BD - Page 3 of 73 - Travel Information

San Diego Travel Agent Charged With Embezzling Funds for Canceled School Trips – NBC 7 San Diego

April 21, 2026 Fadila

A San Diego-based travel agent has been charged with including hundreds of thousands of dollars paid by more than 150 parents for school trips that were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marie Colette Martin, 52, is accused of spending the funds on personal expenses rather than refunding parents after the trips were cancelled.

She has pleaded not guilty to 27 felony counts of grand theft and seller of travel violations. Prosecutors allege more than $415,000 was included in total.

In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “More than 150 California families set aside their hard-earned money to give their children the educational opportunity of a lifetime. Instead, the trip was cancelled, and their money disappeared.”

According to the California Attorney General’s Office, Martin solicited the travel funds from parents at nine schools in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The trips would have sent eighth-grade students from those schools to Washington DC and other East Coast locations in 2020, although the pandemic prevented the trips from happening.

When parents sought refunds, Martin allegedly declined, then used the money for personal uses, including credit card purchases, rent and artwork, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Prosecutors say she was unable to refund the parents because she had already been “experiencing cash flow problems and commingling client funds” and had used the parents’ funds for personal expenses.

County jail records do not indicate Martin is in custody, but he is due to appear in a downtown San Diego courtroom next month for a bail review hearing.

“Cheating parents who work hard to give their children educational experiences that will broaden their horizons is a disgrace,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said. “We stand ready to work with the attorney general on bringing justice to the families who were defrauded out of their hard-earned income.”

TravClan plans to onboard two million travel agents, Hospitality News, ET HospitalityWorld

April 20, 2026 Fadila

TravClan, a B2B Travel Platform aims to onboard more than two million travel agents/companies across more than 100 countries doing business of 10 billion dollars on the platform. Starting with just ten employees in October 2018, the company clocked INR 100 crore in sales run rate by December 2019. Even in the wake of the pandemic, TravClan continued growing and we are a 60-plus team today. Recently, the travel platform launched the B2B flight booking and hotel booking platform for agents. ET HospitalityWorld spoke to Arun Bagaria, Co-founder, TravClan to know more about the company.

ETHospitalityWorld (ETHW): Tell us about your business model
Arun Bagaria (AB): TravClan is a disruptive B2B Travel Platform bringing in the technology-driven transformation to the US $100 billion offline travel market in India and South-East Asia. TravClan empowers travel agents by helping them generate more business by building their online presence and enabling travel agents to book flights, hotels, holidays with suppliers across the world at best B2B prices. TravClan offers a number of advantages to traveling agents and helps them accelerate their growth as a service provider. The company provides agents with online stores that offer instant bookings and help them market their business on social media. It is a comprehensive B2B platform selling flights, hotels and packages. The company offers Fintech solutions for the travel agents such as overseas payments, enables credit, Forex cards and insurance etc.

