News

Commission Advisories

• Commission Payments From India

  Be aware that many hotels in India will not generate commission payments unless your agency applies for and maintains three different tax documents to be submitted with each commission claim.

  The 3 forms are:

  • PAN - Permanent Account Number
  • TRC - Tax Residency Certificate
  • 10F - Non Resident Certificate

  Application and approval for these forms is difficult and often unsuccessful.

• Hotel Majestic Saigon

  Please be aware that this property is managed by the government of Vietnam, and has extreme documentation requirements in order to receive commission payments. Commission payments will only be made if the travel agency first has an official contract with the property. This apparently includes a "Letter of Attorney" from the agency, or some form of notarization.

  The net result is that standard bookings into the Hotel Majestic Saigon will not result in commission compensation.

• Hard Rock Hotel Macau, People's Republic of China

  Please be advised that this property will not pay travel agency commissions unless the agency completes and forwards a Partner Information Form and a Company Certificate for each agency location. We have communicated to them that their policy dramatically complicates their relationship with travel firms. The policy is particularly cumbersome for agencies with multiple locations.

• Windsor Hotel Taichung

  Please be advised that the Windsor Hotel Taichung in Taiwan (www.windsortaiwan.com) will not pay travel agency commissions unless the agency has a formal contract with the property. This obviously complicates the agency relationship with this hotel. We have asked them to revisit their policy, and we will adjust this advisory should they reconsider.

• Park Royal Hotels

  Please be aware that this hotel group with 3 properties in Singapore has advised us that they will not research any commission items older than 3 months from the travel date. The hotels are:

  • Park Royal on Beach Road
  • Park Royal on Kitchener Road
  • Pan Pacific Orchard

  If your agency frequents these properties, it is recommended that you contact them and express concern over a policy that is a dramatic exception to the industry standard.

• IHG Hotels

  Please be advised that we have been informed that travel agency bookings made for Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express properties associated with the IHG parent organization can only receive commissions if they are booked via your GDS or with IHG central reservations. Apparently the property management system used by these hotels does not allow for travel agency ARC/IATA numbers to be entered at the property level.

  This information was brought to our attention by a Holiday Inn Express property and confirmed with a call to IHG Central Reservations on 02/09/2011.

  The net result is that bookings made directly with the hotel are less likely to result in paid commissions.

  Commtrak suggests that this information be distributed to your reservations staff to insure that your organization receives appropriate commission payments.

• Walt Disney World Hotels

  We have been informed by the Walt Disney World Accounting Department that they are unable to resolve hotel commissions through any third party reconciliation firm.

  Commtrak received written notification on November 16, 2010 from WDW that "Effective immediately, we will no longer be responding to travel agent commission inquiries from any commission tracking agency." This policy will of course impact any travel agency that uses a third party firm to reconcile and bill for unresolved commissions. If you use one of the primary reconciliation firms as well as Commtrak, be advised that all third party invoices will apparently be ignored.

  Since they do not utilize any of the usual payment consolidators (Pegasus, TACS, WPS), all reconciliation to travel agencies are managed in-house. They state that their contractual obligation is only to the individual travel agents, and they will only correspond with them.

  The net result is that agencies using a third party hotel billing firm may not receive valid commission payments on WDW bookings.

  Recommendation for any agency using a third party hotel reconciliation firm...

  Since the industry standard allows for the outsourcing of hotel reconciliation programs, WDW represents a dramatic exception that will negatively impact your commission income.

  Commtrak suggests that the person in your organization responsible for vendor relationships initiate contact with your Walt Disney World sales/marketing representative to clearly relate your concerns and induce their organization to adopt the accepted industry standard for using third party reconciliation firms.

• Mohegan Sun Hotel

  Travel Agencies booking hotel rooms into the Mohegan Sun Hotel in Uncasville, CT should be aware that before any commission can be paid, each booking agency must first be "licensed" by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Commission. Commtrak applied for and received a temporary vendor license in order to receive payments on past invoices directed to the hotel. The invoices represented over 100 unresolved items for many of our agency customers. The vendor license was approved on April 2, 2009. However, in spite of the confirmed license, and repeated contacts with the property, we have so far received no payment or resolution for any billed items. The licensing process is tedious, and requires that certain sensitive information be forwarded to the Gaming Commission.

  If you choose to apply for their vendor license in order to receive commission payments, contact the Gaming Commission at 860-862-7568. However, please remember that even with a license our efforts have so far not resulted in any revenue benefit.