'Simplified' ticketing is not so simple for all fliers

In the new world of airfares, Tony Randall is one of the lucky ones.

Fares had been so high at Randall's local airport in Greenville, S.C., that the machine salesman routinely drove 250 miles to fly from Raleigh/Durham, N.C. There, discounter Southwest Airlines keeps fares in check.

After Delta Air Lines cut some of its business fares and simplified its ticket pricing a month ago, Randall says he was "shocked" to see Delta's and US Airways' last-minute fares at Greenville fall hundreds of dollars overnight. He'll fly from Greenville from now on.

"My life is going to be much more convenient," he says.

That's not true for everyone. While Delta boasts that its new pricing scheme is refreshingly simple, the airfare environment it has helped shape is anything but. During the first week of 2005, No. 3 Delta and No. 1 American rocked the travel industry, announcing simplified pricing schemes that mimic those of profitable discounters. In one stroke, Delta streamlined and cut domestic fares for millions of its customers. The biggest beneficiaries: business travelers who book at the last minute and had to pay the highest fares.

American followed Delta with a less deeply discounted ticketing version of its own. With the two industry giants jumping in, 60 percent of U.S. domestic airline tickets are now sold under simplified pricing.

But buying airline tickets has not suddenly become simpler and cheaper for everyone, everywhere in the United States. Behind the industry hype of deep discounts and simpler fares lies a nuanced and complicated ticket-buying landscape, consumer advocates say. Deep price cuts highlighted by Delta and American benefit a relatively small percentage of travelers. Prices on routes where one airline dominates remain high. Claims by competitors who said they'd match fare cuts by Delta and American have proven only partly true.

Discounters, in general, continue to beat traditional airlines in selling a bigger share of their tickets at rock-bottom prices.

What has changed in the new era of simpler fares is this: Sky-high fares for last-minute tickets have tumbled. Travelers have greater flexibility with the fading of Saturday-night stay requirements. The price spread has greatly narrowed between the most- and least-expensive tickets on any given flight. Some employers who buy air travel in bulk for employees are finding less incentive to contract with airlines.