KEY ADMINISTRATORS/KEY SUPPORT STAFF

SUBJECT:  Travel Update - Travel Agency Service Fees Escalate

Traditionally, travel agencies have derived a major portion of their income from the airlines. In 1994, airlines began imposing commission cutbacks reducing net agency income by 50%. To compensate, agencies have began charging the consumer service fees ranging from $15 to more than $75 per transaction. These fees are applied on initial ticket issuance as well as on refunds and exchanges.

Annually, UCSD purchases over 18,000 air tickets and has an unprecedented number of re-ticketed itineraries, so the impact of these fees is significant. Service fees will continue to escalate in 2000.

UCSD's Travel Agency Program is composed of a partner agency, Balboa Travel, and many certified secondary Alliance agencies. Since being awarded the partner agency contract, Balboa Travel has provided no-fee service when ticketing airfare. Most of the Alliance agencies have been charging fees since the inception of the UCSD Travel Agency Program last spring.

Due to the latest commission reduction, Balboa Travel will begin applying a $9 service fee for each ticket issued as of April 1. This fee is considerably lower than the industry average and those imposed by the Alliance Agencies. Recognizing that travel is a very personal service, we ask that you use Balboa whenever possible. The more UCSD leverages its purchasing power, the more we can contain our fees and attain higher service levels.

These fees must be invoiced separately by the agencies (not included in the ticket cost) and need to be associated with a specific traveler and event. To address this issue, the Travel Office has created a process in conjunction with Balboa Travel whereby service fees are electronically fed into TravelLink and an advance for the fee is automatically generated for a specific event. The majority of UCSD travelers utilize Balboa Travel, so this process eliminates any additional work for most of our campus departments other than to claim the fee on the voucher as an advance to the traveler. Like all other advances, the advance generated for a service fee will display on the Event Summary screen in TravelLink.

Unfortunately, the electronic, automatic advance is not a feasible process for the Alliance Agencies. Guidelines for billing service fees were provided to the Alliance Agencies at the annual Workshop held on March 16, 2000. A complete explanation and guidelines appear on the Travel Web site:

http://www-bfs.ucsd.edu/dis/travel/home/topics_servicefees.htm

Fees for initial ticket purchases can be avoided altogether by booking directly with the airlines and on the commercial travel web sites. While UCSD discounts are not available when booking directly with the airline and UCSD's purchasing strength is compromised, there are cases when either an agent's guidance is not required and/or the likelihood of needing to change an itinerary is unlikely.

If you choose to book either directly with an airline or on the Internet, follow policy for pre-authorizing travel prior to booking by obtaining an Event Number and carefully read the guidelines and consequences.

A significant amount of UCSD travel is in-state travel on SWA so you might prefer to book airfare direct from the airline to avoid fees and save time:

http://www.iflyswa.com/

We welcome your suggestions for accommodating the complex and diverse travel needs of UCSD within the constraints of an unpredictable industry. Please direct comments and questions to either Travel@UCSD.eduor telephone 43734.

                                                         Faye E. McCullough
                                                         Manager
                                                         Disbursements