Travelocity.com has imposed a $10 customer fee to book United Airlines flights, less than a week after the carrier stopped paying commissions to travel agents.
United flights listed on the Travelocity today were accompanied by a notation that a $10 "service charge" would be added to the cost of each ticket. United last Wednesday eliminated commissions paid to all travel agents, including those on the Web.
"Because Travelocity cannot work without being compensated, we"ve reached the unfortunate decision to implement a $10 service charge on United tickets," said a Travelocity representative who requested anonymity.
Travelocity does not levy service fees to book reservations on other airlines" flights, the company said.
Travelocity rival Expedia reacted to the commission issue in a different way, at least temporarily. Late Thursday and early Friday, Expedia pushed United flights to the bottom of the results page in its consumer searches, but "that is no longer the case," a spokesperson said today.