5 Add-Ons Travel Advisors Should Be Offering their Clients

TMR attends several travel agency-related conferences each year. A common refrain we hear from Host and consortia executives is that advisors aren’t making the most of every booking.

When advisors only book a cruise for a client or only make a resort and air booking, they are leaving money on the table.

While there are obvious add-ons advisors can sell – pre- or post-cruise or tour hotel nights, travel insurance, day tours – there are a number of additional services advisors can be offering to their clients to maximize the ROI of every booking.

While not all pay commission, advisors can add a service fee or wrap the service up into a planning fee. Even when not making extra money on some of these services, the very act of providing them can make working with an advisor an infinitely more rewarding experience for travelers – and make them more liable to pass on your name to others.

Here are a few add-ons travel advisors don’t often think about:

1. Transfers

Booking transfers for your clients is an easy add-on to provide. Anyone who has ever arrived at a destination to find someone with their name on a placard waiting for them understands the peace of mind these types of transfers offer.

In most cases, your clients are either going to book a transfer themselves (think cruise-provided transfers) or take a taxi. Let them know how much easier their travel experience will be if they allow you to take care of that for them.

Transfers can be basic or more sophisticated, like providing a black car transfer with Champagne for a special occasion trip. For instance, with a company like Lenox VIP Global, advisors can add-on a rider that provides the client with any number of treats, from bringing along a pizza to their favorite candy.

They can be arranged via transfer-specific companies, day tour companies that have a transfer service, and, in some cases, destination management companies.

Advisors should check with their Host or consortia to see if they have any preferred suppliers that provide transfers.

2. Luggage Shipping

Luggage shipping doesn’t make sense for all your clients, but for those who are doing longer trips and taking more with them, it could be a perfect addition. Even clients who aren’t going away for long, but who don’t do carry-on bags and might have multiple flights to get to their final destination can be good candidates for luggage shipping.

Clients going on golf, snowboarding, and ski trips are also good prospects for luggage shipping.  

A few things to keep in mind:

Luggage shipping is most appropriate for guests who are doing a one-city stay or will be in one place for a few days prior to moving on, whether to a cruise ship or joining a tour group.

Additionally, not all destinations make sense. When this writer tried to use Ship&Play’s service to send a bag ahead of time to Greece for a cruise, we were told Greek customs is unusually strict and bags are often delayed as they wait to get through the process. Check to make sure you can ship the luggage to a destination before offering the service to your clients.

Another company that offers the same service and works with most of the major cruise lines is Luggage Forward.

3. Expedited Airport Arrivals

For clients who truly appreciate the VIP experience, expedited airport arrivals (and departures) are available in a number of airports in Europe and North America. With expedited arrivals, clients are met almost as soon as they step off the plane by someone holding a sign, after which they are escorted quickly through immigration and customs.

Several companies provide this type of service. Some work only in one country (like Club Mobay in Jamaica), while most others provide this type of service in multiple destinations.

Most do not pay commission. Two that do are SkyVIP, which pays 10% on its Meet and Greet services, and UpgradeVIP, which has an affiliate program that advisors can sign up for to make a small commission.

4. Day Rooms for Late Night Flights

For travelers from the U.S. and Canada, many parts of the world only offer late-night flights returning to North America. With most hotels having a checkout time of between 10 a.m. and noon, finding a place to relax until your midnight or later flight can be difficult.

Why leave your clients with frustration at the end of the perfect vacation you’ve planned for them when you can put them in a comfortable day room while they wait.

Many of the biggest chain hotels offer dayrooms, particularly at properties located near airports. DMCs can also help you arrange a dayroom stay, as well.

5. Tickets and Reservations

Day tours aren’t the only activities your clients will likely engage in when traveling. Dinners at restaurants, theater shows, limited-time museum exhibitions, even concerts may all be things your clients are arranging for themselves. Why not help them out – and make money doing it.

In some cases, as with Open Table, advisors don’t get a commission, but you can charge a fee for the service (or simply wrap it up into your overall service fee).

In other cases, your consortium or Host might have a preferred supplier that can help. Global Travel Collection, for instance, offers a GTC Concierge Powered by Ten program, that advisors can use to get theater tickets, museum opening invitations, hard-to-get restaurant reservations, and more.

Additionally, some DMCs can help with these activities as well and will either pay a commission or make them available at net rates so advisors can mark them up. It’s important to note, DMCs will usually only offer this service as part of an overall planning program and not one-off requests.