November/December 2006
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Not So Cheap Clicks
By Christopher Elliott Photo by Ruediger Knobloch/A.B./Zefa/CORBIS
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Beware: Some travel websites try to sneak in the extras. |
Travel websites are getting more sophisticated and aggressive about selling you extras.
 igh-pressure sales pitches used to be limited to slippery timeshare salesmen or telemarketers phoning at dinnertime with fraudulent free-vacation offers.
Not anymore. Now travel websites—once low-key booking tools that passively displayed fares and rates—are learning the art of persuasion. And they're proving to be quick studies. If you don't pay attention, you might end up buying something overpriced, unnecessary, or even unexpected when you book your next trip online.
Christopher Trott almost did. The Washington, D.C., copy editor wanted to cash in his US Airways miles for a ticket from Philadelphia to Paris recently, so he logged on to the redesigned US Airways website. It made a compelling pitch: For just 80,000 miles, he could score a seat in business class. But as he clicked through the booking screens, he noticed that the class of service had mysteriously been downgraded to economy class. Trott cancelled the transaction. "It was a bizarre quirk that was borderline deceptive," he said.
US Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader insists it was the former. "It's a bug that we're aware of," she said. In fact, if Trott had made the reservation, then the correct number of miles would have been deducted from his account for the ticket he had requested. Rader says the airline is working on a fix.
Usairways.com is only one of several high-profile websites that have been redesigned (it did so after merging with America West). Alaska Airlines, Continental, Four Points by Sheraton, and Hyatt have also given their sites a makeover. Many other travel site redesigns—most of them made with the explicit goal of making them sell more products—are being done quietly.
Travel companies previously viewed their websites as a way to reduce the cost of booking (without a human agent, each transaction costs less). But that's not enough anymore. Those same companies now want to use their sites to help them drum up even more business.
"They're aggressively trying to monetize their sites," says Michael Roberts, president of MarketFace in Scottsdale, Arizona, which specializes in improving online interactions for companies. To monetize sites, companies are using sophisticated software that spots patterns in a reservation and tries to sell customers everything from a hotel room to trip insurance, based on those patterns.
For example, on a recent online reservation for an airline ticket from Orlando to Seattle, the final booking screen on the Alaska Airlines website displayed several options under the banner "At Your Service." Among them were pitches for a "special hotel offer" ($332 per night at the Salish Lodge), a car rental, and a 25 percent discount on rentals of portable DVD players.
The airline just wrapped up a major overhaul of the part of its site that handles vacation packages, according to Steve Jarvis of Alaska Airlines. He disputes that the reason for the changes is to lift sales. "Our customers tell us they want to be able not only to book their air travel, but also arrange for hotel accommodations, rental cars, and other products and services that will be used during their travels," he says.
But James Hering of TM Advertising in Irving, Texas, says these cross-selling opportunities are "very, very profitable." He should know. TM Advertising has done website designs for American Airlines, OneWorld Alliance, and the State of Texas Department of Tourism. "It's twice as easy to sell to an existing customer than to find a new customer."
There's a right way—and a wrong way—to do it, say Web marketing experts. One classic example of inappropriate marketing involves opt-in newsletters or fare offers. At the conclusion of a purchase, there's a small box that invites you to share your e-mail address with everyone the company does business with. It often describes them as "carefully screened companies offering products and promotions that may be of interest to you." But the box is pre-checked, opening your in-box to annoying offers from which it is virtually impossible to unsubcribe. Nonetheless, many second-tier travel sites have pre-checked boxes that sign travelers up for "optional" travel insurance, say experts.
From there, however, things quickly move to grayer areas. The newest websites hawk upgrades to better rooms or more comfortable airline seats, and any number of additional products such as rental cars or tours. And marketers and Web designers are constantly tinkering with how to display these options, and how much information is given about them.
More than ever, consumers need to pay attention when they book on travel websites (this is no time to multitask). "Watch for add-ons," says Lorraine Sileo, an analyst for PhoCusWright in Sherman, Connecticut. "Before you click on the 'Buy' button, make sure that you're buying what you want to buy."
Look Before You Book
Don't get taken by a dot-com sales pitch. Here five things you can do to prevent surprise surcharges from showing up on your bill.
1. Check out the terms. Every legitimate site has a "terms and conditions" section with the legalese and has an easy-to-find phone number. If they're not there, stop clicking.
2. Read every screen carefully. Then reread it. Make sure you uncheck any boxes that have been pre-checked.
3. Review your itinerary. Prior to clicking the "Buy" button, take one more look at your itinerary. See any extras? If you do, exit and start over.
4. Carefully monitor your credit card statement for any surprise charges. If you see one, contact both your travel company and your credit card company, and let them know of the problem. Dispute the charges with the credit card company if necessary.
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