TMC fees for trips, transactions, value added services, and agent contacts

Trip, transaction, value added service, and agent contact fees are the fees charged by Spotnana or the TMC for the services provided (e.g., booking assistance, access to support, support for certain payment methods, etc.). These fees are generally charged per trip, per transaction, or per agent contact (in some cases, more than one can apply).

The term TMC fee is used throughout this topic to collectively refer to any fees a TMC applies to transactions, trips, agent contacts, or value added services. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• TMC fees for trips, transactions, value added services, and agent contacts
  • TMC fees overview
  • Company administrators
    • View TMC fee settings and set payment methods
  • TMC administrators
    • Set fees for the entire TMC
    • Set fees per company/organization
    • Allow agents to waive a TMC fee

TMC fees overview

Company administrators and travel managers can select a separate payment method to be used for trip fees and set whether travelers will see the trip fee amount on their Checkout page, Trips page, and in email confirmations. TMC administrators can additionally set the actual TMC fees to be charged. 

Company administrators

Company administrators can: 

• configure the payment method for all TMC fees
• view the fees being charged by TMCs for trips, transactions, agent contacts, and value added services
• designate whether to show TMC fees to the traveler at checkout

View TMC fee settings and set payment methods

Not all TMCs apply transaction, agent contact, or value added service fees.

To configure your TMC fee payment method and the visibility of these fees to travelers, follow the steps below. 

1. Login to the Online Booking Tool. 
2. Select Company from the Program menu. The Settings page will be displayed.
3. Select TMC fee from the Payment section on the left. The TMC fee page will be displayed.
4. Select the Payment Method tab. 
5. Expand the Default settings section.
6. Set the Payment method field. This designates the payment method to be used for all TMC fees. Options are:
   • Same as used for booking - Use the same card the traveler selected when making the booking. 
   • Central card - Use a company central card. You must then select the specific corporate card to be used.
   • Delayed invoicing (company administrators can’t select this option) - The TMC fee will be billed to the client via an invoice issued with a regular cadence. The payment terms for the invoice (Net30, Net60) depend on the terms of the client's contract.
7. Set the Show TMC fee to traveler field. This designates whether TMC fees will be displayed to travelers and arrangers on the Checkout and Trips pages, within email confirmations, and on invoices/receipts.
8. If you wish to configure different payment methods for TMC fees per legal entity, expand the Custom settings for legal entities section. You can set the payment method to be used and whether the TMC fee will be visible to travelers (just as described above, except now these settings will only apply to the legal entity you specified). 
   • To add legal entity-specific settings, click Add and then set the payment method and visibility to travelers as described above.
   • You can also edit or delete these entity-specific settings using the menu to the right. 

9. To view the TMC fee rules, select the Pricing tab. There may be separate sections for each TMC fee type (e.g. trip, transaction, valued added services) depending on how your TMC has configured the fees. 

   • You can only view (not edit) these settings by clicking View in the relevant row (e.g., Trip fee). For each rule, there will be a Rule name, a list of Variables (the conditions that must be met for the fee to be applied), and the amount charged for Standard and VIP travelers. 
   • You can also view how the fees are applied by clicking View in the Fee structure row. The Fee structure page will be displayed. You will be able to view whether dynamic trip fee collection (i.e., incremental fees based on booking type, rules defined, relevance of fee) and/or agent fees have been enabled for your company. 

TMC administrators

TMC administrators are able to configure trip, transaction, value added service, and agent-contact fees for clients. 

You are also able to configure trip, transaction, value added service, and agent-contact fees per organization/company. If you create company-specific fee rules, the conditions associated with those rules will be used to apply fees to that company’s travelers and any TMC-level fee rules will be ignored for that company. To set company-specific fee rules, see the Setting fees per organization section of this page.

Set fees for the entire TMC

To configure fees at the TMC level, follow the steps below. You can set the fee pricing model to change a fee for each trip, for each transaction, for each agent contact, or for some combination of these. You also have the ability to charge for value added services (e.g., virtual cards). 

• Login to the Online Booking Tool. 

• Select TMC Settings from the Program menu. The General settings page will be displayed.

• Select TMC fee from the Settings section on the left. The TMC fee page will be displayed.

• Click Select Plan to set the fee structure you would like to use (this link is only displayed if you have not yet configured any TMC fee rules). The Select plan options will appear.

• You can select one of the following depending on how you plan to charge fees:

  • Trip level - A fee will be charged once per trip. Additional bookings and changes will generally not incur a charge (unless you set different trip fees for different booking types)

  • Transaction level - a fee will be charged for each transaction. You can specify which types of transactions will incur a charge. Examples of transactions are booking modifications, addition of ancillaries, or booking cancellations.

  • Trip and transaction level - a fee will be charged for each trip and for each transaction. You can specify which types of transactions will incur a charge. Examples of transactions are booking modifications, addition of ancillaries, or booking cancellations.

• The next steps will vary based on the fee plan you selected:

  • If you selected Trip level fees: 

    • To set the Trip fee amount, click Configure in the Trip fee row. The Default rule will be displayed. 

