Travel Advisor Fee Schedule Template
Commission alone does not pay for the work a good itinerary takes, and the trips that pay least in commission are often the ones that take most planning. A published fee schedule is how advisors stop absorbing that gap.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to charge, what to promise, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ A consultation or research fee for the work that happens before any booking
- ✓ Trip planning fees banded by complexity rather than by budget
- ✓ A per-traveler or per-destination structure for groups and multi-stop trips
- ✓ Fees for the work that earns no commission at all, such as airline-only bookings and points redemptions
- ✓ Change and cancellation handling fees
- ✓ A rush fee for short-notice departures
- ✓ What is included at each level, so the bands are comparable
- ✓ A line on how the fee interacts with commission, since clients will ask
How to use it
- Band by complexity, not by trip value. A complicated ten-day trip on a modest budget is more work than a simple expensive one, and pricing on budget punishes you for it.
- Charge for the work that earns no commission first, because that is where advisors lose the most time for nothing.
- Quote the fee before the work starts, in writing, and take it up front. A fee invoiced afterwards is a fee argued about.
- Say what each band includes. A number with nothing beside it invites a comparison with an advisor who charges nothing.
- Review it once a year against the hours a trip actually takes you, which Unit 3 covers measuring.
Travel Advisor Fee Schedule Template FAQs
Should travel advisors charge planning fees?
Most established advisors do. Commission is paid after travel, is not paid at all on some bookings, and does not reflect how long a trip took to plan. A fee is what makes the unprofitable work viable.
How much should I charge?
Nobody can honestly hand you a number, because it depends on your niche, your market, and how long trips take you. Unit 3 covers the calculation, and the free income calculator on this site helps you sanity-check the result.
Will clients leave if I start charging a fee?
Some will, and they are usually the ones who were costing you money. The larger risk is introducing a fee to existing clients badly, which is why it belongs in your first conversation with every new inquiry.
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