Overview

This feature calculates the commission (kickback) a Travel Agent gets from the Tour Operator for selling a trip. Commissions are calculated with rule sets for categories or specific product types.

You can then add a commission to products or templates in the Inventory. 

00:00: In this video, you will learn how to set up commissions for agencies in TripBuilder. 00:05: On your main dashboard, access the settings. 00:09: Commissions are displayed as Commissions categories, and Commissions Rules. This feature calculates the commission a Travel Agent gets from the Tour Operator for selling a trip. 00:19: Commissions are calculated with rule sets for categories or specific product types. The commission value does not affect prices of the itinerary, and only reflects the value a Travel Agent receives. 00:31: Before we start, this feature needs to be enabled. Please contact customer support to do so. 00:38: Let's start by defining the categories. Navigate to the Commission Categories option. 00:44: A new page will open, with all the commission categories created. 00:49: To create a new one, click on "new Commission Category". 00:53: Give it an identifiable name. 00:55: Define the Default Commission value of this commission Category. This field should only contain numbers, that will reflect a percentage. For example, an input of 8, will reflect a 8% commission value. 01:09: On Editable, you can select if this commission category can be editable in Commission rules we will be creating after this. 01:16: Save the changes. 01:18: For this example video, we created 2 Commission Categories: Standard, with 8% and editable, and an Extra, with 12% and not editable. 01:28: Now, let's define the rules to which our Commission Categories should apply. Click on "Commission Rules". 01:35: A new window will open, with a listing of all the commission rules created. If none have been created so far, the list will be empty. 01:44: To create an new one, click on "New Commission Rule". 01:48: Give an identifiable name to this Rule. 01:51: Select the booking range. The booking range will define to which bookings this rule is applied, based on the timestamp that they were made. 01:59: On Rule type, you can select what type of rule you're creating. 02:03: If you select "Categories" type, this rule will be based on the Commission Categories that we created before. 02:10: If you select Product Types, you don't need to create Commission Categories. With Product type, you define a commission for one, or various inventory product types. 02:21: Let's see how to create a Category type rule first, based on the commission categories you created. 02:27: Save the changes. 02:30: New fields will show, for you to finish the configuration of your rule. 02:34: On "Commissions for Bookings" you will see all the Commission Categories you have created. 02:39: If you mark one as not editable, you cannot edit the percentage when creating the rule. 02:44: On the rules, you can define a Commission to be payed to the Travel Agent if a cancellation occurs. 02:50: On Distribution Channels, select if this rule applies to one, or all the DCs your Instance of TripBuilder has. 02:58: Booking Range is inherited from the Commission Categories, but you can change it. 03:03: In here, you can also define for each itineraries this Commission applies to, defined by a start range. This field is for when the trip starts, and not when the booking is made. 03:14: In the Add Agency button, you can define to which agencies this rule is applied. You can add as many agencies as you need, one by one. 03:24: Start typing, and TripBuilder will show you the corresponding agency matches. 03:29: Confirm the selection. 03:31: If you have cooperatives setup (groups of agencies) you can also add them easily. To do so, click on Add cooperative. 03:40: Additionally, you can add restrictions to products where this Commission Rule should not be applied. Click on Add Restriction. 03:48: Start typing the name of the product, and TripBuilder will show you the corresponding matches. 03:54: Confirm the selection. 03:56: You can add as many restrictions as you need. 03:59: When you're done setting up your Commission Rule, Save the changes. 04:03: This rule needs to be published. Open the action menu. 04:07: And click on Publish. 04:09: In order to the Commission Categories to be usable in Inventory Products in the tab Miscellaneous, or in Templates and Modules, they have to be included in at least one Commission rule. 04:20: As you can see, the Commission Categories are available to be chosen from a list, when creating or updating an Inventory Product, Template, or module. 04:30: Now, let's go back to Commission rules, and create a Product type Commission rule. 04:35: Fill the necessary details, and select Product Type, in the Rule type. 04:41: Save the changes. 04:43: As you can see, you no longer have the Commission Categories. You can create a percentage commission, and apply it to one, or multiple Inventory Products. 04:53: Select the product, or products types you want to include in this commission rule. 04:58: Define a percentage of Commission to be paid to Agencies when a booking is made containing this product types. 05:04: The remaining fields are equal to the ones on the Commission type rule. 05:08: When you finish setting up your rule, don't forget to save and publish your rule. 05:13: Commission Categories applied to templates, will overwrite any Commission rules created by product type. As a final note, in case of multiple, conflict rules for one booking, the commission rule, which gives the highest return for the agency, is the rule that wins. 05:30: Agencies can see their payable commission in the TA-Tools option in the Planner, and also on the price breakdown on the agency center. 05:38: We hope this video has been useful. Please read our Knowledge base article about this subject covered in detail.

