The Commission That Changed After Booking
A travel advisor books a four-night Cancun resort package for a client at a total price of $3,200, of which $2,700 is land and $500 is air. The supplier's written agreement, signed at onboarding, states that commission is 10% of the land portion only and is paid 45 days after client travel completes. Two weeks after deposit, the supplier quietly revises its advisor program to 8% of total package including air, effective for all bookings not yet fully paid. The client's final payment is due in 30 days. The advisor had verbally quoted the client a $270 commission expectation in her own internal notes but never discussed commission with the client. The supplier now says the new rate applies because the booking is not paid in full.
1. Should the advisor accept the supplier's claim that the new rate applies? What is the correct professional position?
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No. The advisor should push back in writing. The governing terms are those in effect and agreed at the time of booking, and the supplier's own contract set 10% of land only, paid after travel. A unilateral mid-booking change applied retroactively to an already-deposited booking is a contract modification, not a program update, and it requires the advisor's consent or a clear clause in the original agreement permitting it. The advisor should request the supplier cite the specific contract language authorizing retroactive rate changes. If none exists, the original 10% of $2,700 ($270) stands. If the supplier refuses, the advisor documents the dispute, escalates to the supplier's account manager, and considers whether future bookings with that supplier are prudent. The key professional point: the advisor protects the client's price and her own earned compensation, and she does so in writing, not by phone.
2. What should the advisor tell the client, if anything, about the commission dispute?
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Nothing about the commission amount, and that is deliberate. Commission is a business-to-business matter between advisor and supplier; disclosing it invites the client to negotiate the advisor's pay or to feel the advisor has a conflict. What the advisor should confirm to the client is that the client's total price of $3,200 is locked and unaffected by any supplier-side program change. If the advisor's agency has a fee or service-charge disclosure obligation, that is separate and should already have been given in writing at the outset. The advisor's internal note quoting $270 was never a client-facing promise and creates no obligation to the client. Keeping the two conversations separate - price certainty for the client, contract enforcement with the supplier - is the ethical and practical move.
3. The supplier pays 45 days after travel completes. What cash-flow and documentation steps should the advisor take now?
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First, calendar the expected payment date from the actual return date, not the booking date, and set a follow-up reminder for day 46. Second, save the original signed supplier agreement, the booking confirmation showing the rate in force, and all correspondence about the change in one file tied to the booking number. Third, record the expected commission as a receivable, not as cash, so agency reporting stays honest. Fourth, if the agency pays advisor commissions on receipt, note that the advisor's own payout will lag travel by roughly six weeks and plan personal cash flow accordingly. Fifth, if the supplier pays the reduced amount, the advisor issues a written discrepancy notice within the supplier's dispute window and tracks it as an outstanding item rather than absorbing the loss silently.