Travel Roundup: Online Travel Owes $21 Million, Amtrak Cuts Prices, Allegiant Chooses LAX and More

(MoneyWatch)  Online travel sites ordered to pay $21 million to Anaheim, Calif. -- Online travel Web sites including Expedia, Orbitz and Hotels.com were ordered to pay Anaheim, Calif. $21 million in lost hotel taxes last week. The online travel companies have been sued by numerous cities in an attempt to recoup lost city dollars. The online companies bought the hotel rooms from local hotels for a wholesale price and paid taxes on that rather than the cost of the retail price they later charged to a customer. The online travel agencies are asking the Orange County Superior Court to overturn the decision. [Source: Los Angeles Times]

Amtrak cuts Acela Express prices -- Amtrak sliced ticket prices up to 25 percent on its Acela Express to attract more passengers. Starting in March, business class tickets will cost $99 for a trip between Washington, D.C. and New York while fares between New York and Boston start at $79. The tickets are available for travel beginning March 3 through June 26. Amtrak was recently approved for $1.3 billion from the government's economic stimulus plan. [Source: Washington Business Journal, Associated Press]

Allegiant Airlines chooses LAX -- Allegiant Airlines announced that it will start flying out of Los Angeles International Airport May 1. The Las Vegas-based airline will fly nonstop from LAX to 11 smaller destinations, including Bellingham, Wash., Fargo, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., Grand Junction, Colo. and Medford, Ore. [Source: Press-Enterprise]

JetBlue offers ticket refund to laid off travelers -- JetBlue Airways is offering a ticket refund program to those customers, 18 or older, who lose their job on or before Feb. 17 and bought tickets from Feb. 1 through May 30. Those affected will be eligible to cancel the reservation and receive a refund. The new program doesn't apply to code-share flights and the carrier must receive refund requests at least 14 days before departure. [Source: Tampa Tribune]