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No Booking Fees Gain Traction In Mainstream Media

15 September, 2009 by Martin Kelly | Comments closed

Let the fun begin. The booking fees charged by the Online Travel Agents are now mainstream news. A story on news.com.au attracted plenty of comment yesterday while the Today Show followed up this morning. The issue has been brought into focus by Zuji and Expedia dropping their surcharge on airline bookings. Market leader Webjet, which charges up to $49.90 to process airfare bookings, has gone on the front foot with Managing Director David Clarke saying they are justified and that clients are happy to pay.

But clearly the dynamic has changed. Meanwhile travel.com.au, which has a focus on international flights and charges a $14.95 booking fee, has produced a comparison chart claiming it offers the best prices across a range of specific fares. Flight Centre has said it will examine its fee regime. Nothing like a little diversity, lacking in the OTA space until this point, to shake things up.

Tags: booking fees, expedia, flight centre, travel.com.au, webjet, zuji

TRAVELtech Top 25 – Journey Through The Oz Travel Web

18 August, 2009 by Martin Kelly | 1 comment

The past few months have been quite an experience, a long rambling journey through the Australian travel web. It’s been a roundabout route on my way to choosing the TRAVELtech Top 25 Australian Websites, from which TRAVELtech Website of The Year will emerge.

I have seen sites I didn’t know existed, and others that shouldn’t. In the end I had to choose 25. It wasn’t easy and I’m still not convinced. There are so many sites that could so easily have been there but aren’t.

Accommodation aggregation sites are by far the most competitive category. No coincidence that’s where the money is to be made. A ready supply of inventory through the massive online databases (ultimately) controlled by the likes of Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia also helps. Popular sites such as www.lastminute.com.au, www.roamfree.com.au, www.quickbeds.com.au and others came so close to making the Top 25 it’s ridiculous. But, right or wrong, decisions had to be made. More …

Tags: drive now, expedia, flight centre, hitwise, oodles, orbitz, qantas, quickbeds, roamfree, travelocity, TRAVELtech Top 25 Australian Websites, TRAVELtech Web Awards, virgin blue

Online, Youth and Adventure Work for Flight Centre

14 August, 2009 by Martin Kelly | Comments closed

Graham Turner, Flight Centre

ONLINE, youth and adventure travel are all performing well in a down market for retail giant Flight Centre, according to Managing Director Graham Turner, who also confirmed overall sales volumes are beginning to stabilise after consistent falls. Turner also reported that Flight Centre has negotiated satisfactory commission terms with Qantas for the coming year in contrast to the brouhaha surrounding its split with a financially recalcitrant Singapore Airlines, which refused to agree to Flight Centre’s terms. Singapore Airlines meanwhile seems to be ramping up its trade activity with incentives for agents booking through Consolidated Travel and an advertising campaign with TravelWorld. Could there be a link?

Tags: adventure travel, flight centre, online, singapore airlines

Events

BUSINESS STRANGE? IT'S THE NEW NORMAL...

Sydney, August 31, 2010

Book now for this year's TRAVELtech, which features a fantastic program headlined by Barney Harford, the global boss of Orbitz.com, one of the world's largest online travel companies.

He joins an excellent speaking lineup also featuring Andy Owen-Jones, CEO of TravelTainment, and a great array of Australian industry leaders, including: