MalcLoadingCargo: I said in my previous post that we do use the internet, when it is to our customers' advantage.. .And - the customers "willingly" DO pay us for this service and other services, in fact 1/2 of our income is from service charges.
I have 2 issues where I completely disagree with you:. .1. Your "bigger is better" attitude, which for some reason a lot of people adhere to, even if it hurts them, but due to all the indoctrination in the media, they never understand it.. .Example: The smaller airlines, like Southwest, Frontier, even AirTran, DID NOT need a tax payer bailout to keep them alive, but AA, DL, UA certainly did. Gues who paid for that - you did!
2. You buy into that weird notion that travel agents want to sell you expensive, so they can earn more. The fact is that most businesses live off their repeat customers. If these customers don't get good service at a good price they will not come back.
According to your logic, you always get the highest price from your insurance agent, your grocery store, your plumber, your electrican, your gas station, your ..... you get the idea, I hope!?
All these businesses, including yours, whatever it may be, always charge their customers the highest price, so they can make the most money!!
Do you see how unreasonable your argument about travel agencies is?
By the way, I'm not just a travel agency owner, but also a student pilot, so maybe one day I will see everything from the airlines' or airline employees' point of view.... who knows?