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Airlines are paying more commission on web referrals from non-travel companies than standard travel agent commissions, a furious Buckinghamshire agent has claimed.

St Peter Travel agent Murray Harrold said affiliate programmes, such as tradedoubler.co.uk, direct2.co.uk and cj.com, allow “almost anyone with a website” to register and gain payments from suppliers.

British Airways participates in more than 1,300 programmes and from July 1 will pay sales referrals a flat £4 per fee, said a spokeswoman.

It views affiliate programmes as “advertising”, but wouldn’t say how much business comes via the channel.

Harold described the situation as “galling” for travel agents. “Anyone can put a heap of links on their website and earn 2% commission from major airlines. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can get more than us for doing nothing.”

ABTA president Martin Wellings said: “There is nothing ABTA can do about it. It is an economic fact of life.”

Airlines, such as BA, distribute fares and build profile via the schemes. BA currently pays a 1% referral fee to businesses that direct clients to ba.com from click-through boxes on their websites. It has paid agents 0% commission since May 1.

KLM participates in the tradedoubler programme, said UK general manager Vincent Knoops, and pays “a modest” marketing fee to its administrator.

The scheme is “a marketing instrument” rather than a distribution channel, Knoops stressed. This view is shared by Air France.

“More than 80% of our revenue goes through agents but healthy growth in the direct channel is not against our interests,” Knoops said.

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