Guide
How business travel agencies get paid
Fees, commissions and subscriptions: the money a travel provider earns from your bookings, including the part that usually doesn't appear on your invoice, and what each kind means for you as the buyer.
Every business travel provider is paid by someone, and often by more than one party at once. Some of that money shows up on your invoice. Some of it moves between the provider and airlines, hotels or booking systems, and you usually don't see it. Neither kind is wrong, but the second kind can shape what you're offered, so find out which you're dealing with before you compare quotes.
This guide goes through each source of income in turn, using what providers say about themselves in their pricing pages and annual reports. Our corporate travel management guide has the short version; this is the longer one.
Two sides of every booking
A travel agency, whether it calls itself a TMC, a travel platform or a travel advisor, sits between two groups that can pay it:
- The client side: the company whose employees travel. It can pay per booking, a fixed fee for running the program, a subscription, or nothing at all.
- The supplier side: airlines, hotels, car rental companies and rail operators, plus the global distribution systems (GDSs) that connect agencies to their inventory. They can pay commissions on bookings, bonuses for volume, or incentives for using one system.
Some large agencies have described both sides openly in their annual reports. Amex GBT's report for 2025, for example, filed before Long Lake took the company private in September 2026,[7] lists transaction fees charged to clients alongside fees that travel suppliers pay it for distributing and promoting their content, including fees from the three major GDSs.[1]
The balance between the two sides is what matters to you. The more of a provider's income comes from suppliers, the less of it you can see on an invoice, and the more its incentives depend on where you book rather than on how well you're served.
Transaction fees
The most familiar model: a fee each time the agency does something for you. Amex GBT describes this as its usual arrangement, saying it typically charges clients transaction fees for arranging travel.[1] Fees usually differ by what is booked and how:
- By product. A schedule may charge one fee for a flight and another for a hotel, rail or car booking.
- By channel. A booking made online in a tool may cost less than one made by phone with an agent, and some agencies add a further fee for after-hours help.
- By event. Changes, cancellations, refunds and exchanges can each count as a transaction of their own.
Flat fees and percentage fees
A flat fee is a fixed amount per booking. A percentage fee is a share of the price of the trip. Perk publishes the second kind: a percentage per booking, with a minimum and a cap.[3] A percentage fee is cheaper on low fares and more expensive on high ones, up to its cap. A flat fee is the reverse: the same on a short domestic hop as on a long-haul ticket.
What it means for you: transaction fees are the easiest model to check, because each one is on your invoice. The catch is the definition. Ask for a written list of what counts as a transaction, and price a few of your own recent trips, changes included, under each provider's schedule.
Management fees
A management fee is a fixed charge, monthly or annual, for running your travel program, usually alongside or instead of some transaction fees. Amex GBT describes management fees as what clients pay for a dedicated staffing pool to serve their travelers.[1] The fee may also cover account management, reporting and program reviews, depending on the contract.
Fixed fees often come with volume terms. Amex GBT notes that some of its client contracts include volume floors, a minimum level of activity.[1]
Our comparison of silentVIP and Amex GBT sets what Amex GBT publishes about its pricing beside our fees.
For you: a management fee is predictable, and it pays for attention rather than for activity. Check what happens to it if your travel falls, whether it covers the services you actually need, and whether you're also paying transaction fees for the same work.
Subscriptions and per-user fees
Software-led providers often charge a subscription: a monthly or annual platform fee, per company or per user, usually in tiers with different features. Amex GBT lists subscription among its pricing options, alongside a flat fee, pay as you book and custom terms, and its annual report mentions subscription fees for travel management tools.[2][1] Perk publishes its tiers: a monthly platform fee of $99 on Travel Premium and $299 on Travel Pro, and per-active-user prices on its combined travel and spend plans, each with a booking fee on top.[3]
The useful question is who counts as a user. "Active" usually means someone who did something that month, but the definition varies, and so does whether an assistant booking for an executive counts once or twice.
What it means for you: a subscription is easy to budget, but the tier decides what you get. Compare tiers on the features you'd actually use, and remember that most subscriptions are paired with a per-booking fee.
