Archive-name: travel/air/online-info Last-modified: 1995/04/29 * Is there a way to get airline schedules on the Internet for free? Yes, finally, but the longer answer is more complicated. See below. * Is there a way to get airline schedules on the Internet if I pay for it? Definitely. See below. * What's available for free? PC Travel is an on-line travel agency that lets you telnet in, check fares and schedules, and make reservations. Credit card number required to check fares and make reservations, but they won't issue tickets or charge you until you specifically say to do so. Data come from APOLLO, the United Airlines reservation system. Tickets are issued through PC Travel, paying with a credit card, generally delivered the next day by FedEx. I find it relatively slow and clunky compared to Eaasy Sabre, but considering that it's free, it's great. Telnet to pctravel.com. * What other reservation systems are available? There are three computer reservation systems available to the general public: EAASY SABRE: Run by American Airlines, lets you check fares and schedules on all airlines with computerized reservations (all but the most obscure), and make reservations for yourself and others. Tickets can be sent by mail, issued by airlines at the airport or city ticket offices, or by any travel agent with a Sabre terminal. You can keep a lot of profile info on-line such as frequent flyer numbers and meal and seat preferences which are automatically inserted into reservations you make for yourself. Your ID is your AAdvantage frequent flyer number. Official Recreation Guide available at extra cost. Line oriented command language, e.g. to ask for flights from Boston to San Francisco on July 4 around noon: /AIR,BOS,SFO,4JUL,1200 It will prompt you field by field if you don't know all the parameters. Prodigy has its own interface to Eaasy which is supposed to be easier to use but provides only a subset of the functionality. TRAVELSHOPPER: Run by Worldspan (formerly PARS), which is Delta, Northwest and TWA, similar features to Eaasy. Interface is a little clunkier, but there are some features not available on Eaasy such as open date tickets, and experienced users can type through menus faster. Same ticketing options, but fewer agents have Worldspan terminals. No travel club, less detailed profile. Line oriented command language with optional prompts, same query as above would be: A;BOS;SFO;4JUL;12n;1 The 1 means one person travelling. ON-LINE OFFICIAL AIRLINE GUIDE: Similar data and commands to the other two. It used to be better than Sabre and Travelshopper, but now everyone's updated in near real-time. Lots of other random stuff, e.g. frequent flyer newsletter and flight departure and arrival info (they can show you the contents of the flight info TV screens from some airports.) Airlines and a few agencies can issue tickets. * Are these the same systems that travel agents use? The underlying data are the same, but the interface is different. Some data are visible to agents, but not to these systems. A good way to work is to make the best reservation you can on-line, then call a travel agent, tell him what you've reserved, and see if he can do better. * How do I get access to them? Eaasy and Travelshopper are only available via gateway systems, OAG directly or via gateways. Eaasy Sabre: GEnie, Compuserve, Delphi, Prodigy, AOL, eWorld PARS Travelshopper: Compuserve, Delphi (gateway currently down) OAG: Direct subscription, Delphi, Compuserve, GEnie, Dow Jones News Retrieval, AT&T InterSpan. Telnet to Delphi: delphi.com, no surcharge. Telnet to OAG: oag.com, no surcharge. Telnet to Compuserve: compuserve.com, hostname CIS. AOL: 2.0 version of their software speaks WinSock. FTP from FTP.AOL.COM. Compuserve has a front-end program called CIM which runs under Windows and can make access and navigation somewhat simpler. The latest version works both with traditional dial-in access and via WinSock. You can download it from their new WWW page at www.compuserve.com. For dial-in access, Delphi is on Sprintnet and Tymnet, no surcharge nights and weekends. Compuserve has its own extensive network, or is available via Sprintnet at a surcharge. OAG is on Sprintnet and Tymnet, no surcharge. * How much do they cost? Eaasy and PARS are available at the base rate for all of the on-line services that offer them except for Prodigy. Delphi offers a five-hour free trial when you sign up; you can use PARS and Eaasy during that time. AOL also usually offers a free trial period. Gateway systems charge a substantial surcharge for the OAG, e.g. Delphi charges 59 cents/min peak, 42 cents/min off-peak. A direct subscription to the OAG is much cheaper, per-minute rates are lower than the surcharge. Call 800-342-5624, ext Q714 for a 15 day free trial, $25 signup if you continue. If you subscribe directly, the OAG waives session charges if you make or cancel a reservation during the session. The OAG has no monthly minimum, which is good for occasional users. * Isn't there anything available without signing up? Several airlines are on the World Wide Web. For most of them you need a browser that supports forms, such as Netscape, or Mosaic. Canadian Airlines has a WWW server with schedule info at http://www.cdnair.ca. Southwest Airlines has a web page at http://www.iflyswa.com with schedules and fares. Cathay Pacific has a web page at http://www.cathay-usa.com/ with info of interest to travellers from the U.S. No schedules, some tour prices. A Northwest Airlines "fact sheet" with mostly historican info is at http://www.winternet.com/~tela/nwa-info.html. No fares or schedules. There's an Aeroflot at http://www.seanet.com/Bazar/Aeroflot/Aeroflot.html with some schedule info. The American Trans Air page at http://www.xmission.com/~aoi/fata.html has mostly phone numbers. * What about on-line travel agents and clubs? Eaasy Sabre offers Traveller's Access, run by Comp-U-Card which for $49/yr rebates 5% on air, hotel, and car rentals for you and family members that they've ticketed for you and family members when you send in receipts. In my experience, their agents are