New airline fee: "Locking down" an airfare if you aren't quite ready to commit

[marmar]

from Newsweek/Budget Travel:



Airlines think that all the world's problems can be solved with fees.

Yesterday, Continental Airlines announced a new way to book fares on its site. If you like a nonrefundable fare but aren't ready to commit, you can lock in the option to buy the ticket for three days if you pay a $5 fee—or for as long as a week for a fee of up to $19 per ticket.

Budget Travel tip:
Use FareLock to your advantage.

1. Find a fare you like on continental.com. Lock it in by paying the fee.

2. Comparison shop elsewhere. (Explanation: FareLock is only available if you book on continental.com directly. One danger of shopping directly on any airline's own site, however, is that you might fight a cheaper fare elsewhere. So go comparison shopping on other sites to find the best deal going.)

3. Sign up for automatic alerts on your preferred flight. Go to Kayak/Yapta (kayak.yapta.com/flights) and sign up for free e-mail alerts on the flight that you like. If you find a fare that's much cheaper (because fare prices rise and fall every hour), you can take advantage of it before the clock runs down on your Continental deal. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2010/12/continental_lock_in_your_fare.html

[geek tragedy]

1. That's actually reaonable. Lock in a great fare and then see

if you can make your schedule fit it, instead of emailing everyone and frantically waiting for responses.