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I have a friend who is a travel agent. I was shocked to learn that years ago the terms from all the airlines changed and they are not paid anything by the airlines for booking tickets. So think about that if you use their service and see a small charge. Now this is not the case outside the USA. There, agents can get paid.
Why bring this up? I was doing some research and I came across the travel part of Delta’s web site call World Agent Direct.
click on the photo to go to the site
Without actually being a travel agent you have limited access to the site and many of the links simply toss you back to the proper DELTA.com site. The AF site has almost nothing without access codes. But, in typical Italian style, there is a ton of info wide open on their site as you can see.
click on the photo to go to the site
Anyway – not much info here that will apply to us as day to day Delta travelers but I thought it would be fun to see what is out on the web when you know where to look! – René
So did you know travel agents are not paid by airlines? Answer YES or NO for a chance to win 2 free Delta drink/snack coupons 😉 – René
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Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
SPG. 831!
Thanks for the contests.
Yes. I heard that somewhere before.
No
No
No! I had no idea
no, had no idea
Nope! Crazy
Yes. I thought AA got the ball rolling and the rest followed.
No!
Yes.
No
Yes
NO
No.
Nope, but thanks for sharing.
No. Thanks for the information.
Interesting, I always thought there was some commission involved.
Yes and it’s a shame
Yes
Nope – had no idea actually
no!
No I had no clue, and I think they should so they have an incentive to book Delta.
No, its crazy that they do not!
I don’t think that is the case, in general. While booking my ticket to Asia last year, my agent told me he get 9% commission on DL/AF/KL tickets to Asia. However, during peak season, DL/AF/KL pay zilch for tickets to Europe.
@The Nomad – not since 2001 – http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-860323.html Now this is for inside the USA. There are exceptions as noted outside and it may pertain to trips going outside the usa as well. But in general, they get ZIP! – Rene
No
Yes, hence why most started charging service fees per ticket. Though I believe most, if not all, hotel chains still do pay agents for room reservations.
Yes. It’s been many years since any US airlines have paid travel agents.
NO
No, I did not.
No
Definitely did not realize that. I just assumed travel agents had access to discounted fares and were paid to bring people to particular airlines.
nope, didn’t know
I had no idea!
No, didn’t know that…
No! Thanks for sharing!
No. It seems counterintuitive.
Yes, I knew…But doesn’t Delta offer Travel Agent’s perks like discounts, elite status, and other upgrades?
Do they get a ticket discount like the ones that OTA’s get? If so, then by charging the full price, they do have a profit margin…
@Noah – yes there are some small perks and incentive deals at times but could you live on perks from your employer or would money be nice?
Yep, that’s why TAs are much more enthusiastic to help you with cruises, hotels, etc.
YES.
No I didn’t
Had no idea.
I didn’t know that
I had always assumed they were commissioned. Wow!
Yes…
Yes.
NO
No.
No
No, news to me.
Yes.
No
yes!
No
The only way a domestic carrier pays a travel agent commission is if they negotiate a corporate discount with a company and agree to pay it on the back end, behind the scenes. (Even then, the company has to meet booking quotas in certain markets. And any commission is typically given back to the client, not kept by the ageny.) Most international carriers have done away with commission as well.
Just as a side note, if your company has a negotiated rate at a hotel, the travel agency doesn’t get a commission on that either.
@SEE – txs ever so much for more info – love my readers – so much great info – Rene
no. news to me. Thanks!
No
I knew compensation was down but didn’t realize it was totally gone. If I was an agent, I would perhaps book through one of the mega sites and take my small affiliate commission from them at least.
NO!
I thought they didn’t…but didn’t know how they got paid either. :-/
No – that’s crazy.
No I did not know. But I wondered why there was a booking fee as well.
no
yep, knew this. My TA told me last year. He’s just booking flights for clients as a service, but neither gets a commission nor a discount.
Still he was very helpful when changes needed to be made.
yes
yes, I think it change in the early nineties for the most part. I don’t even think the online booking engines like Expedia get any money for booking airline tickets.
No I did not know that
Yes, hence why fees are charged.
No I didn’t, I’m shocked
Nope
Definitely had no idea
No
Nopers
Yes, I remember when the change happened. Northwest was one of the first to yank the dough.
Yes for USA.
I had no idea other nations allowed it.
What is the source of these contest giveaways?
@Vincent – that would be me! I get the drink coupons and sky club passes from burning up my SkyBonus points and then share them with you. When readers use my Amazon links I get Amazon credit points that I can buy stuff and again share them here on the blog. Love it – Rene
Yes
No.
No I did not know
I thought that they used to but no longer did in the US.
I did…from my brief and disastrous stint as an agent a few years ago.
Not a clue.
I did know that. So yes. Because in India they protested a few years ago with NWA got rid of the $10 “thank you for booking fee” to India travel agents
No, I didn’t know that.
Yes I had heard that which is why most travel agents don’t care much about booking flights but instead push “packages” that include hotel, etc…
No, I didn’t know. That’s too bad because then maybe they would be more customer friendly.
yes
No I didnt! I suppose this is another cost cutting tactic!
No
No
Yes!
No!
Did not know that.
Yes
I didn’t know that.
Yes, because I am an agent, and commissions went away about 25 years ago. And now we get to sit on hold and fix the airlines’ self-created problems for free also. And then they have the nerve to blame travel agents for their own poor planning.