ATLJV

story at yahoo

jeffreyt

This announcement is huge. And you saw empty seats on your last flight. Just wait.

LexPassenger

Wow.... talk about simultaneous...

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"Service" should be a noun, not a verb.
Delta Flyers' Guide

ATLJV

ASTA will have a fit. This is like a fare increse, If UA and AA don't go along, DL may have to rescind it. Didn't DL take the lead in reducing the Agency commission a few years ago ? When that happened, I was thinking "Don't bite the hand that feeds you". It looks like DL just finished dessert.

theDeltaFlyer

Who else doesn't pay coms to TA's? Is seem to remember NW not (Travelocity charges a $10 fee to issue a NW ticket). CO too, I think.

Bummer for the TA's but it seems DL might just be joining the crowd in this area.

B747-437B

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

ATLJV

I thought NW didn't pay commission to online travel agencies ????

jeffreyt

Correct me if I am wrong, but DL is the first to eliminate paying commissions. I also believe they were the first to put a cap on them many years ago. So I don't think they are joining a crowd here.

Agree with or not, DL has effectively said "We want to eliminate a channel for selling our product".

When I worked at DL many years ago (pre-online days), they told us 95% of their business came through travel agents. DL did more than $1B in on-line bookings last year, in second place behind Southwest.

hillrider

I think DL said that if a customer wants to use an agent, he or she will pay for it and negotiate the fee directly with the agent. Which is a good thing for the flying public, because now the passenger is the agent's customer, not the airline.

TransWorldOne

This is a really funny situation. Let's just assume Delta got their wish and travel agencies everywhere go the way of the dodo bird.

Customers now have various options for ticketing. Select Delta distribution channels include:

1) City Ticket Offices- these ticketing locations, located in larger cities, are great places to buy a ticket. You walk in and deal with a knowledgeable employee of the airline. Problem is Delta and other airlines have been closing most of these offices. CTO's are expensive to operate.

2) Airport Ticket Offices- like the CTO, but with the inconvenience of parking and moving around at the airport. Unfortunately, only at a very few select airports are there lines for future ticketing only. At most airports, you have to stand in the normal check-in lines at the ticket counter. The agents generally don't like to deal with future ticketing requests. Also, airport ticket agents aren't usually as experienced as the CTO folks. This just really isn't a practical solution, as Delta doesn't seem to staff enough agents to both wade through arcane ticketing rules for future travel AND deal with checking people in.

3) Delta.com/MYOB.com- In theory, a wonderful idea. It's nice to be able to handle my own travel needs. Trouble is the functionality of the web sites is terrible. They can't do much more than the run of the mill ticket. Try getting the website to take into account preferences of time, non-LUser fare, connecting hub, cost, etc. all at the same time and you'll experience how limited this tool can be. Very slow and cumbersome interface, folks can we strip away the graphics please. Also, the website has a hard time processing certificates, vouchers, cash, checks, reissuing tickets, answering questions, etc. Bonus miles are nice, though. Very cheap for Delta to operate, but (as the saying goes) you get what you pay for.

4) Reservations Hotline- Very convenient. Just pick up the phone and dial, Delta even pays for the call! Hello, RPU people can't believe you're willing to do that. I can deal with the hold times, as telephone reservations eliminates the need for a drive to the CTO or ATO and then parking the car. The telephone agents tend not to be quite as friendly, but aren't bad. They seem to be more easily confused by irregular requests than the CTO people. Costs are moderate to Delta. Not as expensive as CTO's, but more expensive than the websites. Physical interaction is not existent. They can't hand me a ticket receipt or a paper ticket. I can't hand them cash, vouchers, certificates, old paper tickets, etc.

So there we have a little overview of the mechanisms Delta has in place. It seems Delta has all but eliminated options 1 & 2. That leaves us with 3, but 3 doesn't do a whole lot for the customer (especially those "best customers" they keep talking about). Now we have 4, which is OK but imperfect.

You are now asking, TransWorldOne, what the hell is your point? Well, I say, if these travel agents used to handle all of the ticketing and they don't exist anymore, how will Delta handle the ticketing needs of the customers? It would seem they should be adding the needed (and costly) infrastructure. In fact, they're doing the opposite. They tell me it is to "serve our valued customers better."

das

What you all are missing is that commissions are already so low that travel agents depend on overrides and service fees.

This is really a trivial announcement in my eyes, and one that we all knew was coming.

chuck1

This is sad news for all consumers. I suspect all major carriers will soon follow. Good travel agents are one of the last sources of unbiased information and old fashioned customer service. Do you really think delta.com is going to tell you about the direct flight on airline X or the lower fare on airline Y? Fine don't use a travel you may say, but who are going to call when there is a thunderstorm and you are stuck in Atlanta or a snowstorm at Cincinnati? Do you think Delta, with a 5 hour long time with all those other displaced people, really care about getting you out on the next flight or a hotel room for the night. I think not. Grab a blanket and plan for a long, long wait.

theDeltaFlyer

Not that I like what they've done (honestly, I don;t like it but don't know whose view point makes more sense, DL's ot TA's) ... but the distribution channel is still there. You can still use your TA - it's just you will pay them instead of DL paying them.

In one sense who should the Web purchaser subsidize the TA purchaser? But then again comissions are a reward for the distributer ... sell more and make more. Should TA's drive business away from DL now? Seems to me that would be the logical choice for them.

If DL really pays out that much in com's to TA's the the TA's must really be driving the biz to DL. DL must think the buying public will stick with DL and purchase via other direct means, or be willing to pay the TA. I dunno. Me thinks Ma and Pa Kettle planning their vacation at the TA will just get a list of choices that excludes DL. Just a guess.

And what of the biz travellers who don't make their own reservations ... what will their TA's do? I really wonder howthis will shake out since I could see i toging either way (for or against) DL.

But here's a question for Leo: Will you share some of the 7.5% you save with us pax? Better service, lower prices? Me thinks not. Net effect higher cost to flyer, more profit for DL. (It's nice to see those huge loss numbers painted without the backdrop of the record profits from previous years, isn't it?)

Family flyer

The above evidences doc's point - not much will change. People who like TAs will still use them and still pay their fees.

But is ASTA being completely honest? In its news release it says, "Delta is completely shifting all distribution costs onto the consumer." This statement is only true if you assume everybody buys tickets from TAs.

If you've been using the web, Delta's move is hardly "anti-consumer."



[This message has been edited by Family flyer (edited 03-14-2002).]

EchoVictor

Personally I've found even with very reputable travel agents this isn't always true. I bought a very expensive luxury cruise, only to find out later that my agent was given a free trip to "evaluate the product" just from my one purchase! The fact that she would get a free trip from my purchase was not at all disclosed, and I wonder how this colored her recommendations. I think it ought to be handled on a fee for service basis, and compensation arangements should be fully transparent. That said, I do understand that travel agents need to make a living some how. I think ones that add value will be able to charge a fee for their services; ones that don't will go out of business.

But saying it's unfair to eliminate commissions would be similar to restricting the sale of lightbulbs to protect the candlemaking industry. Things do change over time, and I don't think we should fight that trend! Except in New Jersey (is this still accurate?), what percentage of people still use full service gasoline stations? Not very many, but that choice is still available for those who want to pay a premium.