<B> Inside Track</B>
<B>Delta, Continental Cut Online Commissions</B>
Online commissions were cut once again, this time by Continental and Delta. More than a year after airlines began online cutting and capping, Delta said it will pay just 5 percent, up to a maximum of $10, for travel bookings made via the Internet by agents in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The cap does not apply to agents in Canada. Last month, Continental scrapped its percentage-based policy in favor of a flat rate of $12.50 for online bookings that are ticketed instantly, and $10 for those ticketed up to 24 hours later.
<a name="2"><B>Cap A Nice Development For Online Bookers?</B>
At least one online booking vendor views the United commission cap (see story, page 1) slightly differently than the rest of the industry. "When this happens, it really is a boon for us as both agencies and corporations look for automated bookings to lower their costs," said Rick Kumpf, president and founder of Xtra On-line, Dallas. "What I like about this cap is that it's a good signal to corporations to streamline their reservation process." Not so fast, said Mark Walton of the Travel Solutions Group in Rolling Meadows, Ill. He believes the price increase will not drive automation decisions, but rather will force corporations to look at other items, "especially additional cuts in travel."
<a name="3"><B>Sabre Looking Into Settlement?</B>
The new $70,000 fee to make e-ticketing available to Sabre agencies outside the United States (see story, page 1) prompted one distribution executive to reveal that Sabre is getting into the billing and settlement business, although Sabre denied that is its intent. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said, "Sabre isn't just doing this for the money. The 73 BSPs are broken, inefficient, political, local and generally difficult to deal with. I think Sabre is going to say, 'If you don't want to pay the $70,000, then settle through us and pay $10,000.' " The source said he had "priviledged information that they're doing this," but the comments perplexed other industry sources, including Sabre itself. "I don't understand the connection," said Scott Alvis, Sabre's vice president of airline sales and marketing. "Sabre doesn't have any desire to become a BSP."
<a name="4"><B>Lufthansa Expands Pay-As-You-Fly Pilot</B>
Lufthansa has decided to extend the pilot Pay-As-You-Fly program it has been testing with Siemens Corp. to about 10 more European corporations in 1999, a Lufthansa executive told BTN. Under the plan, travelers using e-tickets are not billed until they actually enter their credit cards into checkin readers at the airport. The program will be brought to the United States "and other international markets where we have e-tickets as soon as possible," he added, noting that the program "is designed to work with net fares, not published fares." Continental and Northwest also are pursuing the idea.
<a name="5"><B>BA Revamps Coach Class, Expands E-tix</B>
British Airways will reconfigure its transatlantic economy class to include video screens, self-service snack bars, adjustable head and foot rests, more legroom and amenity kits. The carrier is spending more than $250 million over the next several years to bring the new features to its international fleet of 100-Boeing 777s and 747s. Initially available from Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver and Bermuda, the new cabin also will be installed on aircraft flying from Detroit, Philadelphia and other North American cities. Meanwhile, BA also has expanded the availability of e-ticketing to all USA-UK destinations, including London-Heathrow, following a "successful" test on London-Gatwick routes. BA also installed self-service ckeckin machines at New York-JFK.
<a name="6"><B>Microsoft Windows To Test Smart Cards</B>
Microsoft is entering the battle over a smart card operating system standard, with plans to begin beta testing Smart Cards for Windows by January. The new Microsoft platform for security, loyalty and electronic purse applications, developed in partnership with Schlumberger Electronic Transactions and Gemplus Associates International, already has signed Merrill Lynch Co. and Cable & Wireless as pilot customers.
<a name="7"><B>Voice Takes Off At Northwest</B>
Northwest Airlines' Oct. 26 launch of voice-activated booking for 10,000 top frequent flyers sold 20 tickets in its first day, said vice president of distribution planning Al Lenza, thanks in large part to "the big leverage of the reissue/refund component." Lenza said the volume of transactions involving refunds and reissues has grown "dramatically" as electronic ticketing has increased, since full fare e-ticket users tend to change plans more often than those using paper tickets.