Travel Center Hosts Agreement

Member Agreement / Terms & Conditions

As a CLIA appointed host agency, Travel Center Hosts, LLC (TCH) has established booking capabilities for MAST member agencies.

Travel Center Hosts will aggregate the bookings of participating member agencies in order to build sales volume with MAST preferred suppliers with the objective of obtaining commission percentages that ordinarily cannot be reached by a single member location.

Note: “Participating agency” in the Travel Center Hosts’ Member Agreement/Terms and Conditions refers to the MAST member agency and all it’s employees, independent contractors and travel advisors.

GENERAL:

1. Participating agency must be in good standing as a member of MAST and sign this agreement as a participant of this program.
2. Participating agency will be considered an Independent Contractor of Travel Center Hosts. Employees and Independent contractors of participating agency are not employees, agents or independent contractors of Travel Center Hosts. All booking agents are registered to the cruise lines as home-based agents when registration requires this information.
3. Participating agency will be allowed to book preferred suppliers offered using Travel Center Hosts’ CLIA number and phone number.
4. This agreement shall automatically renew each calendar year. (Occasionally, Travel Center Hosts may request an updated agreement to be submitted.)
5. This agreement may be terminated without cause by either party through a written request on agency letterhead. Should participating agency terminate its membership with MAST, the agency is no longer allowed use of Travel Center Hosts’ CLIA number except for bookings already made under Travel Center Hosts. Existing bookings under Travel Center Hosts may not be transferred and must remain under Travel Center Hosts until travel is completed unless a different agreement has been made between parties.

BOOKING PRACTICES:

1. Bookings may be made through supplier links on Travel Center Hosts’ web page by logging into the MAST website at www.mvptravel.com or by going directly to the supplier booking engine. All participating suppliers may be booked with a login created with Travel Center Hosts’ credentials. Agents may also call in reservations to the cruise line’s reservation phone number. All cruise reservations are accessible through Sabre Cruises regardless of how they are booked with the exception of cruise lines not participating with Sabre Cruises.
2. Participating agency is fully responsible for the accuracy of booked reservations, customer communications and service, validity of rates, collecting payments from customers, making payments to suppliers according to their policies and procedures, and checking accuracy of all confirmations, invoices, tickets, and documents. Travel Hosts and MAST are not responsible for errors committed by the supplier, employees, agents and independent contractors of participating agency and cannot act with clients or suppliers on behalf of the booking agency in any way.
3. Preferred form of payment is bythe participating agency’s client’s credit card.
4. Participating agency is responsible for selling travel insurance to its clients or if insurance is refused, to obtain documentation of insurance refusal.
5. Reservations are to be made using the instructions provided in the Instructional Guide for each supplier. This will help to identify the correct booking agency.
6. Booking agent is required to report reservations by emailing a copy of the agent confirmation to travelhosts@mvptravel.com.
7. Booking agent should instruct suppliers to mail any physical documents and communication regarding their bookings to their agency office. Should Travel Center Hosts receive updates, mail, or documents related to any booking made by a participating agency, said items will be promptly forwarded to the booking agency by e-mail or mail, as appropriate. Cost of mailing documents may be charged back to the booking agency at the discretion of Travel Center Hosts.
8. Client gifts are at the sole discretion of the participating agency and Travel Center Hosts will not share in the cost.
9. Participating agency will not offer monetary discounts through commission rebating booked through Travel Center Hosts.(with the exception of competitor matching in the Best Price Program)
10. Adjustments to cost of reservations by discounting is not allowed through Travel Center Hosts. If a booking requires special circumstances, it must be discussed with Travel Center Hosts’ manager prior to making adjustments to cost, commission, etc.

COMMISSIONS:

1. All reservations are tracked in ClientBase/TRAMS by agency name and are reported to supplier reps upon request.
2. Commission checks will be processed and mailed to agencies after the end of each month, and will cover commissions received by Travel Center Hosts through the end of the month.
3. It is the responsibility of participating agency to distribute commissions paid to the agents of the participating agency according to their agreements and business practices. Travel Center Hosts is not responsible for paying individual agent commissions for participating agency.
4. Recalled commissions will be added to monthly commission checks in the month they are recalled. If an agency does not have any commissions in a given month, Travel Center Hosts will invoice the agency through the MAST accounting office. Payment is due according to the terms on the invoice.
5. Commissions on bookings which have remained with Travel Center Hosts after the termination of this agreement shall be paid within the month received. Any claims to commissions due must be made known to Travel Center Hosts within 30 days of termination notice.

BUSINESS PRACTICES:

1. Participating agency is responsible for applying for and maintaining any business license required by any governmental bodies or trade entities.
2. Participating agency agrees to abide by all state, federal, IRS, IATA, TRUE and/or CLIA regulations and requirements.
3. Participating agency is responsible for payment of applicable personal income and/or business taxes.
4. Participating agency indemnifies Travel Center Hosts for any liabilities arising from actions taken by member agency in the course of its separate business.
5. Participating agency is responsible for obtaining signatures from clients on waiver and disclaimer forms both from the agency and suppliers if applicable.
6. Participating agency is responsible for procuring and maintaining a liability insurance policy and errors and omissions coverage.
7. All terms and conditions as stated, written or oral, by travel suppliers, including all policies and procedures must be adhered to by a participating member. Failure to do so by the participating member is not the responsibility of Travel Center Hosts. Continued disregard for following acceptable business practices and procedures is grounds for being barred from participating in the host agency program with Travel Center Hosts.
8. Additional suppliers (preferred and non-preferred) may be added during the course of this contract. All terms and conditions stated within this agreement will apply to new suppliers entered into the Travel Center Hosts program.
9. Travel Center Hosts shall not be liable for expenses incurred by participating agency.

PARTICIPATING SUPPLIERS:

1. Travel Center Hosts will pay according to the commission charts listed in the program manual. Any component such as insurance, transfers, pre/post nights, etc. which is paid at a set percentage which cannot change based on sales will be paid at the rate paid by the cruise line. Commissions will be paid monthly. Back end commissions earned by MAST will be shared according to MAST’s normal standards for all suppliers.
2. Participating agency may choose to sell all or some of the available cruise suppliers based on whether their commission levels are below or above the commission levels offered through this program.
3. Additional suppliers may be added in the future. Participating agency will be notified when additional suppliers are available to sell through Travel Center Hosts.
4. Booking platforms are Sabre Cruises and supplier booking engines. Phone reservations may be made with the applicable cruise line. Travel Center Hosts’ CLIA number and phone number must be used by participating agency. Follow Travel Center Hosts procedures as indicated in the Travel Center Hosts’ Instructional Guide.
5. Group policies vary by supplier and a minimum number of double occupancy cabins will be required by a single agency to earn a TC credit. If minimums are not met by a single agency, TC credits for group cruise bookings shall remain the property of Travel Center Hosts and are not split between agencies.

Travel Center Hosts Suppliers (The participating suppliers and commission rate a participating agency receives is based on supplier agreements, sales, number of passengers, etc. and are subject to change.):

IMPORTANT NOTES:
If your agents already have logins for some supplier booking engines, a new user account will need to be created in some cases, with a different email address.

View each participating supplier’s instructions in the TCH Manual for information on transferring bookings, trainings certifications, etc.

REGISTRATION AND ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS:
By completing the information below and signing in the space provided, you are accepting the terms of the Travel Center Hosts’ Member Agreement/Terms & Conditions.