How to choose a host agency

Most people choose on two numbers — the joining fee and the commission split — and then discover the things that actually shape the job: when they get paid, who owns the customer, what support looks like at nine on a Sunday evening, and what it costs to leave. This is a checklist for the decision, and a list of questions for the call.

First, narrow the field honestly

• Experience. Some companies require one to three years in the trade. That single line removes half the market for a newcomer.
• Leads or no leads. If you have no client base, a lower split with enquiries supplied may beat a better split and silence.
• Budget. Decide what you can afford to lose in year one, then read the fees guide and set your ceiling with fees included, not just the joining cost.
• Specialism. Cruise, luxury, corporate and over-fifties hosts exist. If you have a niche, the specialist may pay better than the generalist.
• Your own brand. Some hosts let you trade under your own name; most do not.

The master comparison table sorts on most of those columns. Where a company does not publish a figure we say so rather than guess: 7 of the 42 companies here publish no joining cost and 5 publish no commission split at all.

The questions to ask on the sales call

Recruitment calls are sales calls. That is not a criticism — it is what they are for. The questions below are the ones that tend not to come up unless you raise them, and a good company will answer all of them without flinching.

Total cost of ownership

• What is the full list of charges in year one, including VAT? Joining fee, monthly fee, training, technology, insurance, card processing.
• Is there anything charged per booking or per passenger, and how much?
• Is any part of the fee a percentage of turnover rather than of commission?
• What goes up after year one, and by how much has it gone up in the last three years?
• What is the minimum I will pay in a year in which I sell nothing?

The split, in detail

• Is the advertised share the starting rate or the ceiling?
• What exactly moves me up a tier, and does the tier reset each year?
• Is the split applied to commission before or after any booking costs are deducted?
• Is the rate different on your leads, and by how much?
• When am I paid: on deposit, on balance, or after the customer travels?

Your client list, and leaving

This is the question most worth asking and the least often asked. In our dataset, 1 of the 42 companies make an explicit published statement that agents own their client database. Silence is not the same as a no, but it does mean the answer lives in the contract rather than the brochure.

• If I leave, who owns the customer records — and can I take contact details with me?
• Is there a restraint or non-solicitation clause, and how long does it run?
• What is the notice period, and are there exit fees?
• What happens to commission on bookings made but not yet travelled when I leave?
• For a franchise: can I sell the business, and has anyone actually done so?

Protection and compliance

• What is your ABTA number and your ATOL licence number? (Then check both yourself — see the protection guide.)
• Is customers’ money held in trust, and by whom?
• Whose name appears on the booking confirmation and the ATOL certificate?
• If I package a flight and a hotel myself, whose licence covers it?
• What errors-and-omissions or professional indemnity cover applies to me?

Support and training

• How many agents does my named support contact look after?
• What are the support hours, and what happens out of hours when a client is stranded?
• What does the training actually consist of, and how long does it last?
• How many people who joined two years ago are still trading today?

That last one is the single most revealing question on the page. Ask it plainly, and note whether the answer is a number or a story.

Before you sign

• Get the full fee schedule in writing, not verbally.
• Read the contract’s exit clauses before its earnings claims.
• Ask to speak to two current agents the company has not hand-picked, and ring both.
• Search the company’s name alongside “reviews” and read the middle-ranking ones, which are usually the most informative.
• Check the ABTA and ATOL numbers on the official registers yourself.
• Sleep on it. Any offer that expires tonight will exist tomorrow.

Then compare like with like

Two companies are only comparable once you have their real numbers. Our head-to-head pages do that for eight pairs — for instance Travel Counsellors against Not Just Travel, or Independent Travel Experts against Vertical Travel Group — and every company profile lists which source supplied which figure, with the date we read it.