FREEDOM Travel Agents Consortium has introduced a low-cost flight booking system to help agents fight back against direct-sell competitors and boost earnings.
It is hoped the Dolphin Flight Scanner system will give Freedom agents easier access to budget fares, allowing them to tailor-make holidays that are better suited to their clients.
Consortium general manager Trevor Davis said: “There is a market for customers booking no-frills carriers and you can either bury your head in the sand and hope these guys go away or you can embrace it and be an agent for them.
“I keep hearing how agents are under threat from the Internet and low-cost carriers so why not work with them?”
The consortium’s company credit card details have been pre-loaded into the system, meaning agents do not have to ask the customer to pay by credit card and the booking can be loaded into the firm’s accounting system.
The Dolphin system allows the agent to package the flight up, adding a booking fee if appropriate, and the consortium’s ATOL covers the transaction.
Davis said the expected increase in ATOL-bonded business was a commercial gain that was weighed against the potential risk. The amount of business involving low-cost flights will start to be reported to the consortium’s board.
The system costs £5 per month for one to two users, £4 for three to four, and £3 for six to 10. Already 150 licences have been issued. The consortium has 110 agency members.
Davis said it will save agents time and enable them to offer the public a low-cost flight booking service that many people are not aware agents provide, as well as offer departures from regional airports not used by the main operators.