VACAYA is a fresh approach to LGBT+ travel, one focused entirely on our mutual guests and creating memorable bespoke experiences built around amazing destinations, stellar entertainment, world-class hospitality, and endless fun! VACAYA’s full-ship and full-resort vacations are built for the entire LGBTQIAPK community, so community members have the freedom to express their individuality, make personal connections, celebrate life, rev up, or simply relax… together.
VACAYA is the newest player in the full-ship LGBT+ travel landscape, providing our travel agent colleagues with a true collaboration – one built on clear, timely communication; infinite respect for your contributions to our mutual success; and robust standard commissions and bonus rewards.
With VACAYA’s state-of-the-art online Reservations Management System, earning commission has never been easier. Bookings through our agent-only portal take less than 5 minutes from start to finish and can literally be made from anywhere in the world 24x7x365. In addition, all of the Terms & Conditions sign offs and Credit Card authorizations are handled electronically during the booking process.
BOOKING YOUR CLIENTS WITH VACAYA
After registering with VACAYA, we’ll build your profile in our Reservations Management System (RMS) within 72 hours. Once you have full access to our RMS, you’ll need the following details for each of your clients to complete their reservation:
NUMBER IN PARTY
PREFERRED ROOM TYPE
BED PREFERENCE
FULL LEGAL NAME
EMAIL ADDRESS (each client is required to have a unique email address in our system)
PHONE NUMBER
MAILING ADDRESS
GENDER
DATE OF BIRTH
CITIZENSHIP
CREDIT CARD TYPE
CREDIT CARD NUMBER
CREDIT CARD EXPIRATION DATE
CREDIT CARD CVV
NAME ON CARD
BILLING ADDRESS (if different from mailing address)
PAYMENT PLAN PREFERENCE (Pay in Full, Monthly Billing, or Deposit Now Pay Later)
PAYMENT SPLITTING (is this reservation being paid by one person or split evenly among the roommates across multiple credit cards?)
Please note: at the conclusion of each reservation, you will acknowledge VACAYA’s Terms & Conditions and authorize all credit card payments on behalf of your clients. Your clients can access our Terms & Conditions here: https://archive.myvacaya.com/guest-resources/guest-terms-conditions/.
As your client’s agent, we expect you to be able to answer any and all questions your clients may have about the VACAYA Experience. In addition, we will ask for your assistance in securing valid credit card information for any of your client’s automatic milestone payments that fail to go through. Our Vacation Planners will reach out to you shortly after milestone payments are processed for assistance with any declined payments.
We accept the following forms of payment for our vacations:
- Credit Cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Diner’s Club, and AMEX)
COMMISSION STRUCTURE
For the purposes of calculating commissions, each VACAYA program is a stand-alone event. At VACAYA, we believe in full transparency from start to finish; our agent partners can easily track their sales for each trip to know exactly where they stand throughout the process. Commissions are calculated based on the total number of rooms sold for that particular vacation event plus a qualifying minimum sales total. Once both conditions have been met, agents move to the next commission level. Commissions are paid within 60 days following each event.
VACAYA BIG-SHIP CRUISES (with 701 or more guests)
| Level | Rooms Sold | Qualifying Minimum Sales | Commission Earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.5 – 15 | $1,000 | 10% |
| 2 | 16 – 25 | $38,400 | 11% |
| 3 | 26 – 50 | $62,400 | 12% |
| 4 | 51-150 | $122,400 | 13% |
| 5 | 151 or more | $362,400 | 14% |
VACAYA RESORTS & TOURS
| Level | Rooms Sold | Qualifying Minimum Sales | Commission Earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.5 – 10 | $1,000 | 10% |
| 2 | 11 – 19 | $26,400 | 11% |
| 3 | 20 – 29 | $48,000 | 12% |
| 4 | 30 – 40 | $72,000 | 13% |
| 5 | 41 or more | $98,400 | 14% |
VACAYA SMALL-SHIP CRUISES (with 1-700 guests) – 2023
| Level | Rooms Sold | Qualifying Minimum Sales | Commission Earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 – 2 | $4,800 | 10% |
| 2 | 3 – 5 | $17,200 | 11% |
| 3 | 6 – 9 | $34,560 | 12% |
| 4 | 10 – 15 | $57,600 | 13% |
| 5 | 16 or more | $92,160 | 14% |
VACAYA SMALL-SHIP CRUISES (with 1-700 guests) – 2024 and BEYOND**
| Level | Rooms Sold | Qualifying Minimum Sales | Commission Earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 – 2 | $4,800 | 10% |
| 2 | 3 – 5 | $17,200 | 11% |
| 3 | 6 – 9 | $34,560 | 12% |
| 4 | 10 – 15 | $57,600 | 13% |
| 5 | 16 or more | $92,160 | 14% |
**Beginning with our 2024 trips, VACAYA Small-Ship Cruises’ max commission payout per standard room is $2,000, and for suites, $3,000.
