What is a travel agency service fee?

A service fee is the charge a travel agency or travel management company takes for a flight ticket, accommodation, transfer or other travel service, separate from the supplier price. It pays for the agency's work on booking, ticketing, changes and operations. For agencies that work transparently it is its own line on the invoice, so the corporate client sees how much of what it pays goes to the supplier and how much to the agency.

How is a service fee calculated?

A service fee is calculated as a fixed amount or as a percentage of the sale, according to the agreement between the agency and the corporate client. The unit it applies to is also part of the agreement: every booking, every traveler, every ticket, every flight leg, every night, or once per transaction. For percentage fees, a cap can be set for high-value sales.

Common calculation types:

• Fixed, per unit: the same fee for every ticket or traveler.
• Fixed, once: one fee however many items the booking contains.
• Percentage: a set rate of the sale amount.
• Capped percentage: a fee calculated by rate but not exceeding a set amount.

It is also common to set different fees for domestic and international services, because the operational load of international bookings is usually higher.

Service fee, markup and commission compared

All three make up an agency's income, but they differ in who pays and how. A service fee is taken openly from the client. Markup is profit added to the supplier price and left inside it. Commission is the share a supplier leaves to the agency for the sale it makes.

In Kurumsal.pro's company price form, "commission" is not the supplier's commission but a price layer the agency defines specifically for the company and builds into the price.

Why is a service fee preferred in corporate accounts?

Corporate clients usually want to see how much of their travel spend goes to service. A service fee shown on its own line makes it easier for procurement and finance teams to compare agencies and audit spend. For the agency, a fee agreed in advance separates the price discussion from the supplier price.

Some companies prefer to see a single price. In that case the agency can work with a model that folds the service fee into the price. Which model is chosen is a matter for the contract with the client.

Service fee in Kurumsal.pro

In Kurumsal.pro the agency keeps a separate price form for each corporate client. One of the form's three sections is the Service Fee; the other two are the hidden markup and the commission layer, both built into the price. Rows are defined for flights, hotels, car rental and transfers by domestic and international split, and for visas by country groups. Each cell can be a percentage or a fixed amount.

• Detailed rule engine: the service fee is fixed or percentage; per unit, once or capped. The unit can be booking, traveler, ticket, leg, night, day or room.
• Products: rules can be written for flights, hotels, transfers, tours, cars, yachts, activities, villas, buses and visas.
• Inheritance: the company rule replaces the agency's general rule; subsidiary companies and branches inherit it.
• Copy to other companies: selected sections are copied to other companies in one operation, with a preview.
• After-sales fees: defined separately for domestic and international for flight changes, flight cancellations and seat reservations.
• Contract model: in the transparent model a separate "Service Fee" line appears on the invoice; in the hidden-margin model the service fee is folded into the line price and appears as a single line.

On the portal side, the cancellation request preview shows the agency cancellation service fee as its own line, and the price difference and the change service fee for a direct change at the agency's own hotel. The sales breakdown report has the service fee as a separate column. For the agency's price management see corporate travel agency software, and for how the invoice looks see corporate travel payments and invoicing.