    • Enter the trip fee amount to be charged for Standard and VIP travelers. Be sure to select the correct currency code. If agent contact fees have been enabled, you will also be able to set the agent fee to be charged for Standard and VIP.

    • Click Confirm. 

    • To add additional configurations, click Add Configuration. The Configure rule page will be displayed. Each rule can have its own conditions that determine when its fees are applied.   

    • Enter a name for the rule in the Rule Name field. This should be something that helps you remember the conditions for which this rule causes fees to be applied. 

    • Enter the trip fee amount to be charged for Standard and VIP travelers. Be sure to select the correct currency code. If agent contact fees have been enabled, you will also be able to set the agent fee to be charged for Standard and VIP.

    • Use the fields in the Set rule conditions section to set the conditions that must be met for the fees to be applied. For example, If Booking type = Rail. To add another condition, click Add Condition. All conditions will be ANDed together (all conditions must be met for the fees associated with the rule to be applied).

    • Click Confirm when done. 

  • If you selected Transaction level fees: 

    • To set the transaction fee amount, click Configure in the Transaction fee row. The Transaction fee page will be displayed. There is no default rule for transaction fees.

    • To add additional configurations, click Add Configuration. The Configure rule page will be displayed. Each rule can have its own conditions that determine when its fees are applied.   

    • Enter a name for the rule in the Rule Name field. This should be something that helps you remember the conditions for which this rule causes fees to be applied. 

    • Enter the fee amount to be charged for Standard and VIP travelers. Be sure to select the correct currency code. If agent contact fees have been enabled, you will also be able to set the agent fee to be charged for Standard and VIP.

    • Note: If you will be charging a fee for agent contacts that do not result in a booking being created or updated on the Spotnana platform, then you must create a rule where Transaction type is set to Agent contact. 

    • Use the fields in the Set rule conditions section to set the conditions that must be met for the fees to be applied. For example, If Transaction = Modification. To add another condition, click Add Condition. All conditions will be ANDed together (all conditions must be met for the fees associated with the rule to be applied).

    • Click Confirm when done. 

  • If you selected Trip and transaction level fees: 

    • To set the Trip fee amount, click Configure in the Trip fee row. The Default rule will be displayed. 

    • Enter the trip fee amount to be charged for Standard and VIP travelers. Be sure to select the correct currency code. If agent contact fees have been enabled, you will also be able to set the agent fee to be charged for Standard and VIP. 

    • Click Confirm. 

    • To add additional Trip fee configurations, click Add Configuration. The Configure rule page will be displayed. Each rule can have its own conditions that determine when its fees are applied.   

      • Enter a name for the rule in the Rule Name field. This should be something that helps you remember the conditions for which this rule causes fees to be applied. 

      • Enter the trip fee amount to be charged for Standard and VIP travelers. Be sure to select the correct currency code. If agent contact fees have been enabled, you will also be able to set the agent fee to be charged for Standard and VIP.

      • Use the fields in the Set rule conditions section to set the conditions that must be met for the fees to be applied. For example, If Booking type = Air. To add another condition, click Add Condition. All conditions will be ANDed together (all conditions must be met for the fees associated with the rule to be applied).

      • Click Confirm when done. 

    • To set the transaction fee amount, click Configure in the Transaction fee row (you may need to return to the Pricing tab). The Transaction fee page will be displayed. There is no default rule for transaction fees.

    • To add additional configurations, click Add Configuration. The Configure rule page will be displayed. Each rule can have its own conditions that determine when its fees are applied.   

    • Enter a name for the rule in the Rule Name field. This should be something that helps you remember the conditions for which this rule causes fees to be applied. 

    • Enter the fee amount to be charged for Standard and VIP travelers. Be sure to select the correct currency code. If agent contact fees have been enabled, you will also be able to set the agent fee to be charged for Standard and VIP.

    • Note: If you will be charging a fee for agent contacts that do not result in a booking being created or updated on the Spotnana platform, then you must create a rule where Transaction type is set to Agent contact.

    • Use the fields in the Set rule conditions section to set the conditions that must be met for the fees to be applied. For example, If Transaction = Modification. To add another condition, click Add Condition. All conditions will be ANDed together (all conditions must be met for the fees associated with the rule to be applied).

    • Click Confirm when done. 

• Once you have configured your rules, you can change the order in which they are listed by using the tool on the left to drag each rule to the desired position. The order in which the rules are listed will determine the order in which they are evaluated. Fees will be applied based on the first rule for which all conditions are met. If there is no rule for which all conditions are met, the fees associated with the Default rule will be applied. 

• If you selected Trip level or Trip and transaction level fees, click Configure in the Fee structure row. The Fee structure page will be displayed. 

