The short answer
These are the usual terms. Your own agreement, or your host’s, can be different, so treat this as a starting point rather than a promise.
| Supplier | Usually pays | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| WestJet Vacations | About 21 days before departure | Departure |
| Sunwing Vacations | Released when the client departs, then paid on the following month’s commission statement, around the 2nd business day | Departure |
| Air Canada Vacations | Released after departure and paid on the next weekly payment run | Departure |
| TravelBrands | About 2 weeks after departure | Departure |
| Transat | Once the trip is completed, in a monthly post-travel run the month after the client returns | Return |
| Expedia TAAP | Monthly, once the trip is completed, between the 20th and 30th of the following month | Return |
| Royal Caribbean | Up to 21 days after the client’s final payment | Final payment |
| Explora Journeys | Within 21 days of the client’s final payment | Final payment |
| Goway | Within a month of the client’s final payment | Final payment |
Three different clocks
The biggest source of confusion is that suppliers don’t all count from the same date. Get the starting point wrong and your estimate can be out by weeks or months.
Departure
Most vacation package companies count from the day your client leaves. WestJet Vacations is the unusual one: it pays before departure, so the commission on a trip in March can arrive in February.
Return
Some suppliers wait until the trip is over. Transat releases commission once the trip is completed, and Expedia TAAP pays monthly for trips that have finished. A two-week trip at the end of a month can push payment out by nearly two months.
Final payment
Cruise lines and some tour operators pay against the client’s final payment rather than the travel dates. Final payment is often due well before departure, so cruise commission can arrive months before your client sails. Goway’s booking terms, for example, put final payment 60 days before departure. If your client pays in full early, the commission can come earlier too.
Your booking confirmation usually shows the final payment due date. Note it down: it’s the date that matters for these suppliers.
What can delay a payment
- A balance still owing. Sunwing only releases commission when the trip is paid in full at departure. An outstanding balance holds it back.
- Statement and payment runs. When a supplier pays on a weekly run or a monthly statement, a commission released a day after the cut-off waits for the next one.
- Changes and cancellations. A change to the booking can change the commission, and a cancellation after payment can lead to a clawback.
- Terms change. Suppliers do revise their terms. WestJet Vacations, for one, used to pay later than it does now. If a supplier’s payments start arriving on a different pattern, check whether its terms have changed.
If you work under a host
When you book through a host agency, the supplier usually pays your host, and your host pays you on its own schedule. That might be a set number of days later, on fixed days of the month, or weekly. So the date you’re actually paid is the supplier’s date plus your host’s timing. Ask your host when they pay you after the supplier pays them; it’s often the missing piece when a commission seems late.
Splits and tiers then decide how much of the commission reaches you. See how host agency splits and tiers work.
Supplier terms change, and individual agreements differ. Use this as a guide, and check your supplier’s agent portal or your host for your own terms.
Tracking it without a spreadsheet
Arrivals estimates the pay date for every booking from the supplier’s usual terms, or from your own if they’re different, and adds your host’s timing. When a date passes and the money hasn’t arrived, the booking moves to your chase list. See how it works.