The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has launched a list of supplier partners who pay travel advisor commissions on time. According to ASTA, paying on time is “within 30 days of the published, contracted date set by the supplier for final payment and the payment is made in full.”
“We applaud our supplier partners who are committed to working closely with the travel industry and making sure that advisors get paid on time for the hard work they do,” said Zane Kerby, president and CEO of ASTA. “Some suppliers withhold full payment of commissions until travel is completed. With our members often working 12 to 24 months in advance on complex travel itineraries, this practice creates a number of problems for the hard-working advisor community that must be addressed.”
The running list of suppliers only includes companies that require prepayment for travel services, so car rental and hotel companies are excluded.
The running list will be continuously updated, but these suppliers have made the cut so far:
- Avalon Waterways
- Azamara
- Carnival Corporation & Plc
- Celebrity Cruises
- Cunard Line
- Explora Journeys
- Globus Family of Brands
- Goway Travel
- Holland America Line
- MSC Cruises
- Norwegian Cruise Line
- Oceania Cruises
- Princess Cruises
- Regent Seven Seas Cruises
- Riverside Cruises
- Royal Caribbean International
- Sea Song Tours
- Seabourn
- Virgin Voyages
- Windstar Cruises
This initiative was first announced to ASTA members and the press at ASTA’s Global Convention, held in Puerto Rico in May.
“We want to highlight the good supplier behavior and those who are acting like true partners,” Kerby said at the time. “The principle is, once you get paid, we should get paid, too.”