AIRLINES CUT COMMISSION TO TRAVEL AGENCIES

The American Society of Travel Agents is awaiting reaction to its "Fight Back" campaign, initiated late last year in the wake of the latest round of airline ticket commission cuts to travel agencies by several major airlines.

The campaign features a variety of initiatives from filing a complaint with the secretary of transportation to rescinding commission cuts as an anti-competitive practice, to launching a letter-writing campaign to congressional representatives outlining how airlines' actions are hurting travel agencies.

With the Christmas-New Year's holidays, reaction may be slow, a society spokesman said Wednesday. The initiative also includes a renewed lobbying effort on Capitol Hill to seek support for travel agencies.

The latest commission cut came in October, slicing the commission for travel agencies from 8 to 5 percent of the cost of airline tickets.

Society executives denounced the cut, claiming it was the most anti-consumer move in airline history.

A cut two years ago reduced the agents' percentage from 10 to 8 percent. At that time many travel agencies across the nation added a ticketing-fee cost. Cape Girardeau travel agencies stayed away from the added cost at that time.

But ticketing-fee costs have resulted in new ticket processing costs by local travel agencies ranging from $10 to $20 per ticket, the spokesman said.

Travel agents here say it currently costs from $19 to $25 to process airline tickets.

"If we have a fare under $250 we lose money," said Carolyn Kempf of Elite Travel, 354 S. Silver Springs Rd. "Even with a slight processing fee we could barely break even."

Consumers using travel agencies can often save some big dollars.

"We work in the best interest of the consumer," said Mark Hill of Destinations Unlimited-Carlson, 866 N. Kingshighway. "We provide unbiased information, giving the consumer choices and lowest prices."

"We search for the best fares," said Anne Swanson of Gulliver's Travel at Jackson. "If you call the individual airline, you'll receive that airline's rates. We look at several airline rates."

One example used by the travel agency industry was a recent request for fare to Dallas, Texas.

"We can route you through Little Rock and get to Dallas at less than half the price of a straight-through flight by one airline, which has a $1,000 fee to Dallas," said Swanson. "The airline neglected to give the rate for the stopover in Little Rock."

"You can expect unbiased information from travel agents," said Debra Mileur of AAA Travel Agency, 1903 Broadway. "We can give you every airline's rates and departure times at once. You can pick the flight and price that works for you."

The local travel agents said on any given route fares can vary by hundreds of dollars.

The world's travel agents book 80 percent of all airline tickets.