Jamie Biesiada
When Hurricane Lane was poised to hit Hawaii a little over a week ago, Dani Johnson, vice president of Coastline Travel Advisors in Garden Grove, Calif., had several clients in Maui affected by the storm.
There were three couples. Of those, two had booked their own air, but one had paid a $25-per-ticket service fee to Coastline Travel. The agency booked their air.
As a result, Johnson handled all of their reaccommodations: She organized an extra night at the property where they had been staying and arranged flights home the next day. The travelers barely had to do anything.
The other couples in Hawaii were able to get out without a problem too, Johnson said, but the difference was they had to deal with the airlines themselves.
"This is the thing," Johnson said. "We're a full-service travel agency and able to book air. The one predominant thing that I tell my clients is that for a $25 service fee and having us book the air for you, if something like this really happens, [you will] really notice the difference.
"Because we are able to reschedule, we're able to do everything for the client without them having to stand on line, wait on hold," she added. "We're able to rebook it for them."
Service fees are often talked about as a way for agents to not only bring in extra revenue but also bolster their position as professionals who charge for their services.
Travel Weekly's 2017 Travel Industry Survey found that in 2016, commissions represented 78% of respondents' total revenue, while service fees accounted for 22%. Agencies with the highest sales volume, $10 million or more annually, tended to draw more revenue from services fees than did smaller agencies (39.7% compared with 19.6%).
Host Agency Reviews' 2018 Travel Agent Income Report found similar results: In 2017, 70.6% of respondents said their entire income came from commissions, with 30.4% charging service fees. This year, the number of agents who reported they don't charge service fees decreased 1%, to 69.6%.
"Sure, it may be a baby step, but we'll take it," Host Agency Reviews wrote in a post about the report.
Johnson's story highlights why a service fee can actually be a boon to a client as well as a revenue source for the agent.
"It's like $25 a ticket, and it ends up saving you so much heartache," Johnson said. "Because, as we all know, the airlines are really a challenge to work with now."