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Posted Aug 2, 2010
A Congressional subcommittee last month noted that a non-binding IRS ruling leaves "unsettled" the question of whether ancillary airline fees for bags and add-ons should be taxed. As the National Journal's Transportation Experts blog explores the debate, the National Business Travel Association is undecided for now, executive director Mike McCormick said.
Posted Jul 20, 2010
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. posted a second quarter profit of $273 million, emerging from a long financial slump and improving on some closely watched year-over-two numbers. The company cited favorable corporate and premium booking trends and particularly strong transoceanic performance. Analysts speaking with the company's executives on a Tuesday conference call sounded generally impressed. UAL's stock closed the day up more than a buck to $22.01. Why? According to UAL executives, capacity discipline and fees.
Posted Jun 16, 2010
Let’s cut to the nub of this issue. No one will ever know for sure if ancillary revenues make airlines more profitable. There are just too many moving parts in an airline’s revenue stream. Sure, airlines may report an extra billion dollars in ancillary revenue (AR, from here on) – but what did fares do?
Posted May 20, 2010
Two readers responded to "Distribution Standards And The 'Fare Of One' " published here yesterday in The Beat ...
Posted May 12, 2010
Farelogix is highly supportive of management and settlement standards being developed around the merchandising process. We have been the leaders in developing the first ARC certified EMD (both EMD-A and EMD-S), which is in full accordance to the IATA reporting standard. Farelogix merchandising solutions also fully support ATPCO fare filings if airlines opt to use ATP instead of alternative merchandising solutions in the market.
However, Farelogix is concerned about the recent announcement to extend the "standards movement" to the actual airline product definition and sales process.
Posted Apr 30, 2010
There are still many questions that need to be answered about airline ancillary fees. What else might the airlines charge for? Will there be a good way for managed travel programs to track them? When will TMCs be able to collect them at point of sale? And the list could go on for quite awhile from there. One thing we do know for sure, airline ancillary fees are here to stay.
Posted Apr 30, 2010
Some airlines have said they support use of ARC's electronic miscellaneous document as a means to better equip themselves to sell and account for ancillary revenue items, while others haven't publicly said a thing about it. AirTran is one exception. It's not interested.
Posted Mar 22, 2010
A recent report by American Express Business Travel includes lists of airline service fees charged by U.S. and non-U.S. carriers, as well as other stats, a good overview of the ancillary fee topic and some advice on how to manage through the complexities. It is available here.
Posted Mar 16, 2010
Continental Airlines will charge for meals this fall. It’s about time. And money, and choice. Lots of travel managers and many more travelers will hate seeing this movie.
Posted Feb 25, 2010
Ancillary fees have become the Susan Boyle of the travel industry. That’s right, they aren’t sexy, but people still love to talk about them. Plus, nobody agrees on the magnitude of these things, and how could they, when tracking them is such a daunting task. For example: The Beat reported that TRX found that "ancillary airline fees account for between 0.75% and 1.5% of the total air spend."
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