A four-star resort hotel can generate 15 to 40 transfers a week during high season, all routed through a single concierge desk. That's the kind of volume no marketing campaign of your own easily matches, and it's also the kind of deal that, set up badly, ends with the hotel holding the passenger's data and your fleet reduced to an interchangeable vendor nobody remembers the name of.
The three most common agreement models
1. Commission per booking (the most common)
The hotel or agency recommends your service and earns a commission on every booking that goes through, usually between 10% and 20% of the transfer's value. It's the simplest model to manage and generates the least friction, because the concierge's incentive is aligned with the booking actually happening.
2. Net rate with resale
You give the hotel or agency a net rate, what you need to collect, and they set the final price to the guest, keeping the difference. This model hides the real price from the passenger, which can cause problems if the passenger later compares prices on your own site and sees a different rate than what they paid.
3. Guaranteed volume with a preferred rate
For hotels or agencies with steady volume (several bookings a week, year-round, not just in peak season), it makes sense to offer a somewhat lower rate in exchange for a minimum volume commitment or exclusivity in their recommendation. This is the model that pays off past a certain size, because it reduces demand uncertainty on both sides.
Who owns the passenger's data
This is the question that almost never gets answered in writing, and the one that causes the most problems down the line. If the hotel manages the entire booking (name, flight, phone, destination address) and only hands you "pick up at 2pm in the lobby, guest in room 304," you have no data of your own on that passenger: you can't reach them directly if something changes, you can't offer them the return trip, and you can't build any relationship with them afterward.
The alternative that protects both sides is having the booking live in your own system, even when the hotel initiates it from the front desk, so that:
- You have the passenger's contact details to run the ride reliably.
- The hotel keeps the commission and the convenience of offering the service without operating it.
- The passenger gets confirmation and updates directly, instead of through a middleman who might take a while to forward a message.
How to set up a booking channel for a hotel's front desk
- A white-label booking link or widget the concierge can open in two clicks, with rates already loaded for the hotel's usual routes: airport, nearby cities.
- Instant confirmation, not "let me get back to you in a bit": the concierge needs to be able to tell the guest, right there, that the transfer is booked.
- A visible, automatic commission, calculated at the moment of booking, not in a manual reconciliation at month-end that nobody actually checks in detail.
- A direct communication channel for same-day issues (an early flight, a room change, a last-minute cancellation) that doesn't require going through three people.
Comparison table of the three models
| Model | Typical commission | Who sets the price | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commission per booking | 10-20% | Your fleet | Low, if the process is fast |
| Net rate with resale | Variable (reseller's margin) | The hotel or agency | Price mismatch with your own site |
| Guaranteed volume | Fixed preferred rate | Your fleet | Capacity commitment during peaks |
The mistake that gives up the most control
The most common mistake isn't the commission percentage agreed on: it's letting the entire booking live inside the hotel's or agency's system, with no record of the passenger of your own. When that arrangement ends, a concierge changes, the hotel tries another vendor, the agency renegotiates, you don't just lose that one-off customer: you lose any data that would let you win them back or sell them a return trip.
What to put in writing before you sign
Whichever model you choose, four things are worth putting in writing from the very first agreement, even with the smallest hotel on your list.
- Who manages the passenger's contact details, and which system the booking actually flows through.
- The commission payment terms: whether it's settled per booking or in a monthly batch, and on what date.
- What happens if the hotel cancels an already-confirmed booking on short notice: whether there's a fee, and who absorbs it.
- The length of the agreement and the notice period to end it, so you're not relying on a verbal understanding that nobody remembers the same way six months later.
None of these four points is an aggressive ask: any serious hotel or agency already works this way with its other vendors, and the unusual case is the fleet that doesn't ask for it.
What to do next
Review your current agreements with hotels and agencies and check one thing: when a booking comes in through that channel, does it show up in your system with the passenger's name and contact details, or just as a generic line item for "Hotel X service"? If it's the second, that's the first condition to renegotiate, ahead of the commission percentage. TransfersManager lets you set up a white-label booking channel for a hotel front desk or an agency without losing direct contact with the passenger.
