Many a times, you would have found the cheap air tickets on the internet and book the same online. But, there could also be times when the people are not able to use the online booking facilities and approach the offline sources, such as the retail shops of the agencies for getting the air tickets booked. These retail shops could be of the big and reputed travel agencies, owned and operated by their own staff, or these could also be the affiliates and franchises of these agencies. So, the people whom you would be approaching for booking the cheap international flights might actually be connected with one of the large travel agencies. Even after the initiation of the online booking system, the agencies have not closed their offline shops and have, rather, opted for retaining and further increasing their numbers.
The sub-agents of the agencies, whether in the form of franchises or affiliates, are able to provide a one to one service to the customers. The customer gets to meet the company representatives and gets the services to his or her satisfaction. If there are any issues, then these can be resolved from one nodal point rather than speaking to the anonymous call center representatives of the online form of agency.

For the agency, the franchise or the affiliate model provides a quick way to increase the footprint across the different destinations of the country. Without investing much by itself and by calling for investments from the affiliates or franchises, the agencies are able to establish long-lasting business relationships on revenue sharing basis. The sub-agents provide the last mile connectivity with the customers. By virtue of being present even in the relative remote and inaccessible areas of the country, the sub-agents are able to bridge the gap between the agency and the customers.

These sub-agents are not connected directly with any of the travel product owners, be it the hotels, airlines or the vacation destinations. These work under the aegis of some travel agency which has the inventory of cheap air tickets, hotels, car hire services, destinations and a number of other travel products. Even the big agencies are not the product owners. Rather, they have the commission based arrangement with the owners. Sub-agents also have a commission based arrangement with the agency.

The agency might not keep a uniform policy of commissions with all the sub agents. The commission might depend on the location in which the subagent is located and the quantum of sales which can be generated by him or her. Further, it would also depend on the brand value of the agency and the growth projections which it has for itself. A lot also depends on the strategic maneuvers of the competitors and on the negotiations between the agency and the prospective sub-agent.