The following programs have commission structures that are specific to that trip only and supersede the above. They are:
- 2025 Caribbean Cruise Post-Cruise Mardi Gras Add-On – The commission is a flat $250 per room booked.
- 2025 Mardi Gras Experience – The commission is a flat $250 per room booked.
- 2026 Indian Splendor Tour – The commission is a flat $1,000 per room booked.
Please note that The V List membership fee (397 USD for Diamond / 197 USD for Platinum) is non-commissionable.
ADDITIONAL TERMS
Commissionable Elements of a Reservation
Your client’s base fare is commissionable. Port charges, taxes, and gratuities, as well as any additional items (hotels, airfares, transfers, etc.) booked by VACAYA, are non-commissionable.
Commission on TravelPro’s personal trips with VACAYA
While we’re happy to pay commission on our TravelPro’s personal bookings, a TravelPro must be in good standing to qualify for personal travel commissions. Personal bookings are eligible for commission only if a TravelPro has made at least one client booking within the 12 months prior to booking personal travel. Commissions are not earned for TravelPro personal bookings made by other TravelPros. Personal bookings made prior to registering as a TravelPro are not eligible for commission.
Future Program Changes
Please note that our commission structure can change at any time.
Non-Commissionable Guests
Due to the cruise lines’ complex onboard revenue requirements for charter events (which are calculated on a per person basis based on predicted daily onboard spend), non-traveling guests put VACAYA at a disadvantage. To meet the targets, traveling guests are now required to spend more to make up for the non-traveling guests. If the targets aren’t met, VACAYA is responsible for making up the difference between actual onboard spend and the contractual target. To help make up for that difference, commissions are halved for non-traveling guests/cancelled reservations.
BONUS OPPORTUNITIES
Sales Incentive
Although we offer an ever-changing slate of programs each year, there are certain anchor programs offered year after year, for example our Winter Caribbean Cruise. If an agency has increased rooms sold year-over-year by 20% or more in one of our anchor programs, the agency will receive an additional 0.5% commission on the entire dollar value on all staterooms sold for that cruise. This bonus is available at all commission levels. And those programs considered “anchors” will be clearly communicated to you upon sales launch.
Earned Space
Also, sell 25 or more staterooms on any big-ship cruise and you’ll receive an interior stateroom (or the equivalent value of the lowest interior stateroom’s fare on an upgraded room) as an added bonus. Bonus staterooms are yours to give away, sell, or use for yourself. All we ask is that you don’t advertise this bonus stateroom in any way. Port charges and gratuities must be paid on earned space.
Guest Experience Collaboration
The words “ease” and “partnership” get thrown around quite a bit in our business, but at VACAYA, they are fundamental for us. The relationship we forge with you is completely symbiotic; your clients are as important to us as they are to you.
Hoping to send one of your clients an in-room gift? Or perhaps to surprise them with a bottle of wine delivered directly to their dinner table in celebration of a special occasion? In conjunction with our world-class cruise and resort partners, your friends at VACAYA stand ready to help all of our agent partners deliver these types of amenities to guests.
Our in-house Vacation Planners will always be there for our agent partners. And to strengthen that relationship, our top agents will be assigned a single point of contact – a VACAYA Angel – who will be their primary contact with our company. They will be there to service all your needs – whether that’s helping with a reservation or handling a special request. Through the years, your Angel will get to know you well, with a goal of fully understanding your preferences and anticipating your and your clients’ needs before they even arise.
For agencies who consistently reach Level 4 and above, there are a host of additional unpublished benefits. VACAYA will reach out to you once you’ve reached this level to ensure you’re aware of and can take advantage of all the additional perks.
