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CNN Live Today

Turbulent Times

Aired March 11, 2003 - 11:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We talked earlier this hour about the dire warning from the airliners today. Lot of carriers are saying they could be pushed into bankruptcy court. It's bad news for the airlines. Could actually mean some more jingle in your pocket. Many carriers are going to offer some good deals and wave a lot of their gotcha fees that are hidden right now.
So let's talk to Tom Parsons of bestfares.com about that. He joins us from Dallas this morning.

Good to see you, Tom. How are you?

TOM PARSONS, BESTFARES.COM: All right, thank you.

HARRIS: What's the best -- you obviously think the airlines are going to have to do something like cutting some of these fares, some of these charges in order to encourage more people to get out there and fly?

PARSONS: Well, we are seeing some airlines like the newest ones today was Northwest, who have now said, if we go to conflict, remember there might be a conflict, say with Iraq or we go to level red, then we've got Northwest, Continental and Delta willing to waive the processing fee or the change fee, and to Europe, it's very expensive. It's almost $200 a ticket. Now, that's for Europe. Now, for the domestic side, we've seen American, we've seen United, and we've also seen U.S. Airways come up with what they call a peace of mind. Not only will they do a trans-Atlantic, but they'll do anywhere in their system. On those cases, you'll probably see a waiver of $100.

I guess the important thing is, if you are traveling, make sure -- if there is a conflict, that you call the airlines before your original departure or on your return. If you don't, then it's still returns back to that use it or lose it ticket with those major airlines.

HARRIS: Got you. Well, we got some folks out there who are watching this morning who do plan on traveling, and they sent in some questions for you, Tom. Let's get right to them.

This is coming to us from Joel: "I live in the Toronto area, and my fiancee and I are flying to Hawaii for a honeymoon in July." Congratulations. "Our concern is either flights are cut, or the airline I'm going to fly goes belly up. What do we do?"

PARSONS: Again, most of the U.S. airlines. This is Canada we're talking, so they may have a different policy. But here in the United States, there is a policy if there's an airline that ceases operation, we are in some ways protected that as long as another carrier, U.S. carrier, is flying between those two points, they must pick you up and take you to your two points, and the Maximum they can charge is usually $25 as a processing fee.

However, most of the airlines I know that go out of Toronto, the only one that's in bankruptcy right now is United Airlines, and they still have a couple billion dollars in the bank. And even Air Canada has flights. So I think right now, he's going to have a good honeymoon, and he just needs to keep on tune which flights he's taking. That's all.

HARRIS: Keep your mind off the flight buddy, you got other things to worry about.

Let's go to our next e-mail. This is coming to us from Oswald, who says, "I'm planning to travel to London on or about April 10th from the U.S. So what advice do you have for obtaining the lowest fare and usable ticket against the backdrop of potential war this week. What do you think, Tom?

PARSONS: Well, there's a lot of deals, I swear. Europe has just been dirt cheap. Not only do we have -- I mean, for the month of April it gets a little expensive, but the cheapest airfare in Europe is like out of Atlanta. It's 200 bucks, Boston 200 bucks.

HARRIS: You got to be kidding? 200 bucks to London.

PARSONS: No, this is Amsterdam out of Atlanta. But out of London, for the month of April through May, even May 31st, the wholesalers and discounters that you'll find like us and others, you'll see it as low as $299 round trip for those pretty good decent months, April and May. For those who are a little hesitant and want to push it up to May 31, when you see Miami, Orlando, Charlotte, Boston, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, all those for about $299 round trip. That's a great fare into London no matter what season you fly.

HARRIS: Good deal. Tom, we have a lot of breaking news to get to this morning, so we're going to have to cut this short. Sure do appreciate the advice. Tom Parsons, thank you very much, from bestfares.com.

Folks, thanks to you for the e-mails as well, and happy travel.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 11, 2003 - 11:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We talked earlier this hour about the dire warning from the airliners today. Lot of carriers are saying they could be pushed into bankruptcy court. It's bad news for the airlines. Could actually mean some more jingle in your pocket. Many carriers are going to offer some good deals and wave a lot of their gotcha fees that are hidden right now.
So let's talk to Tom Parsons of bestfares.com about that. He joins us from Dallas this morning.

Good to see you, Tom. How are you?

TOM PARSONS, BESTFARES.COM: All right, thank you.

HARRIS: What's the best -- you obviously think the airlines are going to have to do something like cutting some of these fares, some of these charges in order to encourage more people to get out there and fly?

PARSONS: Well, we are seeing some airlines like the newest ones today was Northwest, who have now said, if we go to conflict, remember there might be a conflict, say with Iraq or we go to level red, then we've got Northwest, Continental and Delta willing to waive the processing fee or the change fee, and to Europe, it's very expensive. It's almost $200 a ticket. Now, that's for Europe. Now, for the domestic side, we've seen American, we've seen United, and we've also seen U.S. Airways come up with what they call a peace of mind. Not only will they do a trans-Atlantic, but they'll do anywhere in their system. On those cases, you'll probably see a waiver of $100.

I guess the important thing is, if you are traveling, make sure -- if there is a conflict, that you call the airlines before your original departure or on your return. If you don't, then it's still returns back to that use it or lose it ticket with those major airlines.

HARRIS: Got you. Well, we got some folks out there who are watching this morning who do plan on traveling, and they sent in some questions for you, Tom. Let's get right to them.

This is coming to us from Joel: "I live in the Toronto area, and my fiancee and I are flying to Hawaii for a honeymoon in July." Congratulations. "Our concern is either flights are cut, or the airline I'm going to fly goes belly up. What do we do?"

PARSONS: Again, most of the U.S. airlines. This is Canada we're talking, so they may have a different policy. But here in the United States, there is a policy if there's an airline that ceases operation, we are in some ways protected that as long as another carrier, U.S. carrier, is flying between those two points, they must pick you up and take you to your two points, and the Maximum they can charge is usually $25 as a processing fee.

However, most of the airlines I know that go out of Toronto, the only one that's in bankruptcy right now is United Airlines, and they still have a couple billion dollars in the bank. And even Air Canada has flights. So I think right now, he's going to have a good honeymoon, and he just needs to keep on tune which flights he's taking. That's all.

HARRIS: Keep your mind off the flight buddy, you got other things to worry about.

Let's go to our next e-mail. This is coming to us from Oswald, who says, "I'm planning to travel to London on or about April 10th from the U.S. So what advice do you have for obtaining the lowest fare and usable ticket against the backdrop of potential war this week. What do you think, Tom?

PARSONS: Well, there's a lot of deals, I swear. Europe has just been dirt cheap. Not only do we have -- I mean, for the month of April it gets a little expensive, but the cheapest airfare in Europe is like out of Atlanta. It's 200 bucks, Boston 200 bucks.

HARRIS: You got to be kidding? 200 bucks to London.

PARSONS: No, this is Amsterdam out of Atlanta. But out of London, for the month of April through May, even May 31st, the wholesalers and discounters that you'll find like us and others, you'll see it as low as $299 round trip for those pretty good decent months, April and May. For those who are a little hesitant and want to push it up to May 31, when you see Miami, Orlando, Charlotte, Boston, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, all those for about $299 round trip. That's a great fare into London no matter what season you fly.

HARRIS: Good deal. Tom, we have a lot of breaking news to get to this morning, so we're going to have to cut this short. Sure do appreciate the advice. Tom Parsons, thank you very much, from bestfares.com.

Folks, thanks to you for the e-mails as well, and happy travel.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com