In 2014, Chet McDoniel gathered a small group of his agency's leaders at the Disneyland Resort in California and made a proclamation.
"The industry is headed toward fees," he recalled saying. “I'm not saying it's tomorrow, I'm not saying it'll ever happen, but there could come a day where suppliers come in just like Delta did all those years ago and say there's no commission anymore.”
That day, McDoniel -- who with his wife, Joni, owns the Disney-focused host agency Off to Neverland Travel in Fort Worth, Texas -- said that those leaders panicked when he insisted the agency needed to move toward a fee-based model to future-proof the business. Some pictured unwilling clients, others predicted they were done for.
Travel advisor Brianna Hill, who holds the title as the agency's chief trailblazer -- and also heads up supplier relations and fosters webinars and fam trips -- wasn't put off by the new business plan.
Brianna Hill, Off to Neverland Travel's chief trailblazer. Credit: Off to Neverland Travel
"Rather than being fearful about it, she jumped in head first," McDoniel said, adding that she's "succeeded so well with it that she's actually reduced her client load and made more income."
Hill went from charging no fee in 2012 to an average fee of $524 today.
She's been so successful in implementing fees into her business and helping other Off to Neverland ICs charge or increase fees (the agency currently has over 200 ICs), that Hill created the Travel Fee Playbook. The course, which launched earlier this month, teaches her method for charging fees in 10 video modules and seven downloadable resource guides. It's available for a founding-student price of $347 for the first 20 advisors that purchase it and increases to $497 after that.
Hill said the course fills a gap she saw: While advisors are often told they should charge fees, the industry lacks a clear voice explaining exactly how to do it.
"I wanted to create something that would help break that barrier in our industry and help advisors really understand their worth in a completely different way, shift their perspective," she said.
For Hill, whose worked with McDoniel on building the course for more than a year, a travel advisor charging a fee isn't about telling clients what she does and putting a number on that service.
"It's so much deeper than that," she said. “There's a level of psychology that comes into play when an advisor speaks with their client and uses the right language and the right body language, if they're meeting in person. There's so much that goes into creating the sense of value before the advisor even mentions a number."
That's the core of the course, she said, which was designed to guide advisors to do all of that and empower them to actually charge for their services.
A fee based on client needs
Hill doesn't charge a flat-rate fee and doesn't publish her fees publicly. She bases her fees on individual clients' needs and communication processes. Some clients might command a higher fee, for instance, if they're traveling at peak season, or if they require more of their advisor's time and frequent communication while planning.
Things like the economy also impact what she charges. Clients who need her services multiple times a year can pay a retainer. For her, it's about figuring out the worth of planning a trip (or trips), if no commission were paid.
"Pretend that commission is not even there, because the commission, really, at the end of the day, is the thank-you from the supplier," she said.
Sustaining the industry
Despite his 2014 proclamation, McDoniel said his ICs can choose whether or not to charge a fee, and far less than half choose to do it.
Right now, about 30 to 40 Neverland ICs charge fees; at the agency level, fees account for 7% to 8% of revenue. For some individual advisors, 20% to 25% of their personal revenue comes from fees.
For McDoniel, it's a way to ensure the business' long-term viability, even if suppliers reduced or stopped paying commissions down the road.
"We've got to take care of ourselves as an industry if we want to continue on, and we need to be independent," he said. “We need to be able to control our own destiny.”
In addition to the course, interested advisors can also sign up for a one-on-one, hourlong phone call with Hill to talk about their fee strategy and get personalized advice. If they book that when purchasing the playbook, it's $150; otherwise, a private coaching call is $250.
CORRECTION: The co-owner of Off to Neverland Travel is Joni McDoniel. Her name was incorrectly spelled in a previous version of this report.