Client Protection
Once you book a client on a VACAYA vacation, they are your client on all future bookings – assuming, of course, your client continues to name you as their agent of record and your agency claims the booking within 7 days. This is accomplished by them writing in your agency’s name if they book on their own and then your agency contacting VACAYA either by email or phone within 7 days to claim the booking. Unless we receive notification directly from the client requesting to change agencies or go direct, any future reservations booked by your agency for that client will be credited to your agency, assuming those clients write in your agency’s name when booking directly (this is the only means for us to connect your client with your agency) and your agency claims the booking within 7 days. That being said, like with nearly all other travel entities – hotels, airlines, etc., your clients should book through you, their agent. And we’ll repeat this because it’s that important: for guests who book directly with us on their own, you’ll still earn your commission on that booking, but only IF your client names your agency when prompted during the checkout process, and your agency claims the booking by phone or email within 7 days. PLEASE NOTE: Your clients who book directly with us are prompted to write in your agency’s name and then are told to reach out to you to alert you of their booking. Since everyone is interconnected in this transaction, this should be a compulsory bit of training you provide your clients who might occasionally book with VACAYA on their own. It truly is the only way for all of us to stay “in the know.”
When we sell a new cruise or new resort trip onboard, it will all be done electronically through our booking tool and guests will be asked to book directly with us onboard. If the guest used your agency to book the cruise/resort trip they’re on, then the agency will still earn 100% of the commission for the new booking (even though the client will have made this particular booking themselves and the agency will have not claimed the booking). For our agencies who book hundreds of clients on our big-ship cruises, we understand there’s simply no way for you to execute so many bookings on your own in that short booking window, so we’ll remove that stress for you and simply credit your agency with those re-bookings.
Obviously, VACAYA employs extraordinary marketing efforts to win over guests and educate them on upcoming events. And any guest who has booked directly with VACAYA in the past remains classified as a “direct booked” guest.
However, if the guest decides to become your client, commission can be earned after 3 trips of you acting as their agent. That 3-trip countdown clock begins once the client notifies us in writing of their intent to be serviced by you. Your client simply needs to send an email to travelagents@myvacaya.com stating their preference to be serviced by your agency. When booking your new client’s fourth trip with VACAYA, you (as the client’s agent) will send us an email with the following information confirming the changeover:
Subject: Agency Client Changeover Confirmation for Insert Agency Name
- Guest’s Full Legal Name
- Guest’s Email Address
- Guest’s Mailing Address
- Guest’s Phone Number
- Guest’s Date of Birth
- First VACAYA Trip as a Direct-Booked Guest
- First VACAYA Trip with Your Agency
That email can be sent to travelagents@myvacaya.com. Once we receive this changeover confirmation from you, we will confirm the guest had requested the change 3 trips prior and then we will adjust our records to ensure you begin earning commission on all future bookings for this client.
To maintain the integrity of our partnership with you, agents may not solicit clients while vacationing with VACAYA. We won’t try to steal your clients and we trust you won’t try to steal our direct-booked guests. Guests may not request to move their agency relationship to a travel professional they happen to meet onboard. So basically, if the two of you traveled on the same trip with us, it’s not possible to move that guest from being one of our direct-booked guests over to your client roster. Imagine for a moment how you’d perceive VACAYA emailing your clients and suggesting they should consider moving from your agency to being a direct-booked guest. We’d never do that. Doing so would not be in the spirit of the type of relationship we want to have with you.
COMMISSION FINE PRINT
- Paid upgrades made by your clients onboard are non-commissionable.
- Travel insurance sales are non-commissionable.
- Port charges and gratuities are non-commissionable.
- VACAYA Breeze is non-commissionable.
- When asked to transfer your client’s posted payments from their original credit card charged to another credit card, VACAYA charges a 6% fee to cover administrative costs, credit card fees for refunding the original amount, and the fees involved with re-charging those funds to a new credit card.
- Travel agents may submit name changes and receive commission on the replacement guest for their clients who need to cancel rooms. If the replacement guest has traveled with VACAYA within the previous 3 years, the agent receives commission on the current booking only. After that trip, the replacement guest reverts back to a VACAYA direct-book guest.
- VACAYA pays all commissions via ACH to the Travel Agency as a corporate entity, not to individual agents.
- VACAYA assesses a $50 fee on commission payments made by wire.
- If a person requests in writing to move from being an agent-booked guest to being a direct-booked guest, VACAYA will honor that request. That being said, VACAYA will NEVER try to convince an agent-booked guest to do so.
- If you have an issue with any commission payout, you must alert VACAYA of the discrepancy within 90 days of receiving the commission payout. After 90 days, the program’s accounting closes and there is no way to adjust payouts after that time.