Airlines commissions - sources of data?

[Flightmapping]

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I'm trying to focus most of my efforts on "high value" destinations - even if I for one will keep having something on all flights, including no frills.

It goes without saying that (generally) the longer the distance, and the lower the levels of competition, the higher the fare.

However, some airlines also pay more than others - BA's 1% policy is quite well known (although apparently they start to talk if anyone can deliver them £1m+ sales value per year - I'm currently around £700k, so would it be worth trying something here?).

Flybe and Virgin are also 1% to affiliates, whereas KLM and Air France are still on a fixed cost per flight basis.

Some of the online agents offer %, others are fixed, but they also seem to have a preference (unsurprisingly) for long haul - even if Ebookers & Travelbag insist on a phone call to book stopovers - killing much of the opportunity for commission on flights to places like Australia, where they are very popular

I know most US airlines pay 1% on transatlantic routes (although US Air from Germany pay as much as 9%). I also know JAL pay 7%, whereas Qantas have just reduced theirs from 5% to 1%

The logic of this would be to target destinations where there is still a chunky commission from one or more airlines going there, and possibly in some cases to look for direct affiliate deals, especially where there's a strong regional presence (does anyone know what commission Emirates pay to agents?).

The other issue would presumably be to look at places where there is a higher portion of additional revenue - Expedia have always been good for tacking on hotels and car hire. Presumably the USA would be better than, for exampe, Thailand, here?

I'd like to discuss this & various other issues with other travel websites / agents, but can't find any forums which deal with this (I know of a popular aviation related site, but this is for pilots, not agents).

Pointers would be very welcome, by pm or on this thread

James

[lowndsy]

Just thinging out loud: would it be worth contacting some of the many "holiday clubs" for brits with property abroad - they offer good prices to their customers because they get a lot of business out of them, so presumably each new client is worth quite a bit to them - worth a finders fee maybe? If you listed one for each country/destination you could even charge for inclusion.

[Flightmapping]

Lowndsy,

Thanks for the suggestion. I think there are plenty of other possible revenue streams, but flights remain the core, hence wanting to look towards providing content on destinations where commissions are likely to remain generous.

In the long run, some airlines may eliminate commissions, as they have done in the US, whereas others may be more inclined to the idea that affiliate marketing is value added advertising tool, rather than an agency type arrangement. These are the ones I'm going to want to work with more.

James