Michael Burris wrote:
> Another party that appears to be out of the picture
> are travel agents. They have historically charged
> fees, but if a PAX changes their travel plans, who
> eats that charge? I'm sure their business is moving
> quickly toward the vacation travel markets (ATA
> flights) and boat cruises. Since everyone is booking
> online, I can see even overseas jobs becoming a lost
> art someday. Tough business to be in this travel
> business.
The passenger pays the change fee. And if you change a ticket booked
through an agent or online site that assesses a change fee, you pay both
the airline's fee and the agency's fee, unless you can get the airline
to change it (sometimes they will, but sometimes they'll send you back
to the agency).
There's a reason that the big online sites push buying packages ("book
your flight and hotel together and SAVE") -- that's where the profit is.
Yes, they can make a little profit off of airline tickets, but the
real money is in the packages.
David / HNL