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Posted 12:50 p.m. ET - Monday
American to charge travel agents a fee to book tickets
In a dramatic move that underscores how desperate the major U.S. airlines are for revenue, American Airlines will now ask travel agents to pay a fee to sell its seats, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That''s a marked departure for the airline industry, which for decades had paid agents a commission to for selling seats on their flights. To help persuade travel agents to take on the added cost, American says agencies that volunteer for the program will be granted access to heavily discounted fares currently reserved for sale on the airline''s Web site. So far, only two major travel agencies have agreed to the new deal. We think it does a lot for American, but it doesn''t do a lot for anyone else, said Bill Maloney of the American Society of Travel Agents. In the guise of making (Web site) fares available, American is passing along increased costs to the consumer.
Posted 12:50 p.m. ET - Monday
American to charge travel agents a fee to book tickets
In a dramatic move that underscores how desperate the major U.S. airlines are for revenue, American Airlines will now ask travel agents to pay a fee to sell its seats, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That''s a marked departure for the airline industry, which for decades had paid agents a commission to for selling seats on their flights. To help persuade travel agents to take on the added cost, American says agencies that volunteer for the program will be granted access to heavily discounted fares currently reserved for sale on the airline''s Web site. So far, only two major travel agencies have agreed to the new deal. We think it does a lot for American, but it doesn''t do a lot for anyone else, said Bill Maloney of the American Society of Travel Agents. In the guise of making (Web site) fares available, American is passing along increased costs to the consumer.