ETHW: How has the pandemic impacted your business?
AB: The pandemic has made an adverse impact on the entire travel ecosystem. International tourism, especially from India, is at a standstill and at present, even domestic tourism is limited due to the second wave of the disease. However, we have been constantly progressing as a brand and building infrastructure, bringing travel agents and suppliers on board. We are preparing a robust B2B community that will stand to gain from the best prices and holistic services offered by TravClan. The future of travel is going to be primarily dependent on 2 factors: travel agents and digital technology and we are bringing these two factors together. In the wake of the pandemic, we continued to innovate and launched a platform where travel agents can setup their online website in a few clicks. Right now, we have recently launched a feature that allows customers to view vaccine availability info in their locality on agents website in an easy way.ETHW: How the platform is profitable for travel agents? How many do you have onboarded as of today?
AB: TravClan offers unmatched benefits and services for travel agents. We are empowering offline agents by providing them with a fully functional website to market their packages through social media, receive bookings and payments online. Furthermore, we also offer the best price deals on flights and hotels through direct access to suppliers. Receiving payments from customers and paying to suppliers digitally are two major challenges for all travel agents, and we have resolved these through our integrated payment solutions. Thus, TravClan has emerged as the one-stop platform that resolves all problems faced by travel agents and provides them with great growth opportunities for the future. We have built a strong content and community in travel by helping agents stay updated with travel news and upskill themselves by attending webinars hosted by various Tourism Boards on TravClan. These community led initiatives have helped us grow through word of mouth. We have already onboarded more than 10,000 travel agents and our aim is to take the number to 2 million plus in the years ahead.ETHW: What makes you stand out from others in the market?
AB: Our holistic product offering right from helping in lead generation to creating invoices and collecting feedback from customers and covering every aspect of the travel business, is unique and disruptive in the industry. Our technology is transforming the $100 billion-plus offline travel market in India and South East Asia by bringing technology to the travel agents in a seamless and holistic manner. Starting with WhatsApp groups in late 2018, TravClan has already emerged as a major B2B platform. It has become the platform of choice for travel agents and helps them generate leads online, create their website, planning packages and itineraries and offering the best prices for global hotel bookings as well as flight tickets. Unlike other aggregators and B2B players, TravClan is focused on empowering the travel agents and giving them technology-driven solutions to fuel their growth. We also offer Fintech solutions for payments overseas to the suppliers and for receiving payments from their customers.

ETHW: What are your expansion plans?
AB: TravClan has shown incredible growth right from the outlet. Starting with just 10 employees in October 2018, the company clocked INR 100 crore in sales run rate by December 2019. Even in the wake of the pandemic, TravClan continued growing and we are a 60-plus team today. Recently, we launched our B2B flight booking and hotel booking platform for agents. TravClan aims to onboard more than 2 million travel agents/companies across 100+ countries doing business of $10 billion-plus on the platform. We will become the biggest B2B travel company in the world and enable all our partners to harness their maximum growth and revenue generation potential.

Published On May 26, 2021 at 03:31 PM IST

Three Tips for Booking with a Travel Agent | News and Media

April 19, 2026 Fadila

Three Tips for Booking with a Travel Agent | News and Media | Government of Saskatchewan

Released on November 1, 2016
Last year, a Kindersley travel agency went out of business. The closure affected a wedding party and caused many people to miss out on the trips they planned. Many of the customers placed deposits worth thousands of dollars in checks, cash and credit to the agency to reserve their spots.
The Consumer Protection Division of the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority (FCAA) was able to help some consumers get their money back but others were not so lucky.
Consumers should take three steps to protect themselves in the event something goes wrong with their travel agency:
Pay with a credit card. It is easier for consumers to get a refund through their credit card provider.
Minimize or avoid cash or check deposits. It may be more difficult or impossible to get a refund if something goes wrong.
Do some research, read customer reviews, check with the Better Business Bureau and the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies, and confirm that the agency is well established and has a good reputation within the community.
Contact Consumer Protection Division
The Consumer Protection Division may be able to help consumers who have problems with a travel agency. They can call toll free at 1-877-880-5550 or by email at [email protected].
-30-
For more information, contact:
Matthew Barton
Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority
Regina
Phone: 306-787-6067
Email: [email protected]

View All News Stories

Waukesha woman creates travel agency | Waukesha Co. BusinessNews

April 18, 2026 Fadila

WAUKESHA — A Waukesha woman decided to travel a new path, which included going into business for herself.

Emily Schultz, the owner of Magic Mom Travel, launched her agency in June.

Previously she worked as a travel agent for seven years, serving the southeastern Wisconsin area. Schultz enjoyed making new connections through servicing clients’ vacations.

“After seven years I was doing things all on my own. I had my client base and it was going well,” Schultz said.

She then made the decision to launch Magic Mom Travel.

Schultz specializes in Disney and Universal Studio destinations. She also books cruises, Hawaii, Mexico, and Caribbean travel.

Before she got into the travel planning industry, Schultz was a hair stylist. She was going to Disney World all the time and soon people were turning to her for help with travel plans.