Using this feature

• Go to Cockpit
• Click on Settings
• On the left-side menu, you will find the commissions menu:

Here, you can define the commission categories and their rules.

Commission Categories

A commission category has a name and a default value of the commission percentage, which defines how much commission an agency gets when a product is sold. 

To create a new commission category:

• Go to the left-side menu, and you will find the Commissions menu

• Click on Commission Categories, and a new page will open

• Click on the New Commission Category

You will be asked to fill in a Name for this category, a default commission value, and select editable or not.

• Name

  • Choose a name that you can easily identify later;

• Default commission value

  • Value of the commission (%) the TA obtains for selling this product - numbers only;

• Editable

  • Possibility to overwrite the default value in the rules:

    • If not selected: it is only possible to apply the default commission;

    • If selected: it is possible to overwrite the default value in the commission rules. For example, it is possible to set a different commission percentage value depending on the agency or agency type.

After all the fields have been filled, hit Save.

For this example, we have created two Commission Categories:

• Commission Category 1 (Editable)
  • an Editable commission with a 10% Default Commission Value.
• Commission Category 2 (Uneditable)
  • a non Editable commission with a 15% Default Commission Value.

Commission Rules

A commission rule defines the conditions when a travel agency gets a commission applied from the categories previously created.

To create a new commission rule:

• On the left-side menu, you will find the Commissions menu

• Click on Commission rules, and a new page will open

• Click on the New Commission Rule

A new page will open, and you are asked to fill in the following:

• Name:

  • Choose a name that you can easily identify later.
• Booking range (dates):
  • Define the dates when the commission rule will be active. 
• Rule Type:
  • Categories
  • Product Types

Please note: Commissions for inventory components or templates that have a specific commission category associated with them are calculated accordingly. Components that don’t have an associated commission category will be subject to commission rules by product type if available and matching. If two commission rules with common product types are applicable, the highest percentage commission will be applied.

Please note: The rule will only be applied when at the time of booking, the current date is in the configured booking range.

 

When you have filled the fields, hit Save.

Depending on the selected Rule Type, the following form will be different for each case.

Commission for Categories

After selecting a Rule Type for Categories, the following screen is presented to the user.

• Commissions for bookings
  • Here, you can see the commission categories created before presented as a table.
  • You can edit the % in the rules if you mark them as editable.
  • In the screenshot example, you can see one commission category editable and another non-editable.

•  Commission for cancellations

  • You can also add a commission that an agency gets in case of a cancellation.

•  Distribution Channels

  • You can leave this field empty to cover all your distribution channels or select only the ones you want to apply this rule to. 

• Booking range:
  • This is the range of dates when the booking is made (the booking window)

• Itinerary start range

  • This is the range of dates for the itinerary (the travel window). This commission rule is only applied if the itinerary travel dates are within the configured range of this field.

• Applicable cooperatives/Agency groups 

  • If an agency is part of a cooperative or a commission agreement is made between the tour operator and a cooperative, the cooperative can be selected. The cooperatives need to be pre-configured in the system.

• Applicable agencies 

  • If you want this commission rule to be applied to an individual agency only, the agencies can be configured in this field.

• Applicable restrictions

  • If you want this commission rule to be applied for a specific product only, the restriction can be configured in this field. (this feature might be deprecated)

Commission for Product Types

After selecting a Rule Type for Product Types, the following screen is presented to the user.

