Will American Airlines pull out of Kayak and Orbitz?

Name: Budget Travel LLC
Price range: $

By Sean O'Neill

October 3, 2012

The business news blog TechCrunch is reporting that American Airlines will soon stop the travel search engine Kayak and the online agency Orbitz from listing its fares.

It seems that American is upset because Kayak usually displays its flights with a link to purchase tickets through Orbitz instead of a link to purchase through AA.com, American's own site. That means, according to the report, that the airline has to pay a fee first to Kayak for listing its fare and getting a "click-through" and then again to Orbitz for the successful purchase.

TechCrunch says:

The decision to sever ties with Kayak supposedly has already been made. The only question is whether Orbitz can salvage its relationship with the airline.

[Thanks, Ruthie!]

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