How Does a Travel Agent Get Paid? Does It Cost More to Book With One?

I get asked this all the time, and it makes sense. If you’ve never worked with a travel agent before, you’re probably wondering how I get paid, whether there’s a catch, and if booking through me is going to make your vacation more expensive.

The short answer is: for the trips I normally book, no.

I don’t add a planning or booking fee onto your cruise, resort, tour or vacation package. In more than five years of doing this, I haven’t charged a client a planning fee.

So how do I get paid?

The Travel Supplier Pays Me

When I book a cruise, resort, tour, vacation package or other commissionable travel, the supplier pays my agency a commission after you travel.

That commission is generally already built into the way the supplier prices and distributes the trip. You don’t get a special discount for booking directly with the cruise line or resort just because you skipped a travel agent.

Think about it this way: Expedia and Booking.com are travel agencies too. They’re getting paid when you book through them.

The difference is that when you book with me, you get me.

You’re not calling a giant call center where you can barely understand what they’re saying and explaining your trip to a different person every time. You have my direct contact information, and I know what you booked, why you chose it and what matters to you.

Does It Cost More to Book Through Me?

Not if I can help it.

I’m looking at the same supplier pricing you can find directly, but I may also have access to agency rates, group pricing, onboard credits, resort offers or other benefits through my agency and the Travel Leaders network.

Sometimes the supplier’s own public promotion is the best deal. Sometimes I have something better available. Sometimes the price is the same but there’s an extra benefit attached.

My job is to look at the whole offer, not just grab the first number that looks cheapest.

If the price drops before final payment and the supplier allows it, I can request a reprice. There are exceptions depending on the promotion and booking terms, but it’s something I watch for.

What Am I Actually Doing If You Could Just Book It Yourself?

There are so many ways to book travel online now, and sometimes making the reservation itself really is the easy part.

Where I come in is helping you sort through all of the choices and make sure what you’re booking actually fits the way you want to travel.

That might mean helping you choose the cruise ship that’s the best fit for you, looking at cabin location before you book, figuring out which resort room category is actually worth paying more for, or looking at an itinerary as a whole to make sure the timing and transportation make sense.

A lot of what I bring to the table is simply knowing what to look for. I know the questions to ask, the things that can cause problems later, and the details that aren’t always obvious when you’re looking at a booking screen. I also have relationships with cruise lines, resorts, tour operators and other travel suppliers, so I often have people and resources I can go to when I need a favor, special request, or help with a reservation.

My job also doesn’t end once the reservation is made.

I’m here for the questions, changes, supplier calls, payment deadlines, room or cabin requests, group coordination, special circumstances, and sometimes the unexpected things that come up while you’re traveling.

You’ll still receive your confirmations directly from the travel supplier and your payments are made directly to them. I don’t hold your vacation money.

I’m simply your concierge helping you manage the trip from the time we start planning until you’re home again.

Why Don’t I Normally Book Flights by Themselves?

Booking airline tickets alone works a little differently from most of the travel I book.

Airlines generally don’t pay travel agencies a commission on regular standalone airline tickets, and in most cases I’m seeing the same published fares you can see directly on the airline’s website. I’d have to add a fee just to compensate me for my time, and I don’t want to charge you a fee just to book a flight.

Booking and managing airfare can also take a lot of time, especially when there are schedule changes, delays, or cancellations along the way. I track flights and routinely stay up all hours of the night to make sure my clients make it to their destination. To do that without any compensation wouldn’t make a lot of sense.

Because of that, I typically don’t book flights by themselves.

When I’m also booking your resort, cruise, tour or vacation package, adding flights is no problem. I do it all of the time without any extra fees. In fact it’s important to do that because I’m looking at arrival times, connections, baggage rules, transfers, whether coming in a day early makes sense, and how the flights fit with everything else you have planned.

Do I Ever Charge a Planning Fee?

For cruises, resorts, vacation packages, tours and most group travel — I don’t charge a planning or booking fee.

In fact, I haven’t charged a client a fee in more than five years of business.

I do reserve the option to charge a planning fee for something unusually complicated, like a highly customized multi-city itinerary. I only do this in situations where the elements I’m booking for you take a lot of time and aren’t commissionable.

If I ever felt your trip needed a fee, I would talk to you about it before I started the work. There wouldn’t be a surprise fee added later.

The built-in supplier commission is how I’m paid, like other booking sites, and you get my personalized help planning and managing the trip without paying me an additional fee.

What Do You Get When You Book With Me?

The biggest value isn’t just making the reservation. It’s having someone who already knows your trip, understands what you were trying to accomplish, provides you with guides and insider tips, and can help you make decisions along the way.

I’m looking at more than just the price on the screen. I’m thinking about whether the ship, resort, room, itinerary, flights, transfers and timing all make sense together. I also know what questions to ask, what details are worth paying attention to, and when it makes sense to pivot.

Sometimes that means helping you avoid a room location you probably wouldn’t have loved. Sometimes it means knowing that one resort is a much better fit than another even though they look similar online. Sometimes it’s simply knowing who to call when something needs to be changed or clarified.

You’re still booking your vacation with the travel supplier and paying them directly. You just have me helping you through the process instead of having to figure out every piece of it on your own.

Have a Trip in Mind?

Tell me what you’re thinking and I’ll help you figure out the best place to start.