“I love going there and my friends were coming to me all the time for advice. I was helping them plan their trips but not working with an agency,” she said. After a while she felt she should be doing this professionally.

Schultz credits the Waukesha Small Business Association with helping start Magic Mom Travel.

“They helped me a lot with setting up. It can be overwhelming. Having them there is very reassuring, she said.

She enjoys meeting new families and her goal is to build more relationships as she builds her business.

A travel agent’s advice

Schultz encourages people to give travel agents like themselves a try. There is a myth that travel agents cost a ton of money and they are out to get people to spend more.

“When there are new promotions released, I go through every single reservation to see if I can find one that fits,” she said.

For her clients, she insists on a consultation call first. She said it gives potential clients an idea about her personality and a better feel for the trip they want to take.

“My experience and attention to detail can help save you time, money, and hassle.

“I have been serving the southeastern Wisconsin area for many years, and have enjoyed making new connections through servicing my client’s dream vacations,” she said.

Schultz said he is finding many people preferring travel agents over third-party online travel booking. There are often perks a travel agent may be aware of or specials that other places such as third-party sites may not know about or access to. A travel agent knows about fees a resort might charge.

“There is a ton of information online and it can be overwhelming when you search for Mexico and get 1,200 hotels,” she said.

A travel agent also knows how to filter out hotels that aren’t great. Schultz said he can tell clients what hotels are recommended.

A travel agent helps clients to narrow down the list and the ones that are a better fit for the client and their family, she said.

During the pandemic, some third-party sites weren’t as reliable with getting guests’ refunds, according to Schultz.

“Anyone who booked with a travel agent was more protected and had someone advocate for them,” Schultz said.

She said she has noticed an increase in people booking with travel agents.

“It isn’t just because someone will advocate for you but will also do the dirty work of staying on the phone for hours on hold,” Schultz said.

The mom and travel agent have dealt with recent news about flight cancellations due to pilot shortages and other factors.

“It is hard to get hold of airlines because they are understaffed. It is long holding time. I really push travel insurance,” Schultz said.

Travel insurance wasn’t something pushed on vacation packages until the pandemic started. “It gives that peace of mind when people are traveling if their flight gets delayed or needs reimbursement on rental cars if they have to drive there,” she said.

Travel insurance has helped her to assist clients with travel headaches and assist the guests in their situations.

A travel agent will also keep up to date on travel restrictions and what is changing. This is especially helpful for people who book cruises since there are rules and regulations that are constantly changing.

Schultz said her clients are also asking about coronavirus vaccine and mask mandates.

“I wouldn’t say it is swaying people one way or the other. A lot of people really just want to get out,” she said.

For more information https://magicmomtravel.com.

Travel Industry Study Reveals Latest Travel Agency, Advisor Trends

April 17, 2026 Fadila

Travel Weekly and sister brand Phocuswright have teamed up to release the 2022 Travel Industry Survey, revealing the latest trends among travel agencies and travel advisors across the US

The research project was conducted through an online questionnaire sent out to Travel Weekly and TravelAge West subscribers in addition to members of various consortia and host agencies. The 1,356 participating travel advisors are either currently employed by a travel agency, are independent contractors for a travel agency or are travel agency owners or managers and responded between July 22 and August 15, 2022.

The travel advisor age breakdown was similar to last year, with four out of five being over the age of 45 and zero percent being under the age of 25. What’s more, the study found that 23 percent of agencies were five years old or less, which is more than double the 10 percent in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

“The reassuring bottom line is that, although young people still may not see becoming an advisor as an attractive first career, the profession does attract those with a bit of maturity and experience elsewhere,” wrote Arnie Weissmann, Executive Vice President and Editor in Chief , Travel Weekly. “Which, upon reflection, is not such a bad thing for the profession, or for clients.”

Research also shows that almost half of respondents have worked in travel for 10 years or less, up significantly from 21 percent in 2019. Meanwhile, 23 of traditional agencies were founded in the past five years, up from 10 percent in 2019. And experience matters when it comes to income, with 69 percent of respondents working two years or less reporting making less than $25,000 annually. Compare that to only 26 percent of advisors who’ve been in business more than 30 years.

