Airline Web Sites
I AM WRITING in response to "Airline Web Sites, Poised for Takeoff?" [May 29] regarding a recent experience. I needed two tickets to Cincinnati at the last minute and bought them the day before we flew. I checked the major airlines' sites and tickets were generally over $500. Then I checked the search sites such as Travelocity and Priceline. Priceline had tickets for $222, including all fees, on US Airways.
I then tried to book the exact flight combinations on US Airways' Web site so I could earn the extra 1,000 frequent-flier miles for booking online. When I had no luck finding the flight for the low price, I called the airline. I was told that the seats on those flights were no longer available through US Airways since it had sold those seats to Priceline. I wonder for what price US Airways sold the seats to Priceline and how much the markup was, and I would have enjoyed reading about that angle in your article. In any event, I was thrilled to find such a deal at the last minute.
Rachel Tumidolsky
Takoma Park
DownEast Maine, Cont'd
ALASKA IS indeed the easternmost state [Message Center, May 29]. Marshall S. Berdan still was the first person to see the earliest sunrise in the United States, including Alaska. While east-west is defined at the 180-degree meridian, the time zones are not. The "easternmost" Aleutians are in the westernmost time zone.
John F. Lyons
Olney