 

Compared with the screen for Commission Rules - Categories, the field Commissions for Bookings is not present. Instead, two new fields are now available:

• Product Types: Definition to which product types the rules apply.
• Commission: A single/flat commission percentage. A commission table with commission categories is not displayed in this case.

Please note: Ad-hoc components (added via TO-Tools) will also match existing product type rules. As an example, if we have a rule that pays a 10% commission on live supply accommodations, the same 10% will also be applied to ad-hoc accommodations. A generic ad-hoc is not automatically matched to a product type. A specific indication is required on the commission rule that defines the conditions for the generic ad-hoc component. Commissions for ad-hoc components will only apply to newly created itineraries when live.

 

 

Publishing

Independently on the Rule Type, you can hit Save when all the fields are filled.

After that, click on the 3 dots next to save, and hit Publish.

Confirm your commission rule.

If you need to change this rule, hit the 3 dots, and choose Checkout & Open.

To archive this rule, hit Archive.

 

Please note: A commission category will only be applied if a commission rule containing it is published.

 

Adding a Commission to an Itinerary/Product

Templates (Commission Categories)

Commission categories can now be associated and configured to templates to have control over the type of commission applied for Fixed Group Tours. This now means you are not forced to define commission on each product individually for Fixed Tours giving greater flexibility on how to apply commission.

If a commission category is applied to a template, then it is either applied to all modules with module pricing in the template or to all products in the module.

 

The template level commission overrides the commission defined on single products (the use case here is where fixed group tours are sold, and the commission is defined on the tour level, not the product level).

A different commission category can be applied to the template for optional activities, which can be added to a fixed tour for upselling.

You can add the commission rule to an Itinerary that matches the criteria field above by following these steps:

• Go to Cockpit

• Click on Inventory

• Find the templates where you want to implement this commission rule

• Checkout and Open the template into draft mode 

• In the tab Miscellaneous, you’ll find the Package Commission Category. 

• Click the field and free type to find the relevant commission category you want to apply.
  • In the context of Fixed Group Tours, you should add an upsell commission category (EG - for an optional activity). This allows you to define different commission rules on the upsell items. 

• Click SAVE and then re-publish

Products (Commission Categories)

• Go to Cockpit

• Click on Inventory

• Find the products where you want to implement this commission rule

• Checkout and Open the product 

• In the tab Miscellaneous, you’ll find the field Commission Category

Here, you can use the commission categories you created and add the commission to a product:

Hit Save and the product is updated with the commission category.

Reminder: The template level commission overrides the commission defined on single products (the use case here is where fixed group tours are sold, and commission is defined on the tour level, not the product level).

We've created commission categories and rules and can apply them to both templates and products. We want to be able to see the commission values when we are creating and planning itineraries. 

Example 1 - Adding commission categories to specific products

Below you can see how a commission category with rules has been assigned to a specific product. 

If we instantiate an itinerary using this template (including the specific product), you can now click on an option in 'TA Tools' called 'Commission Details'. 

Clicking on this, you'll now see a modal detailing the commission to be paid - the view only shows you the commission being paid to the products that have commission categories assigned to them. 

And if you go to Customer Itineraries and find the same itinerary, you also see a drop-down on the Agent Dashboard on the itinerary card. Clicking this gives the Agent a view of the total commission earned on the itinerary and the amount payable to the Tour Operator. 

Example 2 - Adding commission categories to a template - Flex Tours

Below my template has the tour type of individual tour, and there is a package commission category set. Even if any products have had commission categories assigned to them - they will not be applied if package commission categories are assigned to the template. 

If we instantiate an itinerary using this template, you can now click on an option in TA Tools called Commission Details. The screenshot below shows how the commission is visible to the Travel Agent, with a breakdown shown by each component in the package and a total.

And if you go to Customer Itineraries and find the same itinerary, you also see a drop-down on the Agent Dashboard on the itinerary card. Clicking this gives the Agent a view of the total commission earned on the itinerary and the amount payable to the Tour Operator. 

