Airlines add ticket fees

Karren Mills

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Northwest Airlines Corp. plans to begin charging customers and travel agents extra fees for domestic tickets that are not booked through the airline's Web sites.

The airline said Tuesday the new fees will lower the airline's cost of selling all tickets to about $5, or the same as it now spends selling them through the Web sites, www.nwa.com and www.worldagentdirect.com.

The changes will save the airline about $70 million annually, bringing Northwest's distribution costs in line with those of low-cost carriers such as JetBlue Airways Corp., Southwest Airlines Inc. and FLYi Inc.'s Independence Air, said Tim Griffin, Northwest's executive vice president of marketing and distribution.

Those low-cost carriers sell most of their tickets through their own Web sites, Griffin said.

"The profitable, sustainable carriers today are low-cost carriers," Griffin said. "Since we compete with low-cost carriers on price, it is essential that we compete with them on distribution costs."

Also Tuesday, UAL Corp.'s United Airlines said it's adding a $15 fee for booking frequent-flier trips by telephone.

Passengers of the airline can avoid the fee, which takes effect Oct. 15, by using the company's Web site to reserve seats with their frequent-flier miles. Those who fly more than 100,000 miles each year won't be affected, nor will those who call to use miles for upgrades.

United also announced Monday that it is reducing the amount of frequent-flier miles customers need to obtain free economy-class tickets to 15,000 from 25,000 on most nonstop flights of 750 miles or less.