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Metropolis Mailbag
Kirby's Korner · April 28, 2000

Three recent Kirby's Korner columns have received sufficient response that it is only fair to let the readers have their say. So, taking a tip from Superman's old letter column, read on for readers' reactions.

First, however, a couple headlines from the hinterlands.

While I am attending my company's ResExpo 2000 conference and trade show for reservations systems professionals this week in Dallas, the -- among my readers, anyway -- infamous e-agency Web site organized by four airlines in the United States is announcing plans in preparation for a launch. The first member of a permanent management team has been appointed, and the site has chosen several vendors for various services provided to the site. (For a look at my first four columns on this subject and related matters, click here, here, here, and here; click here for a follow up.)

This site clearly is going to happen, unless some of the behind-the-scenes legal wrangling, mentioned in that follow-up column, halts it, which is unlikely.

One figure that has been tossed around several times at this conference is that buyers of travel products through the Web visit seven Web sites for every item they purchase. I've questioned before how people have time to do that type of searching, and the same question recurred several times in response to my recent column on the future of travel agents.

Several agents who responded to the column warned that airlines and other travel companies that encourage travelers to make reservations online are simply shifting the burden of planning travel from the companies -- or their agencies -- to the traveler. And of the brick-and-mortar agencies that told me they have started imposing service fees to make up for reduced commissions from the airlines, none said they had received resistance from their clients. "The consumer will always need an honest broker to sort through their travel plans and assure an even playing field," said Cincinnati-based Vilma J. Schurr.

Agent Edith Staton of Intrepid Traveler, describing how a "client/friend" had used her services several times to garner free advice, but then booked over the Web, noted that the phenomenon isn't one unique to the travel industry. "Buying cars over the Internet is coming very soon," she said. "What will all those car salesmen do?"

A more recent column -- on different prices found on the Web for airline tickets, and on the difference in dealing with e-agency Web sites and a real-world agent -- brought a response from Steve Loucks, the director of public relations for Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Minneapolis, who I have talked with for years. He reminded me of what Carlson calls its "click, walk, talk" strategy, which is designed to let travelers reach their agents in the way the travelers prefer -- either through the Web, through the phone, or by coming into a storefront office. Obviously, that's the best way to handle any type of business relationship, and this "multi-touchpoints" approach received a good deal of attention at the reservations systems conference this week. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of planning and money to implement well; even the technically-savvy Carlson Wagonlit has been slower to make this approach a reality than it initially thought it would be.

Pat Flynn, of Compass Rose Cruise Travel, books a lot of cruise travel (along with connecting flights) and noticed the same price differentiation in cruise trips I did in air travel. Cruise lines will offer lower fares to agents only if asked about the lower fares, Pat says.

I heard from several agents who have participated in "upside down auctions" on several sites. All report spending considerable time responding to travelers' requests for information, and none report ever making a sale. Once the Web sites start charging retailers to participate, as Respond.com is now and iWant.com is starting to, none of my correspondents will continue to participate.

The travelers I heard from are in the same position I found myself: curious but nervous to try out the sites. If these responses are typical on both the sellers' and buyers' side, you have to wonder just how much business these sites are creating!

Experiments like these will continue, however. That's to the good. It's the only way we'll learn what works and what doesn't in this brave new online world.

David Kirby is the editor of Interactive Travel Report. His column appears on Friday. You can reach him at david@ticked.com.