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Hug an Agent
Kirby's Korner · February 18, 2000

Pity the travel agent.

At a dinner months ago with a senior official from a trade group representing travel agents, I made an offhand comment about being glad I wasn't an agent. Somewhat to my surprise, the official agreed. An industry knows its it trouble when its chosen representatives are happy to be outside the industry.

Things have gotten worse in recent days.

If you have a street-level travel agent you like, give him or her a hug. Better yet, promise your fealty but urge the agent to get with the picture and get online to capture at least some of the business, easily achieved through a link with the agent's GDS or, better yet, an independent company that can handle online bookings, such as GetThere.com or Datalex.

In the past couple of weeks, we've seen the future. It's not good for the unconnected agent.

But it is good for travelers. The future may hold the promise for us of lower -- and competetive -- fees. I've written before about the possibility of fee-for-service. I don't expect to see it soon, but recent news points in that direction.

Travel agents' troubles began two weeks ago when the original founders of a four-airline-operated site said 23 other U.S. and foreign carriers had agreed to participate in the site. Details are still not known -- there's yet to be a management team put in place.

The four original carriers said all participants would provide "the most comprehensive collection of their Internet-only fares on this Web site," something brick-and-mortar agencies can't compete with, at least if they intend to make a profit.

(The agencies could subscribe to Trip.com's IntelliTrip Pro, which enables them to track Internet-only and hard-to-find fares, but that's an added cost.)

Travel agents were up in arms. The American Society of Travel Agents "renewed its call for an investigation of the deal between 27 carriers to form a joint Web site and demanded full diclosure of agreement details."

"What appears to be a nifty 'one-stop shopping' Web site is really a thinly veiled attempt by 27 airlines to carve up the market and control the distribution system," said Joe Galloway, president and CEO of ASTA.

Next up, GDS Galileo International said it would release its two-site initiative this month. One effort -- as yet undefined -- would "enable consumers to take advantage of the knowledge and expertise of participating travel agencies."

Small comfort for agencies, because the other initiative will offer consumers "various specials made available by supporting travel suppliers," according to Galileo.

"This is going to be a huge market with opportunities for many different players," David Near, Galileo's senior vidce president of e-commerce and Internet, told Travel Weekly.

The last shoe dropped this week. British Airways said starting next year it would eliminate commissions to travel agents and pay them for "making a booking, issuing travel documents, and collecting the fare."

"We don't accept the principle of booking fees or transaction fees," an Association of British Travel Agencies spokeswoman said, in her typical British understatement.

No other agency representative has responded, as best I can tell. But competitor Virgin Atlantic Airways said it doesn't plan to cut agency commissions.

Travelers: today, less than 5 percent of all bookings are being processed online. By 2003, British Airways expects to sell half its tickets online. Not all of these will be processed directly through the airline, mind you, but if you have an agent you like, tell him or her to get with the picture.

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