Supplier commissions and overrides
A commission is a payment from a supplier to the agency that sold its product, usually a share of the booking's value. Navan, for example, names airlines, hotels, rental car companies and rail carriers among the suppliers that pay it commission, based on the dollar volume of bookings made on its platform.[5] Hotel commission is common enough that ASTA, the US trade association for travel agencies and advisors, keeps a page for agencies to report hotel commission problems.[8]
Overrides and volume incentives
On top of standard commission, a supplier may pay an agency extra for reaching volume targets: a set number of bookings, a share of a route, or growth over last year. These are often called overrides. Amex GBT's annual report describes incentives from air travel suppliers for flown incremental bookings above minimum targeted thresholds.[1] Unlike a commission on a single booking, an override depends on the agency's total volume with that supplier, across all of its clients.
What it means for you: commissions and overrides don't appear on your invoice, and they reward the agency for sending bookings to the suppliers that pay. That doesn't mean you're being steered, but it is the reason to ask. Find out whether commission on your bookings is kept by the agency, credited back to you or shown on your invoice, and whether your trips count toward any supplier's targets.
GDS incentives
A global distribution system is the network an agency uses to search, book and ticket flights, hotels and cars. Amex GBT's annual report refers to three major GDSs, and Sabre is one of the large ones (see GDS in the glossary).[1][6] Money moves through it in both directions. Sabre's annual report says travel suppliers generally pay it a fee when an agency books their product through its system, and that it pays travel agencies incentive consideration for reservations made through it, often more when an agency processes a certain volume or percentage of its bookings through it.[6] Sabre adds that it competes for large agencies with upfront incentives, which tend to increase in each round of contract renewals.[6]
From the agency's side, Amex GBT lists fees from the three major GDSs among its supplier revenue.[1]
Why it matters: a GDS incentive is paid per booking or for volume, so it can make the agency's main booking system the most profitable place to book. That matters if a fare or rate you'd want is only available somewhere else, such as an airline's own website. Ask how the agency handles fares that aren't in its main system.
“Free” platforms
Some providers charge the company nothing for the platform. The cost moves to the supplier side or to a booking fee. Navan's pricing page lists its Business plan as free for companies of up to 300 employees, and its FAQ says Navan is powered by travel providers' commission fees.[4] Perk's Starter plan has no platform fee and a 5% fee per booking.[3] Both are clear about where the money comes from, and that's what to look for in any "free" offer.
Free can be a good deal, especially for a small company with simple, domestic travel. The questions are what makes you outgrow it (headcount, features, support), what you pay at that point, and whether the provider's income from suppliers affects which options travelers are shown. For Navan specifically, our Navan pricing page sets out what Navan publishes, with dates.
What it means for you: a free platform is paid for by suppliers, by booking fees, or by the price of a later tier. Ask which, in writing.
The models at a glance
The same models side by side. The last two columns are our guidance, not statements about any provider.
| Model | Who pays it | Where you see it | What it rewards the provider for | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat transaction fee | You | On every invoice, per booking or change | Handling more bookings | What counts as one transaction, and whether changes, refunds and agent-assisted bookings cost extra |
| Percentage booking fee | You | On every invoice, as a share of the price | Higher-priced bookings | The minimum and maximum per booking, and how it compares with a flat fee on your own trips |
| Management fee | You | On a monthly or annual invoice | Keeping the account | Which services it covers, and any volume floor that changes the price if you travel less |
| Subscription or per-user fee | You | On a monthly invoice | More users or a higher tier | Who counts as a user, what each tier includes, and any minimum |
| Supplier commission | The airline, hotel or car company | Usually nowhere | Booking the suppliers that pay | Whether commission is kept, passed to you or shown, and whether it affects which options you see |
| Override or volume incentive | The supplier, for hitting targets | Usually nowhere | Moving volume to one supplier | Whether your bookings count toward any target, and who keeps the payment |
| GDS incentive | The booking system | Usually nowhere | Routing bookings through one system | Whether it shapes the inventory you're shown, for example fares available only outside that system |
| “Free” platform | Suppliers through commissions, or you through booking fees | Often no platform fee; check for a booking fee | Bookings on the platform | What triggers a paid plan, what support costs, and where the money comes from instead |
Reading a quote
Most quotes combine two or three of these models, and the headline number rarely tells you which. Before you compare prices, ask each provider for a complete written list of every way it earns money from your bookings, client fees and supplier income both, and ask each to price the same twelve months of your own travel.
