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Group Booking Procedures and Policies

Effective August 3, 2009

It is the policy of some suppliers to group all TPI business into one group number, therefore, to protect all agent’s bookings, the following policies have been created. Please review the new requirements when booking group business. This procedure is mandatory for all agents booking groups. If you have additional questions, please contact the Group Sales Coach, groups@tpionline.com.

It is the responsibility of the agent that blocks group space to monitor the allotment and allocate amenities, if applicable. Agents that are booked into an existing group, or book into a group intentionally will need to invoice all bookings through the current invoicing process. Upon blocking group space with any supplier, the NEW GROUP SPACE BLOCKED form must be completed, by the agent that held the space. This form will designate all necessary information for TPI to properly manage and reconcile accounting for your groups.

The agent that held the group space will be responsible for monitoring their space for all individual bookings included. If space is cancelled or modified in any way that affects another agent’s booking within the space, the original booking agent that held the space will be responsible for any negative balances in fares.

Finalizing a booking
Upon finalization of the group it is mandatory that the GROUP FINALIZATION FORM be completed by the agent that originally held the group space. This form will designate how many bookings belong to the original booking agent and how many belong to other agents. It will also designate how amenity points were allocated, tour conductor credits applied, etc. This is essential to ensure that you are paid your commissions correctly.

If additional bookings are made after finalization but before departure, the GROUP FINALIZATION FORM will need to be completed again. This is only applicable if the booking was modified prior to departure but after finalization.

Tour Conductor Credits and Amenity Points
The agent that originally opens group space is solely responsible for allocating amenity points. Agents that book into the group space will receive the amenities allocated, but cannot change the allocation. All amenity points must be announced on the NEW GROUP SPACE BLOCKED form and will be verified on the GROUP FINALIZATION FORM.

Tour conductor credits will be earned by each booking agent according to the policy set forth by the cruise line. If their policy is 1:16 and an agent does not book 8 cabins on their own, they will not earn a TC. This applies to all agents within the group, including the original booking agent. All agents must earn TC’s according to the policy to receive the credits. If enough cabins are booked to earn a TC, but no one agent has clearly earned the credit, it will belong to Travel Planners International, Inc. If tour conductor credits are utilized by agents without proper notice through the required forms, TPI will deduct the amount of the TC from the agent’s commission. As the original booking agent, if you plan to use amenity points to reduce the Tour Conductor requirements, this must be stated on the NEW GROUP SPACE BLOCKED FORM. The original booking DOES NOT automatically earn or receive tour conductor credits on the group, unless they were booked according to this policy.

The original booking agent is responsible for completing the following paperwork:

Failure to complete any of these requirements will result in a 5% deduction in the commission earned by the original booking agent.

Agents that book into an existing group intentionally are responsible for any upcharges added by the original booking agent. The original booking agent may come back to any agents booked into their space for upcharges as necessary.

Already a group on that ship and sail date? Please complete the GROUP CONCESSION FORM with the required fields. Our Group Sales Coach will process the request for you and get additional group space.