Time dedicated is another key factor with fewer than half of those working full time and relying on their business as a primary source of income indicating that they make fewer than 50,000 annually.

The study also uncovers a fascinating trend in travel advisors viewing themselves as independent even when working with a host agency or consortia. One-third of respondents identified themselves as hosted independent contractors (ICs), which is down 20 percentage points from 2021. On the other hand, 28 percent identified as fully independent advisors, compared with 17 percent just last year. Of the 28 percent, two-thirds reported being affiliated with a host agency and four in five reported being members of a consortium.

Most continue to work with a host agency to access preferred suppliers (79 percent) and the leading benefits cited are overrides and incentives (68 percent), advisor-dedicated supplier websites (53 percent) and education programs (49 percent).

The home-based segment of travel advisors is currently enjoying record sales, the study found, with gross bookings reaching $920 million in 2021, up from $346 million in pandemic-plagued 2020 and up from the previous high of $899 million in 2018.

When it comes to the question of why clients are booking, customer service (33 percent), personal relationships (31 percent) and expertise (30 percent) are the leading reasons. Only 3 percent indicated that their clients book because they offer the best price.

Facebook continues to be the most important social platform for today’s travel advisors but TikTok is coming on strong with usage more than doubling from 2021 to 2022. In general social media is still a go-to for sales and marketing, with 68 percent of respondents ranking it their number one platform over email, website marketing events and e-newsletters.

In terms of specialization, most travel advisors are mastering ocean cruises (60 percent), destinations (56 percent) and tours and packages (56 percent). However, river cruises (47 percent) and luxury travel (45 percent) aren’t far behind.

Additional study findings include travel advisor (38 percent) being the preferred describer to travel agent (19 percent) or travel consultant (18 percent), more than seven in 10 advisors being optimistic about the future of the trade with a positive outlook on the industry and another 71 percent ranked family travel as their top category.

Click here to view the complete 2022 Travel Industry Survey.

For the latest travel news, updates and deals, be sure to subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.

Topics From This Article to Explore

Planning a trip? Here’s why you should use a travel agent

April 16, 2026 Fadila

Let’s cut to the chase: after a long break from vacations, Canadians are ready to travel. However, there are some concerns travelers have before hopping on their next flight. People want to make sure the places they visit are safe, they want to understand if there are any pandemic restrictions, and they want to have a great plan for their time.

While you can find a lot of that information online, here are five reasons working with a travel agent is a smarter way to book your holidays this year.

Get the latest travel advisory info

It’s no surprise that travel advice and advisories have changed a lot over the past few years. Between vaccination records, proof of testing, and quarantine requirements – just to name a few – it can be difficult to know what you really need to do before leaving your home country and entering your destination. Luckily, travel agents can help you navigate these needs.

CAA Travel Consultants are CAA Travel SMART certified, meaning they have all the tools needed to take the stress out of planning your post-pandemic trips.

Get first-hand advice

Like anything else, if you don’t do something regularly, you might be a bit rusty the first time you do it. And traveling is no different.

For travel agents, traveling is quite literally part of the job. Not only do they keep up to date on trending destinations and must-do activities, but they’ve also traveled with current restrictions and know what you can expect. Agents are always happy to share their stories and experiences about different locations and vacation types, whether it’s onboard a cruise through the Mediterranean, on a guided safari tour, or where to go for a taste of authentic local cultures.

Have somebody look out for your best interests

Even the best laid plans can take a left turn sometimes. But if something comes up before you leave, while you’re away, or even after you’re back home, a travel agent is always there to help.

Need to cancel your trip? Did an emergency come up and you need to change your plans? Do you need help contacting the airline or hotel when you’ve returned home? Your travel agent will be the one to jump into action, make calls on your behalf, and even wait on hold until they get the information you need.

