
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 29, 1995                   TAG: 9505010038
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

USAIR TRIES WEEKEND DISCOUNTS

USAir this week quietly began a pricing experiment on some flights that turns the usual method of selling discounted tickets upside down.

It's now more expensive for leisure travelers to fly in the middle of the week - the off-peak period for leisure travel - than on the peak weekend days.

The changes are to the advantage of most vacationers but will make it much more difficult for business travelers to use restricted fares, said Tom Parsons, publisher of Best Fares magazine in Arlington, Texas.

USAir put the new pricing into place Thursday only on flights from Charlotte, N.C., to Baltimore; Boston; Buffalo, N.Y.; Pittsburgh; and Washington and on some flights from Buffalo.

No decision has been made yet on whether to extend the new fares to other destinations, including Roanoke, said USAir spokesman Richard Weintraub. As the turmoil of last year's fare wars settles down, USAir is seeking to simplify its fares with an eye on travel patterns, he said. "We'll see how the market responds and judge from there."

Before Thursday, USAir's lowest-priced ticket between Charlotte and Washington was $238 round-trip. It required a 21-day advance purchase and was good any day of the week. Now, USAir is offering a $218 fare on weekends, but raised the fare for flying on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to $338.

Also, USAir abolished the seven-day advance-purchase fare in favor of a $258 fare, good only on Saturday and Sunday, that requires no advance purchase.

``We're recognizing the reality of people's travel patterns, which is that most leisure travel is on the weekends,'' Weintraub said.

USAir may want to discourage leisure travelers from booking flights heavily used by business travelers so it can sell more tickets on those flights at full fare, Parsons said.

The move also suggests USAir has seen ``an awful lot of back-to-back ticketing'' by business travelers, Parsons said. Back-to-back ticketing is a money-saving gambit often used by business travelers even though it violates airline rules. It exploits enormous price differences between leisure and business tickets.

Staff writer Greg Edwards contributed to this story.

by CNB