Company, said agents should wait until British Airways finalises its plans before explaining the situation to clients.
“If an agent writes to a client now and says we are going to charge fees, while it is nice to do it as early as possible, the agent will have to admit to the client that he or she does not know the details yet,” he said.
“I would certainly suggest that agents hold on until after next month, then start to work out what it means to them and what they think they will be needing to charge.Then they can talk to clients about the true costs involved.”
He said industry bodies such as the Guild of Business Travel Agents and ABTAshould get the message across to the public in national newspapers and other media.
“Big clients are going to be more switched on to service fees than the smaller agents, but the subject will be a million miles away from the man or woman in the street,” he added.
AGENTS are being advised to wait until they have all the facts before trying to persuade clients who do not currently pay service fees to do so.
Finance and marketing consultant Steve Dunnigan, who holds management fees seminars for the Travel Training Company, said agents should wait until British Airways finalises its plans before explaining the situation to clients.
“If an agent writes to a client now and says we are going to charge fees, while it is nice to do it as early as possible, the agent will have to admit to the client that he or she does not know the details yet,” he said.
“I would certainly suggest that agents hold on until after next month, then start to work out what it means to them and what they think they will be needing to charge.Then they can talk to clients about the true costs involved.”
He said industry bodies such as the Guild of Business Travel Agents and ABTAshould get the message across to the public in national newspapers and other media.
“Big clients are going to be more switched on to service fees than the smaller agents, but the subject will be a million miles away from the man or woman in the street,” he added.