Travel agencies and ticket wholesalers in dispute over fees

There is tension between some travel agencies and consolidators because some wholesalers no longer want to bear the additional costs caused by flight cancellations by airlines. Neither do the distributors.

Many travel agencies do not have an IATA license or any other agreements with airlines and therefore buy the tickets from wholesalers, add a service fee and then give this to their customers. However, especially in the previous year, there was considerable extra work due to cancellations and changes made by the airlines. In most cases, these were not compensated.

For example, in the event of cancellation by the airline, passengers have the right to rebooking or a refund. The consolidators argue that in this case the travel agencies retain the service fee they have charged themselves and that the additional work on the part of the customer was compensated for by paying this as a lump sum anyway. However, wholesalers also charge fees, especially when passengers reject possible alternatives.