Ryanair told to axe paymentsso retailers can charge fees

Ryanair told to axe paymentsso retailers can charge fees

Business travel agents call on low-cost carrier to drop ‘insultingly low’ commission

Report by lydia wilson

Holding its ground: Ryanair is refusing to ditch commission in favour of agency booking fees

BUSINESS travel agents are calling on Ryanair to drop commission in order to clear the way for them to charge booking fees.

The carrier has won court injunctions to stop individual agents in Ireland and Sweden charging payments on top of Ryanair’s 5% commission for global distribution system bookings.

However, Uniglobe believes “insultingly” low commission should be dropped to allow its 30 franchised agencies to charge booking fees legally.

Uniglobe Apex Travel operations manager Lance Goodman, who has netted commission as low as 10p on Ryanair’s cheapest flights, explained: “Ryanair should go to zero commission, stop offering agents insulting amounts of money and allow us to do business.

“For leisure clients it’s harder to charge a decent booking fee, but for business clients, it’s an accountable company expense. What’s £20 out of a company’s travel budget?”

Business travel agent Mike Barnard, managing director of Birmingham-based BS Executive Travel, agreed: “Commission clouds the issue. If a client wants a travel company to take care of its low-cost carrier bookings, why not allow the agent to charge a fee?” he said.

But Ryanair sales and marketing director Tim Jeans hit back at claims of penny-pinching commissions and maintains most of the carrier’s business fares are costly enough to draw a large agent payment.

“We won’t give business agents the chance to charge clients more by dropping commission,” he said. “Agents should beware, the Internet will become a powerful tool for companies overcharged for Ryanair flights.”

He said Ryanair had no problem with agents such as American Express, which return commission to clients in order to charge booking fees, or with companies who retain clients on a management fee basis.

&#42 See Letters, page 10-11