TOURISM : Commission Cap May Spur High-Tech Travel Reservation Services

A San Clemente consultant believes that technology could help big companies cope with the fallout from major airlines’ decision to cap the sales commissions they pay to travel agents.

“Expect companies and their travel agency vendors to be taking a serious look at automated reservation processing solutions to reduce costs and increase agency productivity,” said Tom Blakeley, a consultant in corporate travel automation.

Better use of on-line reservation systems, e-mail and faxed reservations forms could help reduce agency fees, Blakeley said.

So far, most companies are watching from the sidelines as their travel agents cope with the airlines decision to limit sales commissions to no more than $50 a ticket. Traditionally, the 10% commission paid on the face value of an airline ticket has been a windfall for travel agents who arrange lots of travel for executives, who pay top dollar for short-notice bookings and usually take seats in higher-priced business or first class.