Travel agents’ associations condemn United Airlines credit card fee transfer

The World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) has voiced its’ condemnation of the move by United Airlines (United – UA) to transfer credit card merchant fee costs to selected United States-b

The World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) has voiced its’ condemnation of the move by United Airlines (United – UA) to transfer credit card merchant fee costs to selected United States-based travel agents and inevitably to consumers.

United has informed the selected travel agents that effective July 20, 2009 they will no longer be able to use United’s merchant facility to facilitate the sale of UA tickets but instead must use their own merchant agreement facility. Why UA has decided to apply this policy to selected agents only is a mystery to all concerned and has not been explained by United.

WTAAA Chair Mike Hatton said: “Globally, with the exception of Australia and the United Kingdom, credit card merchant fee contracts prevent any merchant passing on additional fees to a consumer for the use of a credit card. Obviously United is aware of this contractual arrangement and is, therefore, passing those charges on to travel agents, as United knows that travel agents will then have no choice but to pass those charges on to consumers.

“In short this is nothing less than an airline ticket price increase in disguise, combined with a circumvention of credit card merchant facility contractual arrangements and a massive cost shift from the airline to consumers using the travel agent as the conduit. United appears to be unwilling to be upfront with consumers on this issue and to possibly incur consumer backlash given the current economic climate and the state of the airline industry at the present time.

“It will be interesting to see if any other airline will follow United’s lead and incur both distribution system and consumer wrath, and it will also be interesting to see what action credit card companies take in the face of this attempt to circumvent the terms of their merchant agreements and penalize their individual card holders.”

Hatton also stated that the WTAAA would support the efforts of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) to push back against this UA initiative. Such WTAAA support will include notifying all travel agents globally of United’s actions and also communication with credit card companies on a global basis.

“There is no doubt that each travel agent must conduct an immediate analysis of the impact of this policy on its business and decide how it will handle bookings involving United going forward. Consumers, too, will make an individual decision as to whether they are prepared to pay an additional fee for the privilege of purchasing a United Airlines ticket using their personal credit card,” Hatton concluded.

The WTAAA urges United Airlines to reconsider its position in relation to their announcement concerning this matter.

ABOUT WTAAA

WTAAA (World Travel Agents Associations Alliance) is incorporated in Belgium as a not-for-profit organization. Its mission is to foster and facilitate the exchange of information and advice on matters of mutual interest as they arise in the various national and international domains in which members operate, including but not limited to air transport policy, international cruise line policy, and international hotel policy. WTAAA members include: the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA), the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA), the Association of South African Travel Agents (ASATA), the European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Associations (ECTAA), the Travel Agents Association of New Zealand (TAANZ), and the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI). WTAAA’s Web address is http://www.wtaaa.org/.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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