Total commissions paid to travel agencies by U.S. airlines in 2017 reversed a 20-year trend and jumped 15 percent year over year, according to U.S. government data. The data reflect a fight for market share as the Big Three enjoy strong demand and healthy balance sheets. On domestic U.S. tickets, commission dollar volume in 2017 rose for a third consecutive… Read More »
ZS Associates is running a pilot that sanctions for certain employees booking on the United Airlines website. Supported by integration between Traxo and the carrier, the direct option delivers a better booking experience and improved customer service, according to ZS Associates travel leaders. One of them is Glenn Hollister, principal at the firm and head of its travel… Read More »
Industry icon and United Airlines SVP for worldwide sales Dave Hilfman will retire from the carrier at year-end. Hilfman was senior vice president of worldwide sales for Continental Airlines from 2004 to 2010. He started his career in 1981 as a campus sales representative for Eastern Airlines at the University of South Florida. He joined Continental in 1986 and ultimately… Read More »
United Airlines on its website has been offering low, refundable fares to compete against rival carriers. If you know where to look, you can find them in global distribution systems, too. The only way to access “economy flexible” fares in a GDS is by using a special code in the “passenger type” field. That means typical low-fare searches… Read More »
Executives at American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines are optimistic. For corporate buyers, many of whom are now in the throes of budgeting for next year, that may mean higher airfares into 2018. Determining which way airfares will move is never easy. On top of the upward and downward pressures that observers routinely watch — supply,… Read More »
United Airlines this summer made available a new self-service portal for corporate and agency customers. Now it’s training salespeople on the internal component of the platform. Based on Salesforce, the customer relationship management tool is meant to streamline planning and interactions with existing and prospective corporate clients. The CRM system is on the same platform as the Jetstream… Read More »
The question of what’s logical in a lowest logical airfare policy has always had more than one answer. There’s much more now for program managers to think about than when such policies came into vogue in the late 1990s. In general, the lowest logical airfare is the cheapest available at the time of booking that abides by corporate… Read More »