HONOLULU -- Two major sources of volume business for Hawaii agents
are interisland air tickets and Las Vegas leisure travel.
Both these sources have attracted controversy and government
intervention in issues that could have had detrimental effects on
the agent community, but did not.
One other thing they have in common: They bring agents little
revenue compared with the work involved.
First, in April of last year, Hawaiian Airlines began competing
with agents, selling interisland ticket coupons through Bank of
Hawaii automated teller machines.
Second, in June 1998, Jimmy's Travel, a Honolulu operator of Las
Vegas charters, closed its doors, owing consumers around $900,000
for prepaid packages.
Agents surveyed by Travel Weekly said they had not been affected
by Hawaiian's ATM ticket sales. The big fear was that Hawaiian
would undercut agents, but that did not occur.
Most agents buy Hawaiian interisland coupons from local
consolidators, marking them up to make a 10% commission. They can
sell coupons to clients at $3 or $4 below the price of $51 per
interisland segment that Hawaiian charges through ATMs.
Regal Travel, the state's largest agency, fought the matter
through hearings before the state Department of Commerce and
Consumer Affairs (DCCA). Regal charged that Bank of Hawaii was
acting illegally by not registering as a travel agency under state
law.
Last June, DCCA's director gave a final ruling: Hawaiian was
renting ATM space and so the bank was not an agency under the
state's travel agent definition. Jimmy's Travel sold direct to
consumers, so its closure -which resulted in one of Hawaii's
largest consumer protection investigations -- did not affect
agents.
The legislature moved earlier this year on bills with measures
aimed at increased consumer protection.
However, Hawaii's ASTA chapter did not testify at legislative
hearings and had no official position on the issue.
The result was Act 258, which became effective Oct. 1 and adds a
new charter operator section to the state's travel agency law.
Previously, charter operators had only to register as a travel
agent under the agency law, which requires that clients' money be
put into a trust account (although Jimmy's did not).
The new law also requires they register as a charter operator
and adhere to the new provisions, which include posting a bond or
letter of credit. The amount depends on the number of charters
planned, and can run up to $1 million for 15 or more charters per
year.