Welcome to the inauguration of Kudos & Karma. Our basic goal for this column is to recognize suppliers (kudos) for supporting their travel agent partners, and to gently admonish suppliers when they drop the ball (karma). Situations highlighted for either kudos or karma may be broadly generic, or a more detailed, specific situation.
This month we’re starting with kudos to several suppliers for recent progress towards combating rebating practices. I think it is safe to say that no one policy will ever be perfect, but we appreciate the efforts and tip our hat to those suppliers that are making a concerted effort to address the issue as best as they can. First up is Regent Seven Seas & Oceania Cruises. Their policy tries to stem the tide of price shopping, but creating a disincentive to transfer a booking 30+ days after it was initially created. If a booking is transferred 30 or fewer days after creation, the original agency gets no commission and the new agency only receives 10% commission, regardless of their commission level with the cruise line. On day 31 if a booking is transferred from one agency to another, the original agency gets 10% of the commission and the new agency gets zero. They also place a cap on any amenities offered (such as on board credit), limiting such offers to % of the cruise fare.
The next cruise line to recently step up to the plate has been Paul Gauguin Cruises. Their policy does not appear on the surface to be as far-reaching as the policy of Regent / Oceania, but again it is a step in the right direction. They do stipulate that travel agencies can still pay net at final payment with an agency check or wire transfers, so in our opinion there’s some room for improvement in their policy. However, they still receive kudos for implementing a policy that at least prohibits advertising of any cruise fares or amenities not provided nor approved by Paul Gauguin Cruises.
And the latest cruise line to recently introduce an anti-rebating policy is Crystal Cruises. Crystal has had a policy in place for several years, prohibiting the advertising if below published, authorized cruise fares. However, their additions to the policy go a bit further. Specifically, when a client books onboard and later transfers that booking from the original agency to a new agency, the new agency only gets a 5% commission and the booking cannot receive group amenities or be counted towards any group tour conductor credits. Transferred bookings (that were not onboard rebookings) are limited to a 10% commission for the receiving agency. Furthermore, any onboard credit can no longer be redeemed for cash (basically a “use it or lose it” policy). This even applies to onboard credit that is purchased in advance by an individual.
As I said at the beginning of this column, no anti-rebating policy is perfect, but we commend these suppliers for taking steps in the right direction.
Do you have a supplier that you would like to recognize with some kudos? Or a supplier that’s creating an issue for their travel agent partners? Email us at kudos@travelresearchonline.com and let us know!
