Travelport will from Dec. 20 include American Airlines'
proposed surcharge on non-U.S. and non-Caribbean travel agencies in GDS fare
displays and quotes so the total cost of the AA ticket can be provided to
customers.
Travelport, owner of the Galileo and Worldspan reservation
systems, informed agents Thursday about its plan in a letter to GDS customers, according to Travel Weekly.
The letter follows American's letter to travel agencies
indicating it will apply surcharges to bookings made by non-U.S. and
non-Caribbean Travelport users on or after Dec. 20.
AA intends to apply variable surcharges on a
country-by-country basis and invoice travel agencies via agency debit memos.
Travelport says it supports the industry in its contention that the use of
debit memos for this purpose is not within IATA regulations.
The applicable AA surcharge will be inserted into the price
of AA-plated tickets, generated as a miscellaneous tax. AA will receive these
funds automatically through IATA's Billing and Settlement Plan.
Should a ticket plated on another carrier contain one or
more AA segments, the surcharge will be included in the shopped pricing but
will not be included in the Travelport-generated ticket, and a debit memo will
be issued by AA.
When tickets contain AA segments but are plated on another
airline, agents will have to apply their own business process to incorporate
the surcharge into the customer's invoice.
AA's surcharge does not apply to codeshare flights.
The dispute between American and Travelport in international
markets occurs while Orbitz (48 percent owned by Travelport) battles the
airline in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.
American had threatened to pull inventory from Orbitz on
Dec. 1, but the judge granted Travelport a temporary injunction, preventing the
action. The full case is currently being heard.
Travelport describes as 'regrettable' American's 'attack'
against Orbitz and added that it is a 'first step' toward reducing transparency
and choice for consumers.
Source: Travel Weekly