PAYMENT & COMMISSIONING POLICIES

1 Deposit of 35% which includes early part commission

Decouvertes previously asked for a 30% deposit, which allows us to immediately secure all essential services for the clients’ journey.
As of Q3 2020, we offer Travel Advisors an early commissioning of 5% of the total gross price, paid as soon as the deposit is received by us.
The remaining balance of the commission will be paid within 15 days of clients’ departure.
We believe that our Travel Advisor clients provide immense (if not most) value to their clients at the stage of designing the itinerary: choosing the right destination, partners and suppliers. As such, we think that they deserve to be paid in part before the trip is delivered.
In a past context where 99% of trips were delivered, cancellations were not an issue and neither were commission payments. Nowadays, when a trip is canceled, this represents even more work for the Travel Advisor and a missed commission. This is another good reason for Travel Advisors should to be at least partly compensated when the trip is canceled.
NB: Travel Advisors who are uncomfortable with being paid an early commission may request for a 30% deposit from clients and to receive the full commission within 15 days of clients’ departure.
Our accounting pays your commission upon travelers’ arrival day, except if you request for it to be wired on clients’ departure day; 3-7 days later the wire arrives on your bank account.
Some travel agents choose to be wired on clients’ departure day to group all commissions of the trip into 1 big wire to avoid getting charged by their own banks 1 fee per each mini wire.

1.1 Your commission when booking is fully canceled by clients:

In case the booking is fully canceled, here is how your commission is paid (as long as we follow our cancellation penalties outlined in section 5.1.1 of our T&Cs):
When the booking is canceled at D-60 = you will receive 50% of your commission
When the booking is canceled at D-30 = you will receive 75% of your commission
When the booking is canceled at D-15 = you will receive 100% of your commission except for hotel penalties when we are within hotel cancellation policy

2. Balance at – 90 days

Receiving the balance payment at D-90 days is the best way to we know to guarantee (but for rare exceptions) that services quoted remain available, at no increase.
We believe that working last minute to plan a holiday is always best avoided.
“Winging it” is not our job and value added. We are here to make sure your clients get the best services, and getting a full payment 90 days prior arrival date is the best timeframe for this.
Depending on the sanitary context, we will keep an element of flexibility indeed so that your clients can rest assured that they are not paying the balance with little chances of traveling.
Private accomodations (Villa, Apartment, Chalets, Private barges, etc)
Payment and cancellation conditions will be adjusted to that of the private accommodation, so as to provide maximum flexibility to the guests.
In case of cancellation, Decouvertes will charge a 600 euros flat fee (covering the research, booking, cancellation and refund services, VAT), plus credit card fees. The Travel Advisor will advise in respect to their commission, which would come on top this flat fee.
Why does this policy make sense for your clients?
We are doing our best to push to the maximum the date at which clients cannot postpone anymore. This limit we believe is 90 days.
We are also doing our best to limit the penalties clients will incur when canceling or postponing. Maintaining a small penalty fee is however essential: all our staff is on the payroll and not charging any fee would make us a very unreliable company.
The postponement penalties include:
– Decouvertes’ fee for the services of trip design and reservations (plus canceling all services and rebooking them in the future);
– Part-commission for the Travel Advisor;
– Credit card fees;
– VAT
Applying a cancellation percentage fee (for FIT bookings) or a 600 euros flat fee (for villas) contributes to securing Decouvertes’ sustainability.
Why should you trust Decouvertes for your next trip to France ?
Because we are not claiming that we can refund wholly and because we are keeping a small fee securing our future.
Another reason why you should book with Decouvertes, is because Decouvertes is a member of APST, a mandatory insurance fund for registered travel agencies in France. APST will refund all Decouvertes’ customers in the unlikely event of a default. More information on this here.

Decouvertes is also a verified supplier by Trusted FIT Services.

The above text is an outline of the payment and cancellation policies from Decouvertes’ Terms and Conditions. Nothing in this document can be held to override or contradict Decouvertes’ Terms & Conditions, which are included in your quotes and email correspondence at the time of Booking.