Airlines are paying more commission on web referrals
from non-travel companies than standard travel agent commissions, a
furious Buckinghamshire agent has claimed.
St Peter Travel agent Murray Harrold said affiliate programmes,
such as tradedoubler.co.uk, direct2.co.uk and cj.com, allow
“almost anyone with a website” to register and gain
payments from suppliers.
British Airways participates in more than 1,300 programmes and
from July 1 will pay sales referrals a flat £4 per fee, said a
spokeswoman.
It views affiliate programmes as “advertising”, but
wouldn’t say how much business comes via the channel.
Harold described the situation as “galling” for
travel agents. “Anyone can put a heap of links on their
website and earn 2% commission from major airlines. Any Tom, Dick
or Harry can get more than us for doing nothing.”
ABTA president Martin Wellings said: “There is nothing
ABTA can do about it. It is an economic fact of life.”
Airlines, such as BA, distribute fares and build profile via the
schemes. BA currently pays a 1% referral fee to businesses that
direct clients to ba.com from click-through boxes on their
websites. It has paid agents 0% commission since May 1.
KLM participates in the tradedoubler programme, said UK general
manager Vincent Knoops, and pays “a modest” marketing
fee to its administrator.
The scheme is “a marketing instrument” rather than a
distribution channel, Knoops stressed. This view is shared by Air
France.
“More than 80% of our revenue goes through agents but
healthy growth in the direct channel is not against our
interests,” Knoops said.
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