Even in an AI world, competition for really smart, knowledgeable and experienced travel advisors is stiffer than ever—not just among high-end customers but apparently among host agencies as well. At its annual conference last week, Avoya Travel Network announced upgrades to the commissions it will be paying its independent advisors (IAs)—and a $5,000 sign-on bonus to newcomers bringing in a book of business of their own.
Avoya traditionally has paid its advisors 30% of the commission on bookings obtained through its Avoya Live lead program, or 80% on bookings of their personal customers. Last year, it began testing an Elite 100 program that raised commissions with preferred suppliers to 100% on bookings of personal clients.
It’s been such a hit that Avoya will keep it going for 2025, and extend it even farther. For $399 per month, advisors can join Elite 100 to earn 100% of the commission on bookings of personal clients. Sixty newcomers to Avoya who join Elite 100 also will receive a “quick-start incentive” of up to $5,000. And Avoya’s new Premier Commission Program offers independent agencies up to 65% higher commission splits on Avoya Live Leads in 2025.
While Avoya Live leads will continue to pay the same commission split, chief sales officer Phil Capelli noted at an online press conference that “because there are no marketing costs and these customers are ready to book, they are very profitable,” often 75%-100% more profitable than the average customer.
Advisors in the Elite 100 program averaged 44% more in commissions in 2024, added co-CEO Jeff Anderson. And the list of preferred suppliers continues to grow, thanks to Avoya’s overall volume of $600 million from its 2,100 advisors.
“The Elite 100 was incredible, I was afraid they were going to cancel it but here it is again, we all got to renew our contracts,” Cheerie Dorris, owner of Cheerie Travel in Springfield, OR, told TRO. “Initially I was like, how is Avoya making any money? The split was 80-20 before, so they are basically giving us back 20%.”
Here’s how it works out for her: One of her advisors sold a Kensington Tours vacation at 80% commission. Now the customer is back for another, and Kensington is now a preferred supplier—so the advisor earned $15,000 commission instead of $10,000, enough to put a new roof on her house, courtesy of Avoya.
Dorris pays an annual fee of $900, she says. But that will be offset by the extra 20% of the commissions on almost all of her $3.35 million in sales so far this year (up about 10% from 2023), as it comes almost entirely from her personal customers.
Why does she think Avoya did it? “Attrition for sure,” she says. “They don’t want to lose agents or have people leave the industry. Avoya has more power with suppliers if we grow the network. And the larger we get, the better it is for all of us.”
Sarah Weiner was a million-dollar agent before leaving AAA Travel—and all her customers there—to open Oyster Travel and Tours, LLC, outside of Washington, DC. Since then she has rebuilt about the same book of business almost exclusively through Avoya Live leads, and she does not begrudge her host the 70% of the commissions they kept.
“I understand what the host agency is providing me: a huge background support engine and an amazing live leads program. Most of those clients come back to me, and book other trips and refer people to me. So even with the 30%, I’m making as much now as I was at AAA, and probably working fewer hours.”
And it has changed her life. Working from her music studio/home office allows her to do the two things she loves: sell travel and play music. In an orchestra that plays copies of instruments from the 18th century, she practices her oboe until the phone rings or a lead pops up. “Then I just put my instrument down and take the call.”
Indeed, while we talked, she got an Avoya lead from a customer on the AmaWaterways website, which bounced to Avoya and then to her. “Most of those come back and book other trips and refer people to me,” she says. This one wants to do a Tulip Time river cruise in The Netherlands with a pre-trip stay in a small town to watch the Tulip Parade and a post-trip through the Chunnel to Great Britain. And they are using miles, so she doesn’t even have to book their air.
(For advisors like her, Jeff noted, Avoya’s new cruise booking system will allow customers to go online and “book a cruise while you sleep.” It will connect directly to the cruise lines, and then “every booking will go out to an Avoya agency, and they will be able to keep that relationship with the customer for this booking (already deposited or paid in full) and subsequent bookings. We think it is a game-changer for the industry. It shifts the expectation of what every independent contractor deserves.”
Avoya has been “primarily a cruise shop,” Cappelli said, with the majority of its $600 million in annual volume in that sector. The system will hold a reservation while the client “talks to an advisor to make sure they have the right insurance, the right air, to make it a better experience.”)
At Carri Kersten Travel Design in Manitowoc, WI, meanwhile, joining Elite 100 was a no-brainer for Kersten, and “a game-changer for me financially.” With 37 years in the business, she’s so busy she’s never needed to take an Avoya lead—and 95% of her business is with preferred suppliers. In the program, she got 100% commission (rather than the previous 80%), a 20% increase in commission on almost all of her $2 million in sales so far this year.
“When Avoya first approached me about the Elite 100 I didn’t understand why they would do this, this is costing them money,” she says. “But I was advised they want to attract more professional agents and to reward their top-producing agents who have stuck by them.”
Dana Dziegiel of Gypsea Travels in Utica, NY also calls Elite 100 “a game-changer for me, and a game-changer for my paycheck—and at the end of the day, that’s what we care about,” she says.
After eight years in business, she has grown her own customer base to about 56.5% of her agency’s $4.7 million in annual sales—$3.4 million of which she sells personally. But the other 43.5% still comes from Avoya leads. “Here’s my whole take on it: Finding leads is the hardest part,” she says. “And 30% of something is better than 100% of nothing.”
With the 20% bump in commission, along with her increased sales, she figures her commission income doubled since she joined the Elite 100. “Some people say, well, they’re late to the game with the 100% commission,” she says. “They may be—but better late than never. And they’re doing many other things right, including their support, and their amazing CRM.”
Jamie Black thought the program might just be too good to be true, she says—but she sees how it’s a win-win for her and for Avoya. Eight years after joining the host she no longer takes their leads, and she used to book non-preferred suppliers through her own IATA number at her agency, Village Travel in Laguna Beach, CA. But now she books it all through Avoya, adding her million-dollar volume—and the 20% of it that goes to non-preferred suppliers—to theirs to boost the overall volume of the network.
One of her friends just recently was complaining about the split on leads, she says. “I can’t wait to tell her it’s been raised!”
Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.
