Large travel agency drives growth with deferred payments

Sarah Gott is a consultant for Helloworld Travel Reservoir, an Australia-based travel company with a network of more than 2,000 independent, franchised travel agents and a member of Expedia Group’s Travel Agent Affiliate Program (TAAP) for 10 years.

Many travel agencies who are members of TAAP have the ability to secure bookings at prepaid rates while deferring payment to a later date, helping them secure bigger savings and higher commissions, including high-value TAAP package rates. We talked with Sarah about her experience with our deferred payment option and here’s what she had to say:

How has using Expedia Group’s deferred payment option helped Helloworld?

With the deferred payment option, we can make reservations earlier — sometimes even at better rates. It also lets us hold a room without worrying about whether the rate will change. Not having to pay up front when booking in advance is something our clients just expect. They rely on us to find the right hotel for them (with whatever supplier we use) and the option to hold that room and price without paying right away is a big benefit to them. It also lets us access destinations and properties that we wouldn’t normally consider because we typically wouldn’t want to pay up front. This is especially true with packages: typical package clients pay a deposit then pay the balance later. I think they would be more reluctant to book if they had to pay the full amount up front.

Has using the deferred payment option impacted how much you work with Expedia Group?

Yes — definitely. We’re choosing to use Expedia Group more often now because of this plan being available. And the package rates available are very competitive.

In your view, how does the Expedia Group deferred payment option compare to others in the industry?

With other suppliers who offer deferred payment, it’s a more manual process: we have to remember to make the payment and input the details at the correct time. With Expedia Group, the payment is automatically charged to our card so we don’t have to worry that we might miss a payment to the hotel.