Tiger Australia has launched a new group booking service which will make it easier for the trade to book its low cost fares.
A dedicated team member, based in Melbourne, will work with the travel trade and consumers in order to "take the hassle out" of booking a group of 10 people or more.
Carly Brear, Tiger's commercial director, told Travel Today that commission payments are not on the agenda with the fares too low to make it practical. Instead, she highlighted the "main benefit" for agents as the low prices.
But she said the airline will "actively welcome" business from the trade.
"The group bookings business is a big nod to that," she said.
"We recognise, especially for the trade, it's quite challenging with the low cost carriers to get that type of product packaged up so having that group system should make it a little bit easier to work with us."
Brear highlighted the flexible nature of the new service which requires only a 25% deposit payment in the first instance with free name changes until up to 14 days prior to departure. The balance is due one moth before departure.
"Essentially it removes the headache of trying to arrange a group booking further out on a fare that, although very low, may not be particularly flexible," she said.
"Now they can essentially do what they want with that fare as long as the final name we get is the name that travels."
Although the new service has not been actively promoted as yet, feedback in the month since its launch has been good, Brear revealed, with travel agents that have so far booked a group with Tiger independently packaging up the fares themselves.
"How they sell it on is up to them but what they get is the luxury of the fare as part of that bundle," she said.
"Whereas in the past, it's just been too difficult for them to use low cost."
