Gunship
29th Apr 2005, 00:10
SAA to stop commissions from May
April 28, 2005
From May 1 airline passengers who buy tickets through travel agents will benefit from shopping around.
On that day SAA will stop paying agents a 7 percent commission on ticket sales, which it hopes will lead to savings of R1 billion a year. Most foreign airlines will follow suit soon afterwards, leading agents to charge for their services.
But British Airways/Comair and Nationwide have announced that they would continue to pay commissions, and no-frills airline kulula.com has stated that it would raise its commission, aiming at raising its sales through travel agents to 30 percent.
Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline, which codeshares with SAA on the route from Johannesburg to Dubai, and Israeli airline El Al, which carries SAA passengers to Tel Aviv, are also expected to continue paying commissions.
Amanda Herrod, the new president of the Association of SA Travel Agents (Asata), said this would not necessarily mean that agents would advise passengers to fly on airlines that were paying commissions instead of those that were not.
"One has to look after the customer's best interests," she said. "People on business, whose time is valuable, will always want the fastest way to get from A to B, at the most convenient time. The cheapest flight is not necessarily the best.
"And many leisure travellers, particularly elderly people, don't want the hassle of changing planes, as they would do if they went to London by way of Dubai or Doha with a United Arab Emirates-based airline.
"On the other hand, adventurous, mainly young, passengers might welcome the opportunity of a stopover to see another culture."
Vanya Lessing, the executive director of Asata, said the change would be "very beneficial for the consumer in the end" because it would "stimulate healthy competition and will definitely raise professionalism in the travel trade".
A spokesperson for SAA said it would give travel agents a discount, enabling them to charge a fee. Cutting out the commission was in line with international trends and would help SAA to cut its costs by selling more seats directly online, using electronic tickets, as recommended by the International Air Transport Association.
April 28, 2005
From May 1 airline passengers who buy tickets through travel agents will benefit from shopping around.
On that day SAA will stop paying agents a 7 percent commission on ticket sales, which it hopes will lead to savings of R1 billion a year. Most foreign airlines will follow suit soon afterwards, leading agents to charge for their services.
But British Airways/Comair and Nationwide have announced that they would continue to pay commissions, and no-frills airline kulula.com has stated that it would raise its commission, aiming at raising its sales through travel agents to 30 percent.
Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline, which codeshares with SAA on the route from Johannesburg to Dubai, and Israeli airline El Al, which carries SAA passengers to Tel Aviv, are also expected to continue paying commissions.
Amanda Herrod, the new president of the Association of SA Travel Agents (Asata), said this would not necessarily mean that agents would advise passengers to fly on airlines that were paying commissions instead of those that were not.
"One has to look after the customer's best interests," she said. "People on business, whose time is valuable, will always want the fastest way to get from A to B, at the most convenient time. The cheapest flight is not necessarily the best.
"And many leisure travellers, particularly elderly people, don't want the hassle of changing planes, as they would do if they went to London by way of Dubai or Doha with a United Arab Emirates-based airline.
"On the other hand, adventurous, mainly young, passengers might welcome the opportunity of a stopover to see another culture."
Vanya Lessing, the executive director of Asata, said the change would be "very beneficial for the consumer in the end" because it would "stimulate healthy competition and will definitely raise professionalism in the travel trade".
A spokesperson for SAA said it would give travel agents a discount, enabling them to charge a fee. Cutting out the commission was in line with international trends and would help SAA to cut its costs by selling more seats directly online, using electronic tickets, as recommended by the International Air Transport Association.