  • The Dynamic trip fee collection field allows you to specify how the trip fee will be applied. If you wish to have a single trip fee regardless of which booking types are made (e.g., air, hotel, rail), leave this field disabled. If you wish to create rules to apply a different trip fee based on which bookings are made (e.g., $10 for hotel, $20 for air) or if you plan to charge agent contact fees, enable this field. If enabled, the system will ensure that the traveler is never charged a trip fee which is more than the maximum trip fee regardless of the order in which the bookings are made. However, if you have configured transaction-level rules, transaction fees will still be applied to each transaction for which rules have been configured. 
    For example, if the fee plan was set to Trip and Transaction and: 
    Trip level rules were:
    - for trips that only have a hotel booking, trip fee is $10, and agent-assisted trip fee is $30
    - for trips that have an air booking, trip fee is $20 and agent-assisted trip fee is $50
    Transaction level rules were:
    - if agent performs a modification, agent-assisted modification fee is $9.
    Then, the maximum trip fee would be $50. However, if agent performed a modification 3 times, $9 would be charged on each modification.

  • To allow your TMC fee rules to let you set fees for agent contacts, enable the Charge agent fee option (the Dynamic trip fee collection option must also be enabled).  

  • Click Save when done. 

• To set a fee for valued added services, click Configure in the Value added services fee row. The Value added services fee page will be displayed.

• Click Add configuration. The Configure rule page will be displayed. Each rule can have its own conditions that determine when value added service fees are applied.   

• Enter a name for the rule in the Rule Name field. This should be something that helps you remember the conditions for which this rule causes fees to be applied. 

• Select the value added service for which this fee will be applied (currently, this is limited to Virtual Payment).

• Enter the value added service fee amount to be charged in the Virtual payment fee field and select the correct currency code. There is no default rule for transaction fees.

• Use the fields in the Set rule conditions section to set the conditions that must be met for the fees to be applied. For example, If Booking type = Hotel. To add another condition, click Add Condition. All conditions will be ANDed together (all conditions must be met for the fees associated with the rule to be applied).

• Click Confirm when done. 

Set fees per company/organization

To configure company-specific fee settings and payment methods, follow the steps below. 

1. Login to the Online Booking Tool. 

2. Select Company from the Program menu. The Settings page will be displayed.

3. Select TMC fee from the Payment section on the left. The TMC fee page will be displayed.

4. Click Select Plan to set the fee structure you would like to use (you may need to select the Pricing tab). The Select plan options will appear (if you already have a pricing model set at the TMC level, that will be the option displayed here, but you can change it for the company). The process for selecting a pricing model and setting the conditions that must be met for various fees to be applied, is the same for TMC-level rules as for company-specific rules. Therefore, you can use the same steps provided in the Setting fees for the entire TMC section of this page, starting at step 5 to configure your company-specific fees. 

   • Note: If you create company-specific fee rules, the conditions associated with these rules will be used to apply fees to that company and any TMC level fee rules you create will be ignored for that company.

5. Select the Payment Method tab. 

6. Expand the Default settings section.

7. Set the Payment method field. This designates the payment method to be used for TMC fees. Options are:

   • Same as used for booking - Use the same card the traveler selected when making the booking. 

   • Central card - Use the company's central card. You must then select the specific corporate card to be used.

   • Delayed invoicing - The TMC fees will be billed to the client via an invoice issued with a regular cadence. The payment terms for the invoice (Net30, Net60) depend on the terms of the client's contract.

8. Set the Show TMC fee to traveler field. This designates whether TMC fees will be displayed to travelers and arrangers on the Checkout and Trips pages and within email confirmations. The TMC fees will still be displayed within the payment details of the invoice and on the consolidated itinerary.

9. If you wish to configure different payment methods for TMC fees per legal entity, expand the Custom settings for legal entities section. You can set the payment method to be used and whether the TMC fee will be visible to travelers (just as described above except now these settings will only apply to the legal entity you specified). 

   • To add legal entity-specific settings, click Add and then set the payment method and visibility as described above.

   • You can also edit or delete these entity-specific settings using the menu to the right. 

   • Click Save when done.

Allow agents to waive a TMC fee

If you wish to allow agents to waive (not charge) any TMC fee (except valued added service fees), you must enable the Waive off fee option in your TMC settings. Enabling this option allows your agents the discretion to waive certain TMC fees. 

Value added service fees cannot be waived. 

1. Login to the OBT. 
2. Select TMC setting from the Program menu. 
3. Select TMC fee from under Settings in the left hand navigation. The TMC fee page will be displayed.
4. Scroll down to the Additional Configuration section and locate the Waive off fee row. 
5. Click Configure in that row. The Waive off fee page will be displayed. 
6. To allow your TMC fees to be waived by agent, enable the Waive-off fee toggle (upper right corner). This setting applies to your entire TMC and all organizations under the TMC.
7. You can also create reasons why the agent is waiving the TMC fee. If you create reasons, agents will be required to select one of them (or enter a reason in an Other text field) when waiving a TMC fee. If you want to create reasons for which agents are allowed to waive TMC fees, follow these steps. 
   • Click Add. The Configure waive off fee dialog will be displayed.
   • Enter a description and code for the reason. 
   • Click Confirm. Click Add to create more reason codes if desired. 

All waived fees and reason codes (if you create them) will be available for review in reporting.