Commission Process & FAQs in the Inbox
Context Travel is a company that highly values our partners whether those partners are travel agencies, bloggers, or other various referring parties. Our Partner Sales Team and Associates manage these relationships and offer percentage-based commissions as appreciation for the value of these agency partners.
General Guideline
Our commission calculations are based on the month of service. Commissions are paid on the amount of the walk charged and other concierge-style offerings such as car service and hotel meeting points. Tickets and Tasting fees are not included commission calculations. Also, commission is based on the amount of charge after any discounts are deducted.
- Tour (Group, Private, or Custom), Audio Guide or Lecture - Commissionable
- Car Service - Commissionable
- Boat Service - Commissionable
- Concierge Service - Commissionable (by default in Admin)
- Tickets and Entrance Fees - Non-commissionable
- Tasting Fees - Non-commissionable
Commission Accounting Process
Agent and Partner Commissions are calculated in the first half of the month following the service date.
Timeline
- By the 17th: Sales will have time to prepare document and reach out to any agencies who have missing information.
- By the 18th: Finance has reviewed the payment file and okayed it. Sales uploads it to Tipalti to be paid. Payments typically take 24-48 hours to post, but may take longer for new/international accounts.
- By the 20th: Commission payment will post to agency's account
Common Agent Questions & Answers
What’s Context’s commission policy on canceled line items/orders?
- Canceled line items that have not been refunded (cash or credit) ARE eligible for commission. No action is needed on our part for commission to be paid. Advisors do not need to provide an invoice to receive commission.
- Line items that are cancelled and partially refunded (i.e. 50% refund) ARE NOT eligible for commission. Please see the cancellation policy for further details on refund rates.
- Includes canceled line items initiated by Context due to fulfillment issues or guide no-shows (as clients will receive full refund)
- For exceptions, elevate to manager/Sales team. If exception is made, a task needs to be set so Accounting knows to pay commission
- Task format:
- Accountable: Rheanna Quam
- Delivery Region: Global
- Category: Commissions
- Team: not required but Sales
- Due date: the first date of the upcoming month
- Description: Exceptionally paying commission on Context initiated cancel and refund. Approved by (name) // INITIAL - Link to Email
- Partially refunded but active line items (ex. refunded pax costs) are still eligible for commission if the line item is not cancelled and the tour took place. No action is needed on our part for commission to be paid.
- Any pushback regarding our commission policy for canceled orders should be elevated to your manager and/or Sales team
What is my commission for this order & when should I expect it?
- Use TA - Initial “What is my commission? Where do I find it?” response macro in Front
- Commission can be viewed online under Client Orders (includes referrals)
- Monthly commission report by service date can be viewed online here
- General rule of thumb: commission is paid by the 20th of the month following the service date
I only received a portion of my commission for Order XXXXXX, where is the rest?
- Commission is paid based on a tour's service date. If an order has tours that span across two different months, commissions will be paid separately.
- Example: Order XXXXXX has tours in both April and May. April tour dates will be paid out in May. May service dates will be paid out in April.
- If all service dates are in the same month and commission is truly not correct, assign to Commissions@
Where is my Commission for Order XXXXXX?
- Use TA - Initial “Where is my commission” response macro in Front
- All commissions are paid by the 20th of the month following the tour service date. If this hasn't past or if it's within 1-2 weeks from payment,
- If this date has past, follow this process:
- Search for the order in admin and make sure the agent is attached to the order
- If no agent:
- Attach agent as agent placed
- Click “Create Task”
- Accountable: Rheanna Quam
- Delivery Region: Global
- Category: Commissions
- Team: not required but Sales
- Due date: the first date of the upcoming month
- Description: TA was not attached to order, please pay commission // INITIAL - Link to Email
- If agent is attached, move to Commissions@
How do we pay commissions?
- Paypal, ACH (Domestic Transfer), Wire (International Transfer), Paypal
- Agency information will be collected through Tipalti
- If agency says they are not payable, assign to Commissions@
I have received a payment but I don’t know what it is for?
- Assign to Commissions@
How do I use referral links?
- Use message template TA - How to Use Referral Links
- Prompts them to speak to Sales if they need further assistance with using referral links
What is the commission on this referral booking?
- Use message template TA - Initial "Where are my referrals? What is the commission?"
- Advisors will be notified automatically when someone books using their link via an email notification.
- They can view referrals under Client Orders online when logged in. This will include commission information for invoicing purposes.
I sENT A REFERRAL LINK TO A CLIENT AND THEY BOOKED BUT I DON'T SEE IT ON MY ORDERS? Can i still get commission?
- The referral link likely "broke" - this can happen due to clearing cookies, blocking cookies and whatnot
- Just add the advisor on as a referring advisor on the order itself and commission will be paid and they'll see it in their orders.
- If the service date has passed, please also add a task so we can ensure the commission is paid
- Accountable: Rheanna Quam
- Delivery Region: Global
- Category: Commissions
- Team: not required but Sales
- Due date: the first date of the upcoming month
- Description: TA was not attached to referral order, please pay commission // INITIAL - Link to Email
How does the Partner Protection Policy work? (Existing advisor relationship orders)
- If an advisor's client books directly with Context for future tours, the original advisor will be eligible for a 10% commission up to two years following the original advisor placed booking.
- Agents will be receiving future commissions only if they enter the correct email address for their clients when they book the tours, and the clients’ emails will be the only unique identifier for us to link future direct orders to their referral
- If clients switch to a different agent or book directly with us using a different email account, the original referring agent won’t get a commission
- Both agent-referred tours and agent booked tours can be found under their account on our website. Agents are responsible for reporting both types of bookings to their agencies’ accounting departments in order to claim their money.