Six months ago, I booked two around-the-world tours on TCS Expeditions jets for 2012 and was notified after booking them that TCS had reduced agent commissions from 10% to 8%.
Two percent on these bookings is huge amount of money. When I asked why they would do such a thing as they were part of Travcoa, which has always been a good agent partner, they said they decided that many of these bookings were not agent-generated. I can prove that all these clients had been my clients prior to booking and I was the one who suggested this product.
They did not care. What recourse do agents have when our so-called “partners” decide they want to pay us less than we deserve and keep more for themselves? Who is next on our chopping block?
This has also been evident, but not as blatant, with the mass-market cruise lines, which have noncommissionable fees as part of their pricing, sometimes exceeding the actual cruise price. I think most agents really don’t realize that it is a form of cutting our commission.
Nancy Yale, president
Cruise, Resort & World Travel Inc.
Director of TCS responds:
For the last 16 years, TCS & Starquest Expeditions has been providing trips of a lifetime for thousands of private-jet travelers and in the process has developed long, positive relationships with travel agents across the country.
With global economic challenges, including the ever-increasing cost of fuel and hotels, plus currency fluctuations, businesses review all their costs and strive to balance quality, price and value. Among the many variables reviewed, renegotiated and/or adjusted, we made the hard choice to reduce our travel agent commission from 10% to 8%. This information was shared in writing at the time of booking. As the average price of our programs is more than $60,000 per traveler, we still offer one of the best commission rates in the industry.
The highest standard of customer service has always been our hallmark. We pride ourselves on providing reliable, timely and in-depth information about our programs. Travel agents and their clients benefit not only from the quality of our trips but also from the quality of our pretrip communication. We have heard many times from agents how booking a client on a TCS & Starquest trip creates repeat business and referrals.
We are committed to providing a product and services that are valuable and profitable to the travel agent community and thank them for entrusting their clients to us.
Shelley Cline, managing director
TCS & Starquest Expeditions
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