http://www.travelstart.com/street/did-the-airlines-make-a-mistake-in-removing-commissions/ Everything happening on the street Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:50:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://www.travelstart.com/street/did-the-airlines-make-a-mistake-in-removing-commissions/comment-page-1/#comment-1979 S. Schloss Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:00:59 +0000 http://www.travelstart.lsdemo.co.za/did-the-airlines-make-a-mistake-in-removing-commissions/#comment-1979 Interesting comments, considering that the service fee on the Travelstart is completely hidden. A service fee is mentioned as "(incl. all taxes and service fee)", but the price breakdown shows one price for the ticket and 0 for tax. The service fee is mentioned again under extras as "(incl. all taxes and service fee)" and again shows 0 if no extras are included. Just when you start wondering whether it's too good to be true, you see "(incl. taxes and our handling fee of R49)". This time no mention of service fee. The site does not specifically state that it only charges the R49 handling fee, but by combining it with the tax and showing zero and then with the extras showing zero, it uses misdirection in the same way that magician does. The amount charged as service fee is only displayed after payment is confirmed, then you see that it is 20% of the price of the flight. To crown it all, Travelstart does not even make a booking. If you look at your bank statement, you see that you transacted with the airline, and Travelstart makes an extra deduction the following day. When looking at this situation in the context of the commission that you have mentioned, what am I to believe? Interesting comments, considering that the service fee on the Travelstart is completely hidden. A service fee is mentioned as “(incl. all taxes and service fee)”, but the price breakdown shows one price for the ticket and 0 for tax. The service fee is mentioned again under extras as “(incl. all taxes and service fee)” and again shows 0 if no extras are included. Just when you start wondering whether it’s too good to be true, you see “(incl. taxes and our handling fee of R49)”. This time no mention of service fee.
The site does not specifically state that it only charges the R49 handling fee, but by combining it with the tax and showing zero and then with the extras showing zero, it uses misdirection in the same way that magician does. The amount charged as service fee is only displayed after payment is confirmed, then you see that it is 20% of the price of the flight.
To crown it all, Travelstart does not even make a booking. If you look at your bank statement, you see that you transacted with the airline, and Travelstart makes an extra deduction the following day.
When looking at this situation in the context of the commission that you have mentioned, what am I to believe?

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