Example 3 - Adding commission categories to a template - Fixed Group Tours 

In this example, we have a template where the tour type is a group tour, and we've defined both a package and upselling commission category on the template. 

If we instantiate an itinerary using this template, you can now click on an option in TA Tools called Commission Details. 

The screenshot below shows how the commission is visible to the Travel Agent, there is no breakdown by component, but a commission amount for the group tour package and a commission amount for the upsell item. 

And if you go to Customer Itineraries and find the same itinerary, you also see a drop-down on the Agent Dashboard on the itinerary card. Clicking this gives the Agent a view of the total commission earned on the itinerary and the amount payable to the Tour Operator. 

Please note: If a commission rule is created for a fixed group tour (so applied to a Template), this will override the product type commission.

 

Applying Commission to Product Types (Individual/Flex Tours)

The logic for adding a commission to an Individual/Flex Tour is similar to that described previously for the Itinerary/Product use case. Using commission categories with commission rules, you can apply commission to each product (component) and to a Template in the context of Group Tours. 

You can also apply commission to a product type rather than defining it on the product itself or on a template (for Group Tours) - which allows a general method of applying commission in the context of individual itineraries or flex tours. This commission application also applies the commission to inventory and connected supplies.  

Examples of Product types are Accommodation, Transfers, Rental Cars, and Activities. 

This is a less granular way of applying commission to an itinerary than adding it to each separate product. And gives you a solution outside the context of group tours (where the commission can be applied to the template). 

Please note: You have set up agency commissions to be applied to individual itineraries/flex tours. They'll now show the commission on the products when you instantiate itineraries (Discovery or from template), and you can view the commission applied as normal via TA tools in the Planner. It is also displayed as a summary on the Agent Dashboard.

 

Once Commission Categories/Commission Rules are created and published, you are set to instantiate as an itinerary from template or discovery. You can see the commission applied via the TA Tools in Planner. As mentioned above, they will also appear on the agency dashboard.

 

Please note: If a commission rule is created for a fixed group tour (so applied to a Template), this will override the product type commission.

 

Output of the Commissions (Booking API)

The commission information of a booking is returned in the Booking API. For each commission category, the total sum of the commission is returned.

Example:

"commissions": [
  {
    "desc": "Hotel Commission",
    "percentage": 10.0,
    "amount": {
      "amount": 84.0
      "currency": "EUR"
    }
  },
  {
    "desc": "Activity Commission",
    "percentage": 5.0,
    "amount": {
      "amount": 50.50
      "currency": "EUR"
    }
  }
]

 

Please note: Commissions will only be returned by the booking API after the itinerary has been Booked.

 

Multiple Matching Commission Rules

For an itinerary, there are multiple commission rules that match with the itinerary's condition (e.g. correct travel range, correct booking range, correct agency), and these matching rules have different commission values configured. Which rule wins, and which commission is paid to the travel agency? The TripBuilder system calculates the value of the commission for each matching rule. This is also done at the time of booking. The commission rule, which gives the highest return for the agency, is the rule that wins. 

 

Agency Commissions Visibility

Currently, Agency Commissions are not visible in the Customer Care area, only in the Planner. The Product team has identified an improvement to integrate them in the Price List section; however, this enhancement is not planned for immediate implementation.

In the meantime, there are three alternatives to check agency commissions for a given itinerary:

1. Incomplete Checkout: If the checkout process isn't complete, use the collaborators' link in Customer Care to open Planner. Here, you can view the commissions in the TA-tools. Please refer to the following examples for further guidance:
   1. Example 1 - Adding commission categories to specific products
   2. Example 2 - Adding commission categories to a template - Flex Tours
   3. Example 3 - Adding commission categories to a template - Fixed Group Tours
2. Completed Checkout:
   1. Use the Booking API to retrieve commission information, see Output of the Commissions (Booking API) for more details
   2. Alternatively, initiate a booking change. This follows a process similar to the first alternative mentioned:
      1. Initiate a booking change in Customer Care
      2. Click Modify the Itinerary on Planner
      3. View the commissions in TA-tools
      4. Discard the booking change post-viewing