For better or worse, airlines believe that travel agents are passive that they don't stimulate demand. People buy airline tickets for many reasons, but not because a travel agent talked them into it.

What airlines do believe is that leisure travelers are very price sensitive. Thus whatever the airlines can do to reduce the price of their ticket is positive including eliminating commissions.

So it puts agents like UAPremierExec in a bind. It's impossible to charge a fee of say $20 and provide all the services that he lists. If he charges more, the consumer rebels.

Basically, the airlines are saying to the leisure traveler, look we're selling a commodity, come to us or our alter ego, Orbitz, and get the best deal.

UAPremierExec extolls the virtues of DER which is a consolidator. Consolidators have a place but they are not a panacea. Too many agents say, well look, the published fare is $6,000 and I'm charging you only $2,000. The agent buys the ticket for $1,000, makes 100% on the deal and the customer "saves" $4,000. That's preposterous. The fact is, the consolidator ticket is nothing like a published fare. It's not endorseable, changes are non existent or extremely limited, it's nonrefundable.

The agent is using a little slight of hand here. Most consumers assume that a agent is a commissionaire -- that he's not Bulgari. They assume that the agent may be making 10% or so. Without telling the customer, the agent here has metamorphosed into a retailer making a 100% markup.

The moral is: If you buy a consolidator ticket, make sure you know what you are buying and ask the agent how much he is making.


[This message has been edited by VicOsaki (edited 11-18-2001).]