Greg, you don't know what you are talking about. There isn't a single ethnic agency in the world that didn't kick back commission, which forced the rest of us to do it to be competitive. Mark Greg Bredell wrote: > Not entirely true. The only travel agents engaged in 'commission kick-backs' are > are your larger corporate travel agencies. They do this in an endless game of > one-ups-manships against each other to retain corporate clients. > Ironically and unfortunately, these very same conglomerate corporate jizzbags > are the one and very same who will be exempt or insulated from airline-commission > cuts because airlines worship their corporate generated dollars. So it is the 'mom > & pop' or corner store travel agencies (the majority of agencies) that wind up > getting screwed. They are now, nor have they ever been, financially dexterous to > play the kick-back game. But they are unequivocally the ones who will suffer > greatly from salvo from the majors. > If they corporate agencies are smart...they too will see the writing on the > wall...that their number is about to be called. For as soon as the major carriers > devise a strategy to supplant the 'furtive deals' they currently have in place. The > not-too-distant future will come knocking and delivering some seriously bad news! > And deservingly so, because of their own elite status they refused to standby and > unite with their smaller and more vulnerable counterparts. > > Greg > > Mark Greenwood wrote: > > > The reason the airlines started capping commissions is because travel agents > > were giving most of it away in the form of kickbacks to clients. The airlines > > finally woke up and realized that if we were giving it away, we obviously didn't > > need it. > > > > We have no one but ourselves to blame for commission cuts > > > > Mark > > > > Roger Chung-Wee wrote: > > > > > On Tue, 26 Mar 2002 13:31:15 -0800, you wrote: > > > > > > > Across the board and unilaterally, all travel > > > >agents in the US and Canada should completely shut down for a single week.= > > > The > > > >majors would be swamped and beleaguered in such a way that their > > > >passenger/customer satisfactory levels would would sink to abysmal and > > > >vitually irreversible depths! There's no way in a weeks time they would be > > > >able to handle such devastation. I say Canada and the US because the majo= > > > rs > > > >dare not apply this practice in lesser regulated countries around the > > > >globe...visit an airline counter in one of these countries and you'll > > > >understand why. > > > > > > The main reason for airline commission capping and cutting in certain > > > markets is tied in with where the airlines are strong. So, the US > > > carriers have axed base commissions in the US where they have their > > > bases but dare not do so abroad for fear of their limited business > > > there virtually disappearing. And just look at the UK: the dominant > > > carrier is BA, which has recently cut its payments to agents by over > > > 58 percent for UK and domestic bookings. So, the agent now gets > > > GBP2.50/USD3.56 for a one-way sector, double for a return. As it costs > > > about GBP20/USD28.50 to ticket a booking, the only way for an agent to > > > make money is to either switch-sell to another airline which pays more > > > or to charge a service fee for a BA booking. > > > > > > A lot of agents are now switch-selling away from BA, but I would think > > > that success is patchy because alternatives are not always available. > > > > > > Now, quite apart from major carriers effectively imposing a price rise > > > in their dominant markets, there is the issue that independent travel > > > advice is going to get tougher to obtain. In the days when airlines > > > paid agents the IATA-recommended rate of nine percent commission, > > > there was a chance of the public getting unbiased advice from agents. > > > The future is that agents will recommend airlines with whom they have > > > deals, or not recommend airlines who fail to pay them enough for doing > > > work on their behalf. This may not be a concern to the learned members > > > of this list, but the fact is that the vast majority of people know > > > very little of the airline business, but will find themselves steered > > > even morer in a direction which suits the airlines and agents. > > > -- > > > Visit Caribbean Aviation: > > > http://www.caribbeanaviation.com/ > > > -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- > > > Version: 3.12 > > > GIT d? US W++ N++ o+++ w=20 > > > b+ y+=20 > > > ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------