New advisors think commissions work like salaries: do the work, money arrives. Here's the industry's open secret, many properties are literally waiting for you to request the money instead of just paying it. Commission isn't income until you collect it; until then it's a receivable, and receivables ignored are donations.
“They literally are waiting for you to request the money instead of just pay them.”
Run collections like a department
- A monthly chase ritual, on the calendar: every booking that has traveled gets its commission status checked, and every unpaid one gets a formal, polite invoice-style request. Template it once; send it monthly.
- Keep a flag list of slow and non-payers, and CHECK IT before placing the next booking. A property that stiffed you in March doesn't deserve your client in October, no matter how pretty the suite.
- Track expected commission at booking time, not payout time, you can't chase what you never wrote down.
- The same discipline applies in reverse to vendors who want YOUR money early: fat non-refundable deposits on far-future bookings are someone else financing their business with your cash. Negotiate the schedule.
None of this is glamorous, which is exactly why it's profitable, most advisors simply never ask, and the industry's payment culture is built on that silence. Break the silence politely and relentlessly. The money is yours; the only question is whether your business is organized enough to go get it.
Claire's own numbers
The framework, step by step
- 1
A monthly chase ritual
on the calendar: every booking that has traveled gets its commission status checked, and every unpaid one gets a formal, polite invoice-style request.
- 2
Keep a flag list of slow and non-payers — and CHECK IT
before placing the next booking. A property that stiffed you in March doesn't deserve your client in October, no matter how pretty the suite
- 3
Track expected commission at booking time
not payout time — you can't chase what you never wrote down.
- 4
The same discipline applies in reverse to vendors who
want YOUR money early: fat non-refundable deposits on far-future bookings are someone else financing their business with your cash. Negotiate the sche
Claire's own framework from this essay, in the order she teaches it.
Source: Claire B. Soares, from her own travel business and live trainings.
Common Questions
Do hotels pay travel advisor commissions automatically?
Often not. Many properties wait for you to request payment, which means commission is a receivable rather than income until you chase it.
How should advisors track commissions?
Record expected commission at booking, run a monthly chase ritual on everything that has travelled, and keep a flag list of slow payers to check before booking again.
Should you accept large upfront vendor deposits?
Not on far-future bookings. A vendor asking you to finance their business a year ahead is a schedule to negotiate, not a rule.
Written By
Claire B. Soares
6× Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist, Certified AI Consultant, and founder of Travel AI University. $3.4B+ in enterprise travel software sold to Google, IBM, Boeing, the federal government, and the DoD; $16M+ in luxury travel sales with Up in the Air Life.
About Claire
