American Airlines and Priceline team up to relegate other OTAs to the middle seats
Skift Take
Online travel agencies playing by American Airlines' rules are becoming the haves and the others are becoming the have nots. And, with Preferred Seats, casual travelers who don't turn to Priceline will be relegated to positions toward the rear of the plane.
Priceline customers can now book American Airlines' Preferred Seats when booking flights -- a perk unavailable to any other online travel agency.
The seats have standard legroom, are located toward the front of the economy cabin, and usually sell for $4 per flight.
Although travelers can likewise purchase these seats through AA.com, the airline's mobile apps and airport kiosks, Priceline is the first OTA to get the feature.
That's because Priceline agreed to bypass GDS partners such as Worldspan and Sabre when selling American Airlines' tickets, beginning in January 2011, and now books about 2,000 tickets per day using the Ameri
