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US airlines push for online bookings
US airlines are pursuing various tactics to get agents to make direct online bookings.
Northwest Airlines has confirmed that it is launching a website dedicated to travel agents in the next month. The airline will not give details at this stage, but rumours in the US trade press say it will give agents access to the same fares as those published by websites such as Orbitz.
Domestic US carrier, Spirit Airlines is attempting to direct agents to the internet, by announcing it will stop paying commissions on GDS bookings from this week, but continue to pay 8% uncapped for agent sales made on its website.
Spirit’s web commissions will be paid through ARC, which allows agents to receive commissions weekly. Spirit is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It offers scheduled and charter domestic flights.
These announcements follow the decision by American Airlines last week to offer agents access to its lowest web fares, for a fee. Through the EveryFare programme, the airline is effectively shifting some its GDS costs onto the agent.
So far no other US carrier has announced initiatives similar to American’s. A Delta spokesperson said that agents have had online access to its lowest fares for some time, through an online agency service centre. The spokesperson said: “It appears that what American is offering for a fee is something that we provided two years ago for free”. The spokesperson added that the airline has no plans to start charging a fee for access to its lowest fares.
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