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US agents cheaper than websites, claims new report
Business travel agents are the best source for finding the cheapest airfares in the US, according to a new study.
Topaz International, an airfare auditing, benchmarking and statistical information firm, compared some 19,000 agency-booked itineraries with various Internet travel sites, including Orbitz, Expedia and Travelocity between January and June.
The firm found that fares booked by a corporate travel agency averaged $116 less than the same itineraries booked on the Internet travel sites.
The average agency-booked fare during the period was $478, while the average fare booked on the Internet was $594. Topaz said it found lower fares on the Internet in only 8% of cases, while 77% of the time the cost for the same itinerary was higher on the Internet travel sites compared with a corporate travel agency.
Overall, itineraries purchased through a corporate travel agency were 19% cheaper than the same itinerary purchased through specified Internet travel sites.
Topaz president Valerie Estep said: “While sometimes fares found on the Internet are lower than those offered by corporate travel agencies, they are not typically an apples-to-apples comparison, but rather an itinerary within the parameters of a corporate travel policy vs. one that might not even involve the same travel days.
“There is a high level of perception by many travel industry individuals that corporations must have access to lower fares on the Internet in order to provide a worthwhile corporate travel programme. We have not yet seen the evidence to support this belief.”
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