Charging fees is becoming the norm

The travel agency community is close to seeing a majority of advisors charge some kind of fee, according to a new study.

The hosted travel advisor report is based on a survey of over 1,300 travel advisers. The majority of them said they were hosted agents.

Almost half of the hosted advisers who responded to the survey said they charged fees, up 9 percentage points from the previous survey.

According to the study, charging a professional fee is gaining traction among travel professionals.

Consumers are more aware of the value of travel advisors because of all of the changes and restrictions to travel during the height of the Pandemic, but advisors need additional income sources when commissions dried up. ASTA calls charging fees a best practice and included it in its new motto.

The greatest impact on an advisor's income potential can be found in the implementation of a fee.

"Experienced, full-time hosted advisors who charged fees earned 36% more than full-time advisors who didn't charge a fee."

Almost half of respondents said they charge a fee. According to HAR, a service fee is usually a flat fee per transaction or part of a trip. 9% said they charged a consultation fee, which was related to the time and expertise used to plan, research or book a trip. They charged both.

The number of advisors who charged both increased from 11 to 19 last year.

There is a detailed breakdown of service fees charged by travel advisors.

Some advisors may charge more than one type of fee, so the total is higher than it should be. The most common flat fees are a one-time flat fee, $200, and a variable flat fee.

"My time and expertise are worth it" is the top motivation to charge fees.

"I might not be able to attract new clients" and "I might lose current clients" were the top two reasons for not charging fees.

According to the study, more advisers are going to charge fees. Thirty-two percent of those who didn't charge fees said they would do so in the next year, while 32% weren't sure and 34% didn't plan to.

Information on service fees isn't the only thing that's included in the study. Other topics include income levels, income by experience and niche, and more.