Effective December 16, Absa Rewards customers will earn as much as 15% cash back on all bookings made through Travelstart when they make payment using their Absa bankcard.
They will also receive an upfront discount when purchasing air tickets for Emirates and Etihad of 25% and 30% respectively.
Odette Faling, head of global partnerships at Travelstart told eTNW that becoming part of a rewards programme had allowed the agency to provide added value to a price sensitive market: "Customers don’t typically show loyalty when it comes to [airfare] bookings, their choices are often cost dependent. So becoming part of a rewards programme that allows us to offer a lower price to customers has been positive for Travelstart."
But the move has other agents worried. Many agents on OpenJaw lamented the move as one that would take business away from them,
Yolanda Murray, a travel agent at Indaba Global Travel, told eTNW: "Travel agents are already having to contend with the low airfares offered by airlines for direct bookings made online. Having to compete with the banks as well makes it even more difficult for us to retain market share." However, Yolanda added that if an agent's affiliated consortium is able to offer a more competitive private fare than that offered by the bank, travel agents would still be able to compete.
Travelstart's partnership with Absa comes in addition to already existing partnerships with Capitec Live Better Benefits and Edgars Travel. Travelstart says that it is open to establishing more of these partnerships in the future.
