02/17/97 THE PC TRAVEL AGENT TAKES OFF

THE PC TRAVEL AGENT TAKES OFF
The latest Net-based services are better, clearer, and a lot easier to use
Few chores seem as ideally suited for online services as booking plane trips. The complexities of fares and schedules seem perfect for a system that presents constantly updated information. Yet in the past, I've found that trying to book flights online was even more frustrating than dealing with live agents. The systems were too slow, too incomplete, or too confusing.
I'm happy to say the situation has changed. I've tried three Internet-based services: Microsoft Expedia, Preview Travel, and United Connection. And after booking a couple of flights, I've concluded that making reservations online is a practical and attractive alternative for both business and leisure travelers. The services do a good job of taking the information you give about destinations and travel times and presenting available flights and fares. All of them will book car rentals and hotel rooms, too.
Expedia(www.expedia.com) and Preview Travel (www. reservations.com) both run over the World Wide Web using a standard browser. United Connection runs either over the Internet or United's dial-up network but requires special Windows software that can be downloaded free from www.ual.com. All use secure servers and encryption to protect your credit-card data and travel plans from prying eyes.
I was skeptical at first about the United software. Most airlines offer online booking services, but only for their own flights. United Connection does offer some services for United flights that are not available for other airlines. For example, you can pick your seats from an on-screen map when making reservations. But it presents flight info from a broad range of airlines and doesn't seem to discriminate in favor of United Airlines. Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) is a similar travel service operated by the parent of American Airlines, but it has been suffering from overload problems and is undergoing an upgrade. American also has EasySabre, a popular site on Prodigy and Compuserve, but the Web sites are available for all.
United Connection turned out to be my favorite Web site for business travel. It emphasizes completeness rather than low cost and makes it easier to pick just the flight you want. The program is very simple to use and, because the amount of data that has to be downloaded is very small, is significantly faster than the browser-based services.
Expedia and Preview Travel may be better choices for the bargain-hunter who is concerned that a travel agent or reservations clerk won't find the best fares. Unlike United, these sites display fare information as you go along. Preview seemed faster most of the time, but the speed advantage is negated if you want to go back and make a change in your itinerary: The software makes you restart trip planning from the beginning.
FARE GAME. Which service does the best job of finding cheap fares? It's difficult to say. For a round trip between Washington and the Big Island of Hawaii, Expedia offered an $801 fare. The best Preview could do was $870, and that required an airline change in Los Angeles. Although Expedia's bargain special was on United, United Connection couldn't do better than a $1,008 fare. On a round trip between Washington and Tampa, all three services offered many choices at around $220, but only Preview came up with a $144 flight on USAir. And for a Chicago-London trip, all offered the same British Airways flights at $391. Since I was shopping, not booking, I couldn't tell whether any seats were actually available at those prices. But shopping this way is certainly easier.
I fly a lot, and trying to figure out flights and fares on the telephone drives me to distraction. From now on, I will be booking my plane travel online.
By STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM