Every travel business has VIPs. Most just haven't told them. A structured VIP program does two jobs at once: it makes your best clients feel chosen, and it de-risks your launches, because a trip that sells to the inner circle before the public ever sees it is a trip that was never in danger.
“Get so deep in clients that they start to feel like they can't do anything without you.”
Three ways to define a VIP
- Intent: the people who join a trip waitlist early. A waitlist is a buyer-intent detector that happens to look like a list.
- History: your top spenders or most frequent travelers. The data already knows who they are.
- Membership: a paid annual tier. Charging for VIP status sounds bold until you watch who happily pays it, your best clients WANT a formal relationship.
Claire's own numbers
Three ways to define a VIP
- 1
Intent
Everyone who joins a trip waitlist early
- 2
History
Top spenders or most frequent travelers
- 3
Membership
A paid annual tier, around $500 a year
Pick one, or run all three. A waitlist is not a list, it is a buyer-intent detector.
Source: Claire B. Soares, from her own travel business and live trainings.
The benefits stack that costs almost nothing
The elegant part: most meaningful VIP benefits are things your commission already pays for. An early booking window before public launch. A private group chat and direct call access. Waived transfer or planning fees. Complimentary hotel-booking service, "free" to them, commissioned to you. A beautiful annual gift. The perceived value is enormous; the hard cost is a rounding error against what a locked-in repeat client is worth.
The deeper strategy
The goal is depth. The fee follows. Get so woven into how your clients travel that doing it without you stops occurring to them. A VIP program is simply that relationship, given structure and a front door. Build the tier, tell your best people they're in it, and watch your launches start selling out before they start.
Common Questions
What should a travel VIP program include?
An early booking window before public launch, a private group chat, direct call access, waived transfer or planning fees, complimentary hotel booking service, and an annual gift. Most of these cost little because commission already covers them.
Can travel advisors charge for VIP membership?
Yes. Claire's structure includes a paid annual tier, and paid VIPs are typically a business's most loyal repeat clients.
How much should a travel VIP membership cost?
Around $500 a year works for an annual tier, because most of the benefits are things your commission already covers. The fee is a commitment device more than a revenue line.
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