Save time and money

Yes, you can find some good deals online for traveling. However, travel agents have countless resources and contacts in the travel industry, and they know how to research, plan, and book travel arrangements. All the knowledge ensures you’re getting the best travel options at the best price. If there are new promotions or offers, they know about them. And perhaps more importantly, they know how to get those promotions for you.

On top of industry sales, CAA Travel Consultants help CAA Members get exclusive benefits with preferred travel partners, all around the world. Plus, you don’t have to spend hours trying to find the right deals; your travel agent does all the heavy lifting for you.

Get the travel insurance you need

Beyond getting the best price on a personalized vacation package, travel agents will make sure you have the right insurance for your trip, including coverage for emergency medical, trip cancellation, and trip interruption.

Your credit cards and group plans may offer some insurance benefits, and a travel agent will identify the shortcomings to get you top-up coverage for your adventure. That might include rental vehicle damage, pre-existing conditions, or adventurous air activities. If you aren’t sure exactly what coverage you’ll need, that’s exactly why you should talk to a travel agent before planning your trip.

These are just a few reasons you should book your trip with the help and guidance of an experienced travel agent, but really, the ultimate reason is that you deserve an amazing trip. It’s been a long time since any of us could travel freely, and a travel agent will go the extra mile to make sure your next adventure is the best it can possibly be. Happy traveling!

Global Online Travel Agent Market Report 2023: Players

April 15, 2026 Fadila

Dublin, May 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The “Online Travel Agent Global Market Report 2023” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

This report provides strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the market.

The global online travel agent market will grow from $761.9 billion in 2022 to $865.5 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.6%. The online travel agent market is expected to grow to $1,060.01 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 5.2%.

Major players in the online travel agent market are Booking.com, Expedia Inc., Ctrip, TripAdvisor, Trivago, eDreams Odigeo, Despegar, MakeMyTrip, Lastminute, and On the Beach, Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Hostelworld Group, Hotel Urbano Travel and Tourism SA, Fareportal Inc., Trivago GmbH, ThomasCook Group, Priceline Group Inc., HRS, Agoda, Airbnb Inc., and Hotel.de.

Reasons to Purchase

Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 50+ geographies.
Understand how the market has been affected by the coronavirus and how it is responding as the impact of the virus abates.
Assess the Russia – Ukraine war’s impact on agriculture, energy and mineral commodity supply and its direct and indirect impact on the market.
Measure the impact of high global inflation on market growth.
Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.
Identify growth segments for investment.
Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.
Understand customers based on the latest market shares.
Benchmark performance against key competitors.
Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis

The online travel agent market consists of revenues earned by entities that are involved in selling travel services through online channels. Travel agents are involved in the sales of travel services such as flights, buses, vacation packages, hotels, and rental cars via online networks. The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. Only goods and services traded between entities or sold to end consumers are included.

Online travel agents or agencies are individuals or companies with websites that allow consumers to book various travel-related services via the internet. Online travel agents invest in marketing and advertising to attract potential international customers.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the online travel agent market in 2022. Western Europe was the second largest region in the online travel agent market. The regions covered in the online travel agent market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, and Africa.

The main types of services in online travel agents are vacation packages, transportation, and accommodation. A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday is a combination of transportation and lodging advertised and offered by a tour operator. The different platforms include mobile/tablets based, desktop based and are available in various categories such as hotel bookings, tickets, and others.

The surge in smartphone users along with growing internet penetration is anticipated to boost the online tourism industry and the business for travel agents during the period. Increasing penetration of the internet and growth in the number of smartphone users is contributing to the consumer shift towards online channels for travel tickets and hotel bookings.

Rising possibility of uncertain events such as the COVID-19 outbreak or natural calamities is projected to limit the growth of the tourism industry and online travel agents. According to the UNWTO estimates, global international tourist arrivals in 2020 are predicted to fall by 20% to 30% compared to the previous year, which translates into a loss of $30-50 billion in travel spending by international visitors.

Thus, the online travel agent market is to record a decline in 2020 thanks to the impact of COVID-19 across the globe. Moreover, according to Travel Daily Media news, Typhoon Mangkhut jolts Hong Kong and China leaving the tourism, aviation, and transportation industry at standstill. Therefore, the possibility of natural events is probably restraining the growth of the tourism industry including the online travel agent market during the coming years.

