ITM HELPS TO CREATE INDUSTRY CHANGE
CONSULTATION WITH ITM LEADS TO FEE ALTERATION
easyJet listens to buyer community
easyJet has unveiled plans to reduce its point of sale (POS) fee on bookings made through Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and other approved third party distribution channels connected to its Application Programming Interface (API). The fee, which has up to now been based on a variable fee of up to £5 (€7.50) per seat (depending on the number of seats booked), will now be set at a fixed fee of £3.30 (€4) per seat, a reduction by up to a third in sterling charges.
Since launching GDS distribution, easyJet has particularly engaged directly with Corporates and ITM heads in full consultation, and has decided to take this action as a result of listening to the opinions of all parties involved.
"ITM was pleased to discuss the views of the buyer community on this subject with easyJet. Whilst we would have liked to seen POS fees removed entirely, easyJet is to be applauded for taking the time to consult with our members. We would hope that any business travel supplier would follow suit when making a decision with a substantial impact on travel management costs.", Caroline Strachan, ITM Chairman, said. "This clearly demonstrates ITM acting independently as a force for good for suppliers whilst maintaining the interests of the buyer community."
easyJet remains committed to GDS distribution to the managed corporate travel market and the airline's move will make life even easier for Travel Management Companies (TMCs) and business travellers to book with easyJet in their favoured systems, where they will benefit from better reporting and tracking of bookings.
Jerry Dunn, easyJet Distribution Development Manager, said:
"In contrast to the recent action taken by Ryanair to cancel bookings made by travel agencies through screen scraping, easyJet is providing an alternative legitimate booking channel for business travel agencies, while maintaining a firm stance against unlicensed screen scraping. Most screen scraping systems are voluntarily switching off screen scraping to move to the API, while any that refuse to do so will face legal and technical action against them."
easyJet remains an extremely attractive airline for business travellers, who can benefit from our low fares with care and convenience across our extensive route network flying to major city airports rather than out of town airfields. This is especially important in today's challenging economy."
easyJet continues to levy a POS fee through third party booking systems for the following reasons:
• To maintain a price differential versus www.easyJet.com, which remains the cheapest place to book easyJet flights
• To cover any booking fees applied by the GDSs
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