here's how it works. You use Search Green Travel exactly as you would any other travel search engine. Each time you search for cheap plane tickets, hotels, or rental cars, money is generated through advertisements. Go Green Travel Green receives a share of advertising revenue, then we donate 50% of profits to charities. And it doesn't cost you anything.

We donate to small but effective non-profit environmental organizations with annual expenses of less than $3.5 million. Charities we currently support include EcoLogic Development Fund, Global Green USA, Seacology, Alliance for Global Justice, and Fauna & Flora International.

The mission of Search Green Travel, currently in beta testing, is to give back to the environment, one airfare search at a time.

The tool uses a popular travel search engine, which searches hundreds of sites to find the best prices on airfare, hotels, and rental cars.

Not everyone can afford a hybrid car or an ecotour in the Amazon. That’s why we focus on simple steps anyone can take to travel greener. We're turning something travelers do every day -- look for cheap tickets -- into support for sustainability and conservation.

We’ve been developing this tool for some time, and we’re excited to finally launch it. It’s still in beta testing, so we welcome feedback from fellow eco-conscious folks. What do you think? Is it something you’ll use? How can we improve it?

- Elizabeth and Kimberly
Search Green Travel

Cheap Tickets News

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You will br brought to the cheapest tickets available. The premise of buying tickets online has taken a new turn, saving you money has just gotten easier. I'd like to welcome you to take the test and see for yourself how easy it is. We are a free service. Cheap Tickets News can help you decipher ticket prices into one screen. Let us help you get the tickets you want at the cheapest available. You never have to pay any fees. This again is a free service. I hope you take time to visit us and add us to your favorites. Anytime your looking for tickets thing Cheap Tickets News for all your ticket needs. Search Cheap Tickets News.