Travel advisors who book sailings at least 120 days in advance will no longer have to pay commission.
The marketing plan must be submitted by the end of the year. They will be able to make a commission on the full cruise fare if they make a new reservation after that.
The portion of a cruise fare that doesn't have an advisor making a commission is called a noncommissionable fare. The practice of including port fees and other fixed, pass-through charges in the NCF has become a sore spot with the trade.
Todd Hamilton is the senior vice president of sales at NCL.
Customers who book further out are more likely to book again with the brand, rebook with that travel advisor and offer higher satisfaction scores after their sailing, according to him.
He stated that they are a marketing company that sells cruises. There should be a marketing component to every decision. We want our team to talk to the travel partners about how to market ourselves.
The vice president of sales questioned the use of NCFs since he took the job.
"I think the way we support people is to be open and honest with them, and instead of having these non commissionable fares, we're going to come out and pay people outside of 120 days on the entire cruise fare," he said.
As an advocate of the travel agent community and the travel partner community, I look at that as something we can do to be a supportive partner.
NCL is the only cruise line that has a new policy.
Some lines pay commission on NCFs in order to court the trade. Some newer cruise lines have stopped using NCFs.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
