Should agents be charging a search fee?

The family-owned business

This is a question that we at Southern Cross Travel, and other independent agents I know, often come back to.

I have always felt that, as experts in our field, we should charge a consultation deposit for new, tailor-made customers, which is then taken off the booking when the clients confirm (or kept as a fee if they decide not to book).

It is common practise for solicitors, for example, to charge for their time, and given we also spend years training to do this job, I’ve never understood why we don’t all stand up as an industry and say that we will charge for our initial work.

Personally, I feel it would validate our knowledge and skill at planning tailor-made holidays, and also take the sting out of the tail a little if they book elsewhere, as at least we’d be paid for our time!

However, the only way we could make this work is if everyone in the industry did it, otherwise competitors could easily undercut you.

The cruise specialist

The upmarket concierge services already charge a fee to their well-heeled and time-poor clients.

Before travel agents can look at charging search fees as a matter of course, we need to follow the USA trade sector in abolishing the use of the word “agent” and begin adopting, across the sector, the word “advisor”.

Indeed, I believe that ABTA should become the Association of British Travel Advisors. As in other industries, advisors could charge for their expertise and time within clearly defined terms.

Too many people (even ill-informed travel bloggers and vloggers) see agents as being paid for and acting in the best interests of the supplier not the traveller.

With the rise of the self-booker on the internet, not to mention the proliferation of online direct-booking websites, being able to charge for our knowledge, skill and especially our time is vital.

The high street agency

As much as we would like to charge customers a fee, I just don’t think we can.

What would travel agents think if tour operators charged for quotes?

Unfortunately, the travel industry doesn’t have official customer recognised qualifications like an accountant or solicitor. If we start charging for research it would cut down on enquiries but perhaps stop people giving us their enquiry too. We prefer to have an initial phone call and trust our experience as to how much work we put in.

We track enquiry conversion rates and keep a record of customers that do not book and find out why not. This is to help us allocate the best team member to an enquiry and also reduces wasted time.

I always say if they keep enquiring, they must want to book with us. If people aren’t booking, it might be because you are not asking the right questions to find the right travel solution for the client.

The luxury specialist

I don’t think travel agents should charge a search fee, as every enquiry is an opportunity to gain a potential client.

Even if they don’t ultimately book, we should always offer to add them to our marketing database.
By focusing on building relationships and treating every inquiry as valuable, we can increase the chances of securing future bookings, regardless of whether the client books the first time around.

That said, I think it would be appropriate to ask for a service charge if a customer repeatedly asks for quotes but never continues to a booking.

If, over time, you notice on their social media that they have gone on holiday elsewhere, it becomes clear they are shopping around without commitment.

In such cases, advising them that a service charge applies before we can do the quotes would ensure we spend time with clients who wish to use our services.