Growing initiatives by the government of various countries to promote tourism and build strong tourism infrastructure to boost the revenues generated from the tourism industry is a major trend propelling the growth of the online travel agent market during the period. For example, according to The Budget 2022, the Government of India allocated an additional amount of INR 2400 crores ($307.12 million) to the Ministry of Tourism.

This budget is 18.42% higher than 2021-22, and it will be used by the Ministry of Tourism for developing tourism infrastructure, marketing and promotion, and capacity building. Therefore, the government initiatives and steps to promote tourism and develop tourism infrastructure are to act as a key trend in the online travel agent market over the period.

The countries covered in the online travel agent market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from goods and/or services sold within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of currency (in USD ($) unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values - that is, they are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the specified market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

Key Attributes:

Report Attributes	Details
No. of Pages	175
Forecast Period	2023 – 2027
Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023	$865.5 billion
Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2027	$1060.01 billion
Compound Annual Growth Rate	5.2%
Regions Covered	Global

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary

2. Online Travel Agent Market Characteristics

3. Online Travel Agent Market Trends And Strategies

4. Online Travel Agent Market – Macro Economic Scenario
4.1 COVID-19 Impact On Online Travel Agent Market
4.2 Ukraine-Russia War Impact On Online Travel Agent Market
4.3 Impact Of High Inflation On Online Travel Agent Market

5. Online Travel Agent Market Size And Growth
5.1. Global Online Travel Agent Historic Market, 2017-2022, $ Billion
5.1.1. Drivers Of The Market
5.1.2. Restraints On The Market
5.2. Global Online Travel Agent Forecast Market, 2022-2027F, 2032F, $ Billion
5.2.1. Drivers Of The Market
5.2.2. Restraints On the Market

6. Online Travel Agent Market Segmentation
6.1. Global Online Travel Agent Market, Segmentation By Service Type, Historic and Forecast, 2017-2022, 2022-2027F, 2032F, $ Billion

Vacation Packages
Transportation
Accommodation

6.2. Global Online Travel Agent Market, Segmentation By Platform, Historic and Forecast, 2017-2022, 2022-2027F, 2032F, $ Billion

Mobile/Tablet Based
Desktop Based

6.3. Global Online Travel Agent Market, Segmentation By Category, Historic and Forecast, 2017-2022, 2022-2027F, 2032F, $ Billion

Hotel Bookings
Tickets
Other Categories

7. Online Travel Agent Market Regional And Country Analysis
7.1. Global Online Travel Agent Market, Split By Region, Historic and Forecast, 2017-2022, 2022-2027F, 2032F, $ Billion
7.2. Global Online Travel Agent Market, Split By Country, Historic and Forecast, 2017-2022, 2022-2027F, 2032F, $ Billion

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/issuva

About ResearchAndMarkets.com
ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world’s leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Global Online Travel Agent Market

American Airlines Releases Travel Agents With Insistence on Changes to Airfare Sales

April 14, 2026 Fadila

American Airlines has ruled out delaying the removal of 40 percent of its airfares from traditional retail channels next month.

That’s despite lobbying by the American Society of Travel Advisors, which asked the carrier to push back its move date from April 3 to the end of the year.

The society, which represents 160,000 travel agency workers, wrote to the carrier on March 8, arguing that holding such a substantial portion of its fares from “critical independent distribution channels” would have a negative impact on corporate travelers.

With just two weeks to go, a spokesperson at American Airlines told Skift on Thursday that it was still a categorical “no.”

Bullying Accusation

In its letter, Zane Kerby, president and CEO of the American Society of Travel Advisors, said the “sudden bullying of valuable distribution partners into breakneck-speed implementation won’t serve our shared customers.”

The society claims many corporate travel agencies, global distribution systems (namely Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport) and third-party booking technology partners, including Concur, have stated they will not be prepared to facilitate New Distribution Capability implementation by April.

