How to set up a Channel Agent Commission on a Channel Management connection so commission is calculated automatically on every reservation that arrives from the channel.

Overview

A Channel Agent Commission is the commission term saved against a channel in Channel Management. When a reservation arrives from that channel, the commission is calculated automatically and added to the reservation account, with no per-reservation editing required.

RMS keeps each channel's commission on a travel agent record of its own, which RMS creates the first time the channel is saved in Channel Management. Set the channel's commission here, on the channel, rather than under Setup > Travel Agent. Each channel partner connection (for example Siteminder HTNG, TravelClick HTNG, Booking.com or Expedia) can have its own commission rules. For commission on other travel agents, see Travel Agent Commission. For how RMS chooses between commission settings on a reservation, see Travel Agent Commission Hierarchy.

Please Note! RMS is highly configurable. Some Terminology, User Access & Permissions, Images, Labels, and Functions used in these articles may differ from your setup. CLICK HERE to find out more.

Before You Begin

Make sure the following prerequisites are in place before configuring a Channel Agent Commission:

• A connected channel under Setup > Online Bookings > Channel Management.
• A Sundry Charge created specifically to record commission. Set up this Sundry first so you can select it during setup.
• User permission to edit Channel Management (typically a System Administrator Security Profile).

Steps to Set Up a Channel Agent Commission

In the side menu of RMS, go to Setup > Online Bookings > Channel Management.

1. Select the Channel the commission will apply to.
2. Select Edit (or Connect if the channel is not yet connected).

   

3. On the Connection Information page (the default sub-tab in the left menu), scroll to the Travel Agent Information section.
4. In the Agent Commission Setup grid, choose Add.

   

5. In the New Commission Link window, select the Property the commission applies to.
6. Choose the Type of commission: Commission %, Daily Amount or Total Amount.
7. Select the Sundry charge that the commission will be recorded against on the reservation account.
8. For each Rate Type in the grid, set the Collect Type: Property if the property collects payment from the guest and pays the channel later, or Agent if the channel collects payment and remits the net amount. Then enter the Commission value. If needed, also enter a No Greater Than cap and a NET Booking Multiplier.
9. Choose Save/Exit.

   

Related Settings

The Type field in the New Commission Link window controls how the commission is calculated:

• Commission % – a percentage of the rate.
• Daily Amount – a flat amount per night.
• Total Amount – a flat amount per reservation.
• No Commission – no commission is applied (default for newly added rows).

The Collect Type on each Rate Type row determines how the commission is recorded:

• Property – the property collects the full rate from the guest and pays the channel its commission later.
• Agent – the channel collects payment from the guest and remits the property the net amount after commission.

You can use the NET Booking Multiplier when the channel sends rates as a Net Rate and you want RMS to calculate the Gross Rate automatically. See the related article OTA Commission with a NET Multiplier for worked examples.

Troubleshooting

If the commission is not appearing on inbound reservations, check the following:

• The Type field is set to something other than No Commission.
• The correct Sundry charge has been selected.
• Each Rate Type the channel maps to has a Commission value entered (a value of 0.00 will not produce a commission).
• The reservation actually used a Rate Type that is mapped to the channel; commission only applies to mapped rates.

Related Articles

• Channel Connection
• Travel Agent Commission
• Travel Agent Commission Hierarchy
• OTA Commission with a NET Multiplier
• Net Multiplier Examples
• Channel Pricing Models