The full set of money questions, with why each one matters and what a good answer looks like, is in the Money section of our guide to choosing a TMC, and in its evaluation checklist (CSV). Three follow-ups come straight from this page:
- If the fee is a percentage, what are the minimum and maximum per booking, and what would last year's trips have cost?
- Do our bookings count toward any supplier override or GDS volume target, and if so, who keeps the payment?
- When the best fare isn't in your main booking system, will you still book it, and does it cost us more?
The travel glossary explains the other terms you'll meet in proposals, including override and transaction fee.
How silentVIP is paid
Clients pay our published fees. We don't take commissions from airlines or hotels. Where a preferred-partner hotel program adds benefits such as breakfast or upgrades, those benefits go to the traveler, and any program fee paid to us is disclosed on your invoice.
Every fee is itemized on the option and on the invoice, and nothing is built into the fare.
In the terms of this page, our published fees are a subscription plus flat transaction fees:
- Essentials: $8 per active traveler per month ($600 a month minimum), plus $22 per flight booking, $12 per hotel or rail booking and $15 per change or cancellation.
- Managed: $14 per active traveler per month ($2,000 a month minimum), plus $30 per flight booking and $15 per hotel or rail booking, with changes and cancellations included.
- After-hours calls cost $45 each on Essentials and are included on Managed and Enterprise.
Every fee is on the pricing page, and you can model a year of your own travel with the cost comparison or get a 12-month quote. If your travel is simple enough that a free, supplier-funded platform covers it, that may be the better deal for you.
Questions
What is an override commission?
What is a GDS incentive?
What's the difference between a transaction fee and a management fee?
Is a percentage booking fee better than a flat fee?
Sources
General and third-party statements on this page come from these public sources, each checked on the date shown. Statements about a vendor are summaries of what that vendor publishes. silentVIP's own fees and commitments come from our published terms.
- Global Business Travel Group (Amex GBT), Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. Amex GBT's annual report describes its travel revenue as transaction fees charged to clients for arranging travel, plus fees from travel suppliers for distributing and promoting their content, usually volume-linked and including fees from the three major GDSs. It lists management fees, paid by clients for a dedicated staffing pool to serve their travelers, and subscription fees for travel management tools, and says some client contracts include volume floors. Its revenue recognition policy describes incentives from air travel suppliers for flown incremental bookings above minimum targeted thresholds. Filed before Long Lake completed its acquisition of Amex GBT in September 2026; the company is now privately held. Checked Oct 21, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1820872/000162828026015817/gbtg-20251231.htm
- Amex GBT, Business travel pricing. Lists a choice of pricing options (flat fee, pay as you book, subscription or custom terms) without amounts. Checked Oct 21, 2026. https://www.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com/business-travel-pricing/
- Perk, Pricing. Travel plans as published: Starter with no platform fee and 5% per booking; Premium at $99 a month and Pro at $299 a month, each with 3% per booking; a minimum of $2 and a maximum of $30 per booking. Combined travel and spend plans are priced per active user per month plus 3% per booking. Checked Oct 21, 2026. https://www.perk.com/pricing/
- Sabre Corporation, Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. Sabre, one of the large GDSs, says travel suppliers generally pay it a fee when an agency books their product through its system, and that it pays travel agencies incentive consideration for reservations made through it, some of it upfront. It says its contracts with larger agencies often increase that consideration when an agency processes a certain volume or percentage of its bookings through it, and that the upfront incentives it offers to compete for large agencies tend to increase in each round of contract renewals. Checked Oct 21, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1597033/000162828026008800/sabr-20251231.htm
- Amex GBT, Long Lake / Amex GBT acquisition FAQ (Sep 29, 2026). Amex GBT says Long Lake has completed its acquisition of the company, that it is now privately held, and that its common stock has stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Checked Oct 22, 2026. https://www.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com/resources/blog/long-lake-amex-gbt-acquisition-faq/
- ASTA, Report a hotel commission issue. The American Society of Travel Advisors, the US trade association for travel agencies and advisors, keeps a page where agencies can report hotel commission issues. Checked Oct 21, 2026. https://www.asta.org/content/industry-affairs/report-a-hotel-commission-issue.aspx
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