<B> LETTERS</B>
<B>A Hole In The Spreadsheet</B>
I was rather amused at Mr. Howard Brook's analysis on how to make agencies "whole" by adjusting the refund fee (<I>BTN</I>, May 4). I would like to point out that the second section of Mr. Brook's spread sheet, Commission and Rebate Agency Analysis, fails to account for commissions not earned due to refunded tickets. He uses the total transaction figures (including refunds) to calculate the commission revenue stream, on net sales of $5.25 million (net of refunds). If the model were adjusted to reflect the refund factors used in the first section of his analysis, the revenue from domestic commissions would need to be adjusted down by $125,740 to $234,260 (see calculation below). As the international commission is calculated on net dollars, no such recalculation is necessary. This would change the net commission revenue as a percentage of Total Air Spending to 4.4%. To keep the agency at the level where revenue as a percentage of Total Sales is 6.8%, the client would need to give up about $125,000 of the Earned Corporate Rebate.
<I>Calculation of Domestic Commission:</I>
75% of Domestic Ticketed At Maximum of $50.00 ( 8,000 tickets * 65% *75% * $50.00)
<I>= $195,000</I>
15% of Domestic Ticketed at Minimum of $25.00 (8,000 tickets * 65% *15% *$20.00)
<I>= $19,500</I>
10% of Domestic Ticketed at Midpoint of $38.00 (8,000 tickets * 65% *15% * $20.00)
<i>= $19,760</i>
Total Domestic Commission
<b>= $234,260</b>
<i>Sunil Mahtani
V.P. Finance
The World Travel Specialists Group Inc.
d/b/a/ The Lawyers Travel Service</i>
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<a name="hot"><B>Not So Hot Reporting </B>
In an article earlier this year about Madsearch (<I>BTN</I>, March 16), you mention Hot Dates Hot Rates. I am the Webmaster of this site and there is some erroneous information in this article.
First off you mention that Hot Dates Hot Rates is a product of Helms Briscoe, which is incorrect. It is a product of World Digital Commerce and is marketed by Performance International, which is affiliated with Helms Briscoe. Helms Briscoe also uses a private label of our site. Hot Dates Hot Rates is a completely free service. There are no additional charges to meeting planners as your article states. There is never a charge for a meeting planner to use the site and contact a hotel with more information or send a request for proposals.
Hot Dates Hot Rates has been available to meeting planners for more than 18 months now. We are continuing to grow our list of hotels and services for meeting planners. Hot Dates Hot Rates can provide assistance for meeting planners and hotels.