You certainly don't give us much credit do you Addison. I ALWAYS have my clients interest as my first priority and would never book someone on an airline because I make more money. You seem to have forgotten about these little things called frequent flyer programs. They dictate what carrier we use in most cases because you want your points. I resent your implication that I am driven by $$$ and don't care about my clients. Mark Addison Schonland wrote: > I think that the whole idea of giving agents commissions in the first place > was a mistake. How can an agent watch for the passenger's interests while > being paid by the airline? That is a conflict. Airlines should be forced > to sell their product at whatever net fares they can and if you use an agent > let them charge for the service. Works like that in every other industry. > > I know I will NOT fly Pakistan Air for free, but happily pay full fare on > the same route flying Cathay. Agent or not. > > Next when I see how poorly the online systems deal with overseas flights, > everyone needs an agent. Then paying for the service is OK. > > When flying in the US, especially Southwest, who needs an agent? > > We live in a (US) world where we have full service brokers like Merril Lynch > and discount brokers like Schwab. Both make money becuase the markets likes > both. > > Travel agents should embrace the new world becuase they are free of the > airline tyranny once and for all. Service is a very "sticky" product - > people stick with their providers because the service providers know and > understand them. If you disagree tell me how your online ticket agent > (Expedia, Travelocity et al) took care of you on Sept. 12th. I know I stood > in line in downtown DC for 3 hours like the rest of the folks on UA...it > wasn't pretty. Had I used an agent I likely could have done it all by > phone. > > -----Original Message----- > From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of > Mark Greenwood > Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 6:42 PM > To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU > Subject: Re: Airline Travel Agent Commissions > > And why Nick, do you feel that the airlines should have a free distribution > network? > > Mark > > Nick Laflamme wrote: > > > At 11:42 AM 3/25/2002 -0800, Matthew Montano wrote: > > >Now let me see if I get this right... > > > > <snip> > > >The funny thing is those extra 'fees' is that they never end up in the > > >originators pocket. If airlines figured out how to raise their prices AND > > >keep the sales reps for 75% of their product happy they would of done > much > > >better. The customer would still have ended up paying the same price > anyways. > > > > > >The first person in an executive board room that announces "Let's achieve > > >growth by dismissing 75% of our sales force" would be asked to leave, > > >point blank. > > > > > >I guess the airline industry continues to show they just don't get it. > > > > With all due respect to list members who are travel agents, I'm not sure > if > > it's the airlines or the travel agents who "just don't get it." (And I'm > > tired of hearing travels bemoan each cut in commissions.) > > > > Airlines like Vanguard, Sun Country, WestJet and maybe JetBlue ought to be > > paying commissions. Why? Because they need something to level the playing > > ground against the advantages the majors have: name recognition, schedule > > advantages, and convenience. > > > > But why should Delta pay a travel agent a commission for a ticket? How > > often does a customer choose Delta over a competitor just because a travel > > agent recommended them because of a commission? People choose American, > > United, Delta, Northwest, and Continental because they're convenient and > > well known. In lots of cities both large and small, it's not hard to > figure > > out a relatively fast, comparatively cheap way to get to some other city. > > It's a no-brainer for me to look at both United and Northwest when I'm > > considering travel between Washington and Minneapolis. Why would either > > United or Northwest pay a travel agent? Heck, United wants me to call them > > directly so there's no chance for someone to say, "Or you could fly Sun > > Country." The airlines want me to come directly to them; they've got call > > centers and web sites with retail access because customers look for them. > > > > The first person to walk into a board room and say, "Let's pay someone > else > > to sell what we're already equipped to sell ourselves," has some > explaining > > to do. > > > > I'm not saying I never use travel agents. But when I do, air > transportation > > is never the driving factor; I'm looking at things like resort trips where > > once I've picked a resort and a time, the air travel will fall into place. > > And even then, if the travel agent says, "I'll just put you on Airtran for > > the travel," the majors know I'll ask, "Can I get there on..." and name > two > > or three majors. No amount of commission paid to the travel agent is going > > to get me to pick Airtran. United, Delta, and the others don't have to pay > > that commission. Airtran and the other non-majors ought to try. > > > > None of this applies to Southwest, of course. They're in a class by > > themselves. :-) > > > > >Matthew > > > > Nick