NEWS — HOT STORIES 2
Natalie Turner, Midcounties
head of branches
Midcounties trials £25 customer booking charge
Juliet Dennis
The Midcounties Co-operative is to trial a £25 service fee to customers booking holidays in its network of shops. From December 1, the group’s 57 high street shops will apply the fee on all overseas bookings in a month-long trial. The £25 fee will appear as a
separate “transparent” charge. It will cover the cost of the extra administrative work agents do, such as checking clients in online, filling out Air Passenger Information for airlines and printing itineraries. Agents will earn an extra £5
every time they charge the fee. If levied permanently, the fees
are predicted to generate about £1 million in extra profit a year for Midcounties Co-operative. Alistair Rowland, general manager of the travel division, said the retailer had no option other than to introduce a service fee because commission earnings were no longer enough to sustain the costs of a retail operation. He said: “The model needs
reinventing and frankly, the cost
of operating is no longer offset by average commissions in retail. To stay profitable in the long term, you can either strip costs out or add a fee structure.” He admitted the move would
involve a “mindset” change for the group’s travel consultants but claimed customers would pay “if they have a good experience”. He added: “We will lose some customers, but at £25 we are not talking about a lot of money.” Natalie
Turner, Midcounties’ head of branches, added: “Our costs have increased because of the extra time it takes to fully service our customers. Although some colleagues may struggle to start with, I think they will understand the reason and the marjority will embrace it.” Margins in Midcounties’ shops
are expected to reach 10.4% per booking this year.
Trade urged to back push to scrap APD for children
Juliet Dennis
The Fair Tax on Flying coalition is calling on the industry to back its campaign to scrap APD for children under 12. The Scrap the Tax on Family Flights campaign went live this week. Employees in the trade and holidaymakers are being urged to
register opposition to the tax on children’s flights by sending an electronic postcard to the chancellor George Osborne via the Fair Tax on Flying website, and tweet the Treasury. APD adds £52 to the cost of a family of four’s economy flights to destinations in Europe and £276 to destinations such as the US. The tax is the highest of its kind worldwide and only four other European countries levy a similar tax. The campaign aims to bring about a change in the
March 2015 budget. It follows a ComRes poll, commissioned by A Fair
Tax on Flying, which found 65% of UK adults thought children under 12 should be exempt from APD. The coalition, set up to reduce APD, claims it would
cost the Treasury £50 million if it axed the tax on children aged two to 12, currently charged the same as adults. About 30 MPs have signed a House of Commons early-day motion to support the demand. An online calculator, a new version of the coalition’s existing tax calculator, works out the cost for children to fly, and sends an e-postcard to the chancellor. Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “We’d urge all our members
and travel companies far and wide to use Facebook and Twitter to follow the campaign and share messages.” Virgin Atlantic chief executive Craig Kreeger and BMI chief
executive Cathal O’Connell have already called for APD to be abolished for children, while Travelzoo is also backing the campaign. ❯ The campaign can be viewed at
afairtaxonflying.org
27 November 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 5 3
“We will lose some
customers…but £25 is not a lot of money”
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