New Distribution Capability is a controversial technology standard developed by the International Air Transport Association. The idea is to give airlines more control over their airfares, rather than relying on global distribution systems.

“Without significant and key front, mid and back-office travel fulfillment systems ready and able to fully process New Distribution Capability transactions, significant disruptions to shopping and booking, including ticketing, refunds and re-ticketing are inevitable,” the letter said.

American Airlines told Skift that it disagreed. “This is incorrect. “There are front, mid, and back office technology updates that need to be completed as everyone needs to invest in improving the customer experience,” said a spokesperson.

“American has spent the last 10+ years investing in its modern retailing technology and several travel sellers, technology aggregators and third-party corporate booking tools have also done the same. Currently, one out of every three travel agencies issued tickets for American comes through our New Distribution Capability technology,” they added.

During those 10 years there has also been a convoluted history of surcharges and fees. Some airlines feel they pay too much commission to the global distribution systems, so encourage direct bookings by penalizing bookings made through the likes of Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport. For example, Germany’s Lufthansa in 2020 boosted the surcharge on tickets bought outside of its own channels to $21 fee in the US

Global distribution systems also share part of what they receive from airlines with the travel agency that made the booking.

As a result, New Distribution Capability to some extent disrupts business models. While in American Airlines’ case the three global distribution systems state they’re ready to adapt the new airfares, travel buyers and corporate travel agencies may prefer to work more directly with airlines in the future, as Lufthansa has done with Siemens.

An Unhappy Marriage

Flight Center Travel Group, which runs corporate divisions FCM Travel and Corporate Traveler, is one such agency that stands to be impacted by the April 3 switch.

“We’re not opposed to New Distribution Capability. We’ve made some investment in TP Connects to ensure we have access to all the new content. The concern is with respect to the timelines being enforced,” said Marc Casto, president of leisure, Americas, Flight Center Travel Group — and executive vice president, communications and government affairs, of the American Society of Travel Advisors.

“They’ve been signaling for a decade, but only released the plan of attack in the past six months,” he added. “Saying you’re going to get married, and actually setting the date, are two different things.”

The society insists there will be wide-ranging umbrella effects on the corporate travel buyer’s needs, which could also affect duty of care, policy compliance, insurance, pre-trip approvals and even the organization’s own insurance.

“All of us saw what occurred in December with the weather delays,” said Jay Ellenby, president of Safe Harbors Business Travel Group. “By making it more convoluted and more complex to service customers is going to result in a significant reduction in service capacity and quality. And particularly for ourselves, we have to contact call centers, which are already oversubscribed.”

Bookings are continuing to pick up. In the US, travel agency air ticket sales reached $8.4 billion in February, which is a 54 percent year-over-year increase in February 2022, according to Airlines Reporting Corporation.

In the UK, travel buyers at the Institute of Travel Management are worried they will soon face a deluge of complaints from travelers about fares being visible but not bookable in their online booking tool.

They also predicted a potential increase in leakage (where bookings are made outside recommended booking tools) and expressed frustration at the lack of readiness by agencies, booking tools and global distribution systems given the length of time that New Distribution Capability has been underway, based on feedback from a “Buyer Knowledge Exchange session” that took place earlier this week.

“Buyer members are feeling battered by the challenges of air content and lack of readiness for New Distribution Capability,” said Scott Davies, CEO of the institute. “Many have described it as a ‘mess.’”

A Reasonable Request

There are hopes American Airlines will meet the American Society of Travel Advisors half way by rolling out the new airfares in stages.

“It’s probably not going to happen by April 1, at least not all 40 percent moved at once,” said Steve Reynolds, CEO of audit and booking platform TripBam, in its March snapshot report.

Flight Centre’s Casto said the society’s request was “reasonable” and its arguments a “fair assessment” on all sides of the industry.

In the meantime, expect more back-and-forth arguments over the next two weeks, arguments that will be near-impossible to tell if factually correct due to the many commercial interests at stake.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this news article described Marc Casto as chair of the American Society of Travel Advisors.