For years airlines have made statements that the merchant fees that they pay when they accept cards as a form of payment were ‘next on the list’ of distribution costs that would be in focus. And more recently we are beginning to see evidence that this is true with examples such as United Airlines' reported change of policy when it comes to [some] travel management companies' use of their merchant agreement and KLM’s announcement of a credit card surcharge of EUR 7.50 being debated.
Regarding the
discussion about travel management companies inside
The Beat community during the past few weeks, it seems that there is an elephant in the room that no one is willing to speak of or tackle. That is the relationship between the global distribution systems and the kickback segment fees. This is disrupting the natural flow of the way that corporations normally handle their suppliers. Perhaps we are focusing too much on the trees and not enough on the forest? What really does make travel so special? Is it really that different from any other good or service a corporation acquires?
New data on business travel's value ... See more
here and
here.
