AGENTS are escalating
the issue of airfare point
of sale (POS) by raising
the matter with airlines in an
attempt to move from POS to
point of commencement.
Maria Pereira, leisure
manager of XL Sandown
Travel, says the POS issue has
become a constant area of
discussion. “Agents have to
hope clients aren’t aware of it
because if they search online
they will find cheaper fares.”
“I had an instance when a
client requested a quotation
on a Gulf carrier from London
to SA in business class,” says
Yumna Kharodia, md of Sweet
Life Travel. “The system quoted
a ridiculously high fare and
when I went on to the airline’s
website, I could access a fare
that was a few thousand rand
cheaper.”
David Pegg, md of Sure Viva
Travels, says he is seeing more
airlines releasing different class
seats in markets outside SA.
The problem, agents agree, is
that clients are finding cheaper
deals online, meaning they
often lose the sale or are left to
bear the brunt of a disgruntled
client who thinks their agent is
trying to rip them off.
“This is a huge issue at the
moment and one that just gets
worse with the exchange rate,”
says Candice May, supply and
product manager for Travelstart.
She says it is a particular
problem for OTAs who are
competing with metasearch
engines, which are usually
based in Europe and have
access to European inventory.
Candice says Travelstart
has alerted the airlines to
the problem, requesting that
they take this issue up with
their head offices. “Earlier
this month, we highlighted the
urgency of the problem for the
third time.” She says the issue
affects the whole industry,
including local airline offices,
as they are losing sales to their
European counterparts.
While British Airways says
it has strict rules about POS
abuse and will address this
where and when it occurs,
agencies are still bypassing
these rules (TNW November
26, 2014) and creating office
IDs overseas to access
different fares. Travelstart says
it conducts weekly checks and
reports any irregularities to the
airlines.
Club Travel has developed a
solution to answer some of the
challenges of POS restrictions.
Md, Wally Gaynor, says the
group saw it was an issue 18
months ago and implemented
eGlobal Fares. “This lets us go
into Globalstar, our partners’
GDS systems in different
markets around the world, and
access cheaper fares.” He
says while it means the agency
still loses the income from the
GDS and also the credit for
the booking (as the ticket is
issued by the group’s partner
overseas), it at least keeps the
client and the service fee.
Ultimately, as a solution,
Travelstart believes the industry
should push airlines to move
from point of sale to point
of commencement, meaning
everyone would have access
to the same fares and, in so
doing, level the playing field.
