United To Assess Fee For Nonpreferred Booking Channel Use

United Airlines late last week followed American Airlines in announcing a $3.50 per-segment charge on bookings that flow through nonpreferred distribution channels. Absolved from the fees are bookings made through preferred channels, including Sabre's Efficient Access Solution as well as optional programs introduced by Worldspan and Galileo.

The move comes days after American said that, beginning in September, it would charge $3.50 per segment on transactions booked through nonpreferred distribution channels, which, barring new agreements, include Sabre and Amadeus. Representatives from Delta and Northwest would not indicate if they plan on following the fee structures, yet travel buyers expect other carriers will match.

United Airlines senior vice president of worldwide sales and alliances Graham Atkinson this morning said, "We didn't do this as a knee-jerk reaction." He added: "At the moment, we just want the facts to speak for themselves. This should generate a lot of debate and hopefully the dust will settle over the next few weeks."

The debate and dust swirled this morning at the National Business Travel Association conference in Chicago during a panel presentation on the changing distribution landscape. Travel buyers showed a general sense of aggravation at the prospect of new costs coming their way. Tanya Pope, vice president of travel technology and operations at Viacom Corp. said the changes in the distribution landscape, noting new charges by carriers and changing GDS dynamics, harken back to the introduction of commission cuts, which altered fundamentals of the corporate travel industry. "I can't accept that this cost comes down to me as a corporate travel buyer," Pope said. "I can't take $1 million a year in additional charges."