YOUR AGENT TOOLS

Xstream Travel is growing at a remarkable pace and that is in large part thanks to you, our busy travel agents! To accommodate the needs of your clients as you are researching their travel, sometimes it might be necessary to have us – as an agency – establish a relationship with a new travel vendor. For example, a client might ask you to book their trip with a specific vendor not already on our list. Each time you come across a new vendor you would like to work with, you will need to send a request in to the Xstream Travel Support department for review.

However, while we will review each request we receive, we may not always approve the request. We want our agents to work with the best travel suppliers, and we have some standards in place that help guide our decisions in this matter. To help you better understand the decisions we make, here are some of the questions that we consider – and the reasons why we ask them – each time we look at a new vendor.

Have You Checked All of Our Preferred Vendors to See If They Offer the Trip You Are Looking to Book?

We recommend our Preferred Vendors before any others for several reasons. One of the most important reasons is that the amount of commission you earn with these vendors will be significantly higher than with other suppliers not on that list. The commission rates you see with many of our Preferred Vendors are based on our yearly sales with those suppliers. We recommend using those vendors whenever possible because that will help us keep your commission earnings as high as possible.

If you are not sure which vendors offer travel to the destinations you are looking for, check the Preferred Suppliers by Destination guide on the Vendors List page for our recommendations. For additional help, you can also contact us, and we would be happy to assist you further.

Have You Checked to See Whether or Not the Supplier You Are Interested in Booking with Pays Commission to Travel Agents?

Some tour companies do not work with or pay commission to travel agents. If you choose to work with a company that doesn’t pay commission, you would book with them as a consumer without receiving commission for your booking.

Additionally, some companies do work with travel agents, but rather than pay commission they simply subtract the commission amount from the price of the trip, allowing you to book at the NET rate. Since paying NET is against Xstream Travel policy, we will not register with that particular vendor.

If the supplier does not pay commission to travel agents or only allows agents to book at a NET rate you may book with them under your own business name and charge your clients a separate service fee.

Is the Vendor You Want to Work with Based Within the United States?

International suppliers pose unique difficulties for us as an agency. Commissions are often not paid in USD, and there are fees associated with currency conversion. Because it is not our standard policy to work with these suppliers, we would have to subtract these fees from the commission payments they send us. Additionally, due to the increased work sometimes involved with international banking, it can become very time-consuming for you and our Commissions Department to track down commission payments from these vendors. This will negatively affect you as well, since the time you will have to wait before being paid your commission will be extended – possibly by months.

If the vendor is not based in the United States or does not pay commission in USD, we are unlikely to consider agency registration with them.

In Addition to The Above Questions to Consider, Please Keep in Mind These Additional Points Regarding Agency Registration with New Vendors:

• We are not currently expanding the list of air consolidators or travel insurance providers that we work with and will not consider any registration requests for those types of suppliers.
• Because they do not pay commission to travel agents, Xstream Travel does not register directly or set up agency accounts with any individual airline carrier.
• We prefer you contact us to register with a vendor only if you have potential or certain bookings to make with that vendor. If you are simply interested in working with a vendor at a future time, we recommend contacting that vendor with any questions you may have; they are generally able to answer those questions without us needing to be registered with them.
• Xstream Travel reserves the right to refuse registration with any individual vendor, even if you have already made a booking with that vendor. Therefore, we strongly recommend contacting us regarding agency registration with a vendor BEFORE your bookings are made.
• Finally, please remember that agents are NOT permitted to register Xstream Travel with a vendor on their own. You must contact us for all requests related to registering our agency with a vendor.

We put these guidelines into place to help protect both your reputation as a travel agent and your clients’ travel investments, as well as to help ensure you are paid commission for the work you do on behalf of your clients. If you feel the vendor you want to work with meets these standards, please feel free to contact your Xstream Travel Support team by submitting a support ticket from your Agent Hub with your request and we will be happy to work with you to put together the best possible vacation for your clients!