Pegasus Solutions Celebrates a Decade of Commitment to Helping Travel Agents Collect and Process Hotel Commissions

Pegasus Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: PEGS) announced it has reached the milestone of 10 years dedicated to assisting travel agencies worldwide with obtaining and managing their hotel commissions, while streamlining the payment process for hotels. 

Created in 1992 from a meeting between 13 of the world's major hotel companies and leading travel agencies to address the heated issue of commission payments, Pegasus Commission Processing today counts the majority of the world's travel agencies and 35,000 hotel properties among its subscribing members. Pegasus Commission Processing is the hotel industry's leading travel agent commission processing service and was created by Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, a leading provider of hotel industry transaction processing and electronic commerce services.

According to Jeff Bzdawka, senior vice president of Pegasus Financial Services, Pegasus Commission Processing's continued worldwide growth is anchored in having identified a substantial industry need and in delivering a compelling, technologically advanced, service-based solution. 

"Ten years ago the topic of commissions was extremely sensitive among travel agents and hoteliers. Travel agencies were unconvinced that hotels were paying all commissions due, and hotels were spending too much time and effort managing the intensive task of cutting thousands of commission checks. The lack of a simple and effective industry-wide commission processing system often created turbulence on both sides of the commission equation," Bzdawka said.  

"We are pleased to have contributed to the marked improvement in the overall commission environment within the industry today and look forward to continuing our commitment to helping travel suppliers and travel agencies maintain healthy and strong financial relationships." 

Survey Says...

A recent survey of select top Pegasus travel agency customers revealed that on a scale of one (1) to five (5), with five (5) being excellent, the majority of respondents ranked Pegasus Commission Processing as a four (4) in terms of overall value of the commission management service. Reinforcing travel agents' increased interest in reliable commission and reservations data, several respondents ranked the value of the data/reporting provided by Pegasus Commission Processing as a five (5) and expressed an interest in expanding Pegasus Commission Processing to include commission payments from suppliers other  than hotels. 

Bzdawka continued, "Most travel agencies realize marked growth in commission revenue as a result of enrolling in Pegasus Commission Processing, and hard costs associated with traditional commission collection/deposit methods are significantly reduced. Add the ability to capture consumed travel information, and you can see that it's our proven value that has made Pegasus Commission Processing the primary commission management solution used by travel agencies today. We are exploring new ways to expand our services in order to better assist travel agencies in managing all of their commission revenues and supplier relations information." 

Commenting on the Pegasus Commission Processing service, Jane Welsh, vice president of travel for AAA Minnesota/Iowa, a $140 million travel agency that was one of the first subscribers of Pegasus' commission program, said, "Pegasus' commission management service is an integral part of our operations. We have seen a substantial increase in the receipt of earned hotel commissions since joining the program, and our managers have complete confidence in Pegasus' ability to efficiently service this critical component of our business."

Pegasus Commission Processing: How It Works

Each month Pegasus collects hotel participant's actual guest stay information related to hotel bookings  made by travel agents and travel Web sites that are members of Pegasus Commission Processing.  

Pegasus consolidates all participating hotel properties' information and commission payments and sends detailed reports and a consolidated commission payment in agencies' choice of currency to Pegasus'  member  travel agencies, which are located in more than 200 countries. 

Travel agencies can also elect to receive total automated commission management through Pegasus' Electronic Reconciliation & Tracking service, which realized 42 percent growth in agency participation in 2001. Pegasus also maintains highly responsive customer service support for travel agencies, with more  than 70 percent of queries being serviced while agents are on the phone with Pegasus.