ASTA Agents Call for Progress on Capitol Hill
by Andrew Sheivachman /WASHINGTON, D.C.-- At the second annual ASTA Legislative Day on Capitol Hill, more than 50 participating ASTA members implored their elected representatives to side with their constituents-- and the travel agents who assist them-- on issues from ancillary fees to Cuban travel.
“It was a challenge to pick our issues for today,” said Eben Peck, senior vice president of government and industry affairs for ASTA. “The initial list was 20 issues long.”
The group’s number one issue in 2015 remains the Transparent Airfares Act, which would allow airlines to once again display flight pricing information in a misleading manner online, and potential regulation of ancillary fees by the Department of Transportation.
Ancillary issues
The Department of Transportation currently does not allow for travel agents to sell core ancillary services to consumers. As airlines look to commoditize and unbundle more components of the air ticket, it is important that agents be given access to that information.
“We know a lot of [consumers] buy online, but even online consumers have the same problem as agents,” said Paul Ruden, ASTA’s senior vice president of legal and industry affairs. “It drives them crazy and causes them to spend more money than they should [on ancillaries].”
ASTA agents asked their congressional representatives to support full consumer and travel agency access to ancillary services and fees, and to oppose the Transparent Airfares Act, which is likely to be included in an upcoming FAA reauthorization bill.
The need to service customers
The uncertainty surrounding access to airline ancillaries is a pressing concern for travel professionals.
“The airlines came up with the notion of unbundling,” said Stewart Alvarez, vice president of strategic planning for Amadeus. “The issue we have is that, representing half of the consumers who purchases travel, we need to make sure we can service our customers.”
The regulations in question have nothing to do with the legality of airlines charging for ancillaries. Instead, the questions surround how the public can access this information.
“Nobody’s saying the airlines shouldn’t be able to merchandise,” said Alvarez. “But when you add everything back up at the end, the consumer wants to know what they’re paying.”
A best case scenario for agents will be a resolution that allows them to access, and book, an air ticket with whatever ancillaries are available-- and then be able to drop ancillaries from the booking toward the end of the process, while still retaining the ticket itself.
Going to Cuba
ASTA also urged members to voice support for open travel to Cuba, regardless of partisan politics surrounding the issue.
“You should not use travel as a weapon in foreign policy,” said Peck. “We’re a free country without exit controls like the Soviet Union-- except [for] Cuba.”
Despite efforts to open up Cuba, general tourist travel is still banned.
“We’re for getting rid of the ban, getting rid of the administrative obstacles and letting the marketplace of ideas and travel take care of the rest,” said Ruden.
Drive-thru taxation
The final topic of discussion at ASTA Legislative Day was an imminent bill to ban state governments from levying discriminatory taxes on the rental car industry.
In the last 25 years, more than 100 special car rental taxes have been enacted in the U.S., according to ASTA. A bipartisan group of senators are looking to bass the End Discriminatory Taxes on Automobile Renters Act, which will prevent states from creating any new taxes on car rentals.
“The legislation narrowly defines a discriminatory tax as a tax aimed at your customers, often times to pay for sports stadiums, convention centers or art museums,” said Gordon Reel, assistant vice president of government and public affairs at Enterprise Holdings. “[Politicians] want to target out-of-towners, so they get what they want and shield their constituents from the burden of paying for it.”
The new law will grandfather in existing taxes, so funding for government projects will not be disrupted.