not very good. Travel-by-Modem , is run by a small company in Belmont, Mass., primary access via Delphi, but Internet e-mail is fine, too. Costs $39/yr, sliding rebate on tickets depending on price and how delivered. Rebates mailed automatically quarterly. Lots of useful coupons and discounts. That's the agency I use. Although they have a national clientele, they're 1/2 mile from my house, which may bias me somewhat. NOTE: All of the descriptions below are edited from info provided by the agencies themselves. Compass Point Travel is a full service agency that welcomes Internet customers. Stephanie Alford is a full service travel agent who welcomes Internet customers. Edward Hasbrouck at Travel Time, San Francisco around-the-world specialists; also other discounted international tickets; NOT a general-purpose, corporate, or domestic travel agency. The Travel Tree is a full service travel agency that welcomes Internet customers. They use consolidators and offer discounts. For more information send email with the subject of "info" to tree@io.com. Jason Chase represents Hotels Plus which offers discounted hotels world wide and discounted rental cars in Euurope. Internet users get a 10% discount. WWW at file://ftp.netcom.com/pub/jchase/html/info.html. Lloyd Colston is an outside sales agent for Integra Travel in Cincinnati, OH. The agency is a general travel agency which offers complete service for both domestic and international trips. Germantown Travel in Germantown Md is a full service airline ticket agency suppling information and discounted tickets for domestic and international travel. Travel World is a full-service Carlson Travel Network Agency also offering tours and colsolidator tickets. Prices are competitive. Leigh Ann Hildebrand-Chupp is an outside agent with Ambassador World Travel in Atlanta, specializing in travel for special interest groups, including the leather community. She offers a free bi-weekly email travel newsletter. Dave Rose at Planet Travel <73632.3401@compuserve.com> or is a full service travel agency for the Gay and Lesbian community. AOI Travel offers air travel and Eurail services, and discount air to Europe. They have a WWW site with travel information at http://xmission.com/~aoi. Mike Espinosa is a travel outfitter, specializing in trips to south and southeast Asia, including consolidator tickets for Asian airlines. Roberto Torrini of Interpro Travel Service of Laguna Niguel, CA is a full service bilingual agency specializing in trips and tours to Italy for individuals, families, and groups. Jack Diem at Blue Skies Travel Agency, in Brea, CA. He specializes in Mexico and the Pacific. CTM Travel in Coral Springs FL welcomes business from the Internet. AESU Travel in Baltimore operates tours to Europe for 18-35 year olds and is also airticket consolidators (Europe only). WWW page is http://www.charm.net/~aesu/ Travel Network is a full service agency offering their own frequent flyer program. Coastliners, full service WORLDSPAN agency in Anaheim, Calif. has heavily discounted cruises, and discounted air programs from Calif. across the US. JonesTravel has a WWW homepage with info on tours to Las Vegas and other destinations at http;//www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~iew/index.html Manny Segal at Vacation Partners runs a service that finds compatible travel mates for single travelers, for compainionship and to avoid the dreaded single supplement. World Beat Travel is a full service multilingual agency in Montreal, for travellers originating in Canada and, for services for visitors. Bill Byrnes author of "Airfare Secrets" specializes in high value Round the World, long haul and missionary travel. Offshore ticketing from Euro and Asian consolidators. Torcaza Trails offer a trek in the Andes and other ecoturim/adventure travel opportunities in Venezuela. email or http://venezuela.mit.edu/toursim/torcaza/torcaza1.html Scott Royce runs B&B Bookings, a bed and breakfast reservation service concentrating on Southeastern Connecticut. Genie Travel Services Inc. specializes in discounted international and domestic airline tickets for Internet customers. For prices, see WWW archives at http://www.genietravel.com, e-mail, or call 800-Oh-Genie! Endeavour Travel is a fully accredited travel agency specialising in NZ and Australian travel, staffed in large part by Aussies and Kiwis. Web pages at http://www.anzac.com/endvr/endvr.com Marla Baer-Peckham of Cornucopia First Class Travel is a full-service travel agency. WWW page at http://iquest.com/~marla, Kenneth Rishty is with Vintage Travel in downtown Manhattan in New York City. He welcomes clients for either corporate or leisure travel, and is also knowledgeable about Gay and Lesbian travel. Maryann Novajosky publishes a free bi-weekly e-mail newsletter of discounted cruise vacation specials and cruise-related news. Uniglobe GEM Travel or http://www.uniglobe-gem.com/ Full service agency, WWW site with leisure info and travel request forms. Our goal is not to find the cheapest product, but the best value for money. Travel Incorporated publishes a weekly newsletter listing midwest departures of discounted charter programs to the Caribbean & Mexico. The free listing can be obtained by e-mail to . European Travel , specialists in individual travel to Europe in all its aspects: hotels, tours, consolidator tickets, rail passes, car rental, cruises. Extensive collection of hotel and tour brochures. The Travel Solution specializes in V.I.P service to the affluent traveler. Their goal is to show you how to recieve value & luxury for the vacation you've earned. NOTE: If you're a travel agent and would like to be listed, drop me a note and I'll add you. Please make my life easier by e-mailing me a three-line or so description in the style above. Thanks. -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, +1 617 492 3869 johnl@iecc.com "Space aliens are stealing American jobs." - Stanford econ prof -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, +1 617 492 3869 johnl@iecc.com "Space aliens are stealing American jobs." - Stanford econ prof