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August 6, 2009     Mayor Bloomberg signed a bill that would apply occupancy tax to travel agency facilitation fees on net rate hotels.

Dear Sabre ConnectedSM travel professional:

Mayor Bloomberg signed a bill that would apply occupancy tax to travel agency facilitation fees on net rate hotels. They are targeting the online sites, but this new ordinance would apply to any agent who moves prepaid rooms and charges a fee above the negotiated rate with a hotel. Criminal penalties would attach for non-compliance. We are trying to get the bill reversed, but need the help of the travel agency community.

VIA FACSIMILE (212) 788-8123
The Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

VIA FACSIMILE (212) 788-7207
The Honorable Christine C. Quinn
City Hall
New York, New York 10007

Regards,
Sabre Customer Service Center

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 July 27, 2009    ASTA Calls on Congress to Establish Clear 'Back-to-Gate' Limits

Alexandria, Va., July 27, 2009- On Friday, July 24, ASTA wrote to the Congressional sponsors of pending legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration on the subject of so- called "back-to-gate" time limits for delayed passenger flights. In the letter, ASTA requested that Congress establish a clearly-defined time limit beyond which passengers who have been subjected to lengthy on-board tarmac delays must be permitted to return to the gate and exit the delayed aircraft. The legislation was reported out of a key Senate Committee last week, and is slated for a vote in both chambers of Congress later this fall.

In the letter, ASTA said:

In the face of continuing delays and the evident lack of concrete efforts on the part of the airlines to create a meaningful solution thereto, and absent a robust reporting mechanism that would compel airlines and airports to report back to the Department of Transportation on their actual progress in implementing the recommendations in the Task Force's [National Task Force to Develop Model Contingency Plans to Deal with Lengthy Airline On-Board Ground Delays (Tarmac Delay Task Force)] final report, we see little hope for real progress in this area without further action from Congress.

Therefore, we respectfully ask that you establish a clear standard for the airlines to follow. A Congressionally-defined standard will not in itself solve the inexorable problem of chronic flight delays, but it will surely represent an improvement over the current system, in which people are trapped on planes without adequate supplies for hours on end.

On Nov. 12, 2008, the Tarmac Delay Task Force, on which ASTA held a seat, concluded nearly a year of debate about how to deal with inevitable major flight delays that strand passengers on aircraft for periods up to eight or even 10 hours. Among the Task Force's recommendations was that each airline be permitted to establish its own time limit at each airport for deplaning passengers who have been subjected to lengthy delays. In addition, the Task Force recommended that delayed passengers be provided with "regular and timely information" concerning the reason for such delays.

See full Letter to U.S. Congress

See full Letter to the U.S.Senate

ABOUT ASTA ASTA's (American Society of Travel Agents) mission is to facilitate the business of selling travel through effective representation, shared knowledge and the enhancement of professionalism. ASTA seeks a retail travel marketplace that is profitable, growing and a rewarding place to work, invest and do business.

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 June 25, 2009   United Terminates Some Agents’ Access to Credit Card Tickets

ASTA has received confirmation that United Air Lines has terminated some agencies' right to process credit card transactions effective July 20, 2009. Select agencies were advised yesterday by overnight letter that they will "no longer have continued access to United's credit card merchant agreements, including but not limited to Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diner's Club and JCB cards." They were also told to "(a) process cards under (their) own merchant agreement(s), if any, and (b) settle in cash with United." The number of travel agents targeted by United, and the reason why certain travel agents were targeted, but not others, is still not clear.

There are many business implications with this announcement, from agents absorbing United's cost of doing business, to the business processes that travel agents would need to modify. Not only will this require agents to absorb United's merchant fees, but agent's ARC bonds will likely increase as cash sales increase. Also, by acting as the credit card merchant for United's transactions, United is passing on its risk of credit card charge-backs related to airline performance on to the backs of travel agents.

The operational challenges, and costs, are also enormous. Travel agents have back office, mid- office, front office and consumer facing booking tools that must be reprogrammed to accommodate a change of this magnitude. Online booking tools do not have automatic controls that would allow an agent to refuse a certain airline's booking based on the form of payment or for the travel agent to automatically charge a customer's credit card as a merchant for certain airline transactions.

Of course there are other issues as well, such as agency access to merchant accounts. Most agents access merchant services through the Airlines Reporting Corporation's (ARC) Travel Agent Service Fee (TASF) program. And this program is designed to process service fees, not airline tickets. ARC has a $500 limit on transactions processed through the TASF program. Even agents with their own merchant accounts are at risk to lose their merchant status with a substantial increase in average transaction price.

ASTA is still gathering facts on this development and we will be analyzing it on many different levels. To help with this endeavor, let ASTA know if your agency has received this letter. ASTA needs your help to understand very precisely the commercial impact of this change, including the cost, timing and feasibility of workarounds. Please send your input to askasta@asta.org ASTA will update members as the situation unfolds.

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