Tui introduces a new travel agency fee: Flat rate makes vacation more expensive now

Shortly before the summer season: Tui introduces a new travel agency fee: a flat rate makes vacation more expensive now

Those who plan their vacation in a travel agency will soon have to dig deeper into their pockets. After the DER travel agencies, Tui is now also introducing, for the first time, a service fee for bookings in travel agencies. The more money customers pay for the trip, the higher the flat rate. We’ll tell you what to look out for.

Travel agencies are still very popular with Germans. An evaluation from 2019 shows that 40 percent of travelers plan their vacation through travel agencies. Thanks to the expertise and many years of experience of the employees, consumers receive significantly more attractive offers. But it is precisely this competent advice that will soon cost money in travel agencies.

The travel agencies of DER are pioneers. An indirect service fee was introduced there in November last year. Tui is now following suit with its travel agencies and will soon show this amount specifically on the invoices.

Customers should then receive and pay two tariffs, depending on the effort involved in booking the trip. At least if the offer created by the travel experts is also booked. The Tui emphasizes that any advice in the travel agency remains free of charge.

in the Basic tariff a so-called needs analysis is included. An offer is sought, worked out and different offers are compared with one another. Information on entry requirements and the registration of seat reservations are also included. The service fee is only due when booking. If the planned trip costs less than 500 euros, customers should pay 15 euros. If the booking value of the trip is over 500 euros, 29 euros are due.

If customers want additional services such as luggage, a shuttle bus, a room in the hotel with an additional bed or additional offers on site, such as excursions to the holiday destination, then the travel agency will ask for them Premium tariff. Here, too, the booking value of the trip is a guideline. Cheap travel offers under 500 euros cost 25 euros; if the travel price is higher, 39 euros are due.

  • Calculation example 1: Claudia wants to fly to Mallorca in September and stay in a five-star hotel. Since she wants to take her dog with her, she goes to a travel agency and gets advice there. The cheapest offer (with travel to the airport, flight and seat reservation, shuttle bus from arrival to the hotel, single room with sea view and breakfast) costs 749 euros. Claudia would now also book a wellness product, which amounts to another 89 euros on site. So that’s 838 euros for five days.

In this invoice, the Tui travel agency would charge an additional flat rate of 39 euros. In this case, the advice is considered a premium additional service, as the employee has selected individual additional offers. The 838 euros become 877 euros.

  • Calculation example 2: Klaus wants to travel to Berlin by train in October. He’s planning a single city trip for three days and needs a hotel for that. The short excursion costs 169 euros. If Klaus is satisfied with the price and offer, he does not have to pay a service fee at the travel agency. After all, he knows what he wants and indirectly does not need any advice. However, if he wants to compare several offers in a travel agency, he would have to pay 15 euros when booking.

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Do I have to pay the additional fee?

The additional fee only applies when booking at the travel agency. In addition to air, hotel, package or city trips, cruises and wellness vacations are also affected.

Individual travel agencies could actually waive the processing fee. Especially with long-term customers who regularly book trips there. Travel agencies could also offset the processing fee with the booking. This was previously the case with DER travel agencies. In the end, the customer would not incur any direct additional costs.

TUI itself wants to show the processing fee directly on the invoices from mid-May. However, this only applies if customers book a trip at a travel agency after a detailed consultation. We therefore recommend that you clarify in advance of the interview whether a processing fee is due and which services are included.

Why do travel agencies now charge this additional flat rate?

Individual travel agencies do not want to speak about it in public. But the new fee should specifically and primarily protect against third-party bookings. More and more travel agencies complain that customers have offers created on site and then use this information to book elsewhere. Customers get information about hotels, flights and nearby attractions and then book the trip online.

The travel industry itself believes that these flat-rate service packages will become the market standard in stationary travel agencies. “In other service sectors it is now established that good service is rewarded,” said TUI at the official presentation of the new tariffs.

DER Touristik stated in November: “The time that our travel experts invest in creating individual dream trips and in additional services, this unbeatable service and additional effort, must be rewarded.”

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* Editor’s note: An earlier version of the article incorrectly referred to an “advisory fee”. TUI emphasizes that the new basic and premium tariffs are a flat-rate service fee that is only due after a detailed consultation and when booking at the travel agency. The consultation itself remains free of charge.

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