The F Word: How Charging Fees Changes Your Travel Agent Business

Hey there! Welcome to The No BS Travel Advisor. This is the solo edition. Just me, Marcie Muensterman, my mouth, my mistakes, and the real stories from 19 years in this wild-ass industry. There will be no guests here. No censorship, no filters, just the truth behind how I burned out, rebuilt, and finally learned to run this business like the CEO that I am. And if you're an independent advisor who suspects your host might suck, hate So if you're someone who hates working for free and appreciates a well-placed F-bomb, you're in the right damn place. So let's go. Hey everyone. Welcome back to the No BS Travel Advisor Podcast. I'm your host, Marcie Muensterman, and today is my very first solo podcast. I'm by myself. There is no guest in-house today. At y'all's request, I will be doing a few of these between interview seasons. One of the topics that we talk about a lot in the Maximize Your Travel Advisor Business community on Facebook is the F word and not the 4-letter F word, the 3-letter F word, especially when it comes to those in the middle of the night DMs and the pick your brain clients who slide in at random times of the year that you're like, I don't know what to do with these people. They always ask me for quotes. I give them, they ghost, then they come back. Very much like this cyclical situation where you're attracting a very specific kind of client to you, whether that's in your marketing or if it's just in who you have been serving, or maybe you're new and you're just putting out there that this is what you're doing. So people do ask a lot of things in the DMs that you're like, I don't want to do this for free. I don't want to keep sending all of these quotes. So I especially see this in the theme park arena where it's super easy, and I'm putting that in quotes. To quote quickly and shoot over something in the DM. But to be honest, guys, you're undermining all of your knowledge and the services that you offer beyond the quote. All right. So we are talking about fees today, charging a fee. That F word can be the most terrifying for travel advisors, more terrifying than a non-refundable hotel. More terrifying than losing all your emails. I even spent the majority of my career not charging fees. So you are not alone out there if you think that you're all by yourself in this. 72%, according to an ASTA survey in 2024, are charging fees. So I know that can sometimes sound like a lot, and it is, and I'm so proud of us out there doing the fee thing. For those of you that are still afraid of it, this should be something that makes you feel a little more calm. But post-COVID, in my opinion, every advisor should at least consider it for some of their reservations and the services that they're providing. I mean, of course I was the free girl for years. It was a selling point that I truly believed in, that you were getting my services For, and I was the no worries, you got it, shoot you a quote in the DMs. But after a while it gets really draining and it can lead to burnout, especially when you are ghosted or you're not recognizing very early in a conversation that someone is a tire kicker. If you're new, especially, you might feel really excited when you get a DM asking you for a quote. But at the end of the day, we are not quoting machines. We are not Expedia. We are not an online OTA, online tour operator. We're not the person to ask for just quotes. When you come to a service-based travel advisor, we're not AAA Travel, we're a service-based travel advisor, you are getting so much more. And it's time to slow down and think about what your time and expertise is worth. So I have been there. I understand that concern, that hesitation to charge fees. And I got burned out in 2015, left the industry for 3 years. So much of the reason for my burnout was the working for free piece and the working a lot piece, the 24/7 service piece, because I was always service-based. Service was the number one reason people referred me. And it was also the number one reason I was the most exhausted because I didn't have any boundaries and I did not charge for those services. When you hit a wall and there's nowhere to go, you sometimes are forced to quit. And that's how I felt. I felt like I had just gotten in over my head and I couldn't reverse path. So I quit. I threw in the towel. And there's not a day I regret leaving the business in 2015 because I needed a full reset. And my personality is the kind that it's like, I'm either all in or I'm all out. And when I left, I was devastated. Like, it was one of the hardest things I've ever walked away from. It was a multimillion-dollar sales business, and I was extremely successful in the eyes of my peers and my friends and my family, but I was not my best self. I was a burnt-out, really mean, version of myself. I almost got divorced because I was working so much and not respecting my husband. I was not respecting our marriage. I was self-imploding and finally, finally recognized that the only thing I could do was walk away from this career to free up my brain and get myself into therapy. And it was really hard to face those facts, but when I came back 2018, fees were still not on my radar. I knew I needed to set boundaries and set office hours and control my time better. And I had learned how to do that at the direct sales company I was with. Having calendar control was a game changer for me. That was really the first step in setting a lot of boundaries for my time and my energy and how much, you know, how much I was going to invest in this each day. But fees were still not there. They were not something I was considering. So a lot of you get to choose when you're ready to start charging fees, but I did not feel like I had that choice. I came back to travel in 2018 and I was not all in quite, you know, right away. By 2019 though, I was enjoying my business. I had A set schedule. I was not working too much. I had stopped working weekends. You know, I really was enjoying the quoting and the getting the information out to my clients. And I was working with people I'd worked with before, but I was also working with some new people. That did mean I was getting ghosted and tire kicked occasionally, but I was so excited to be back in travel. It really didn't bother me at first. Coming into 2020 though, I was at the precipice of whether I was going to keep pushing this business forward or if I was going to scale slower, pull back, because 2019 showed me I still got it and I was selling like a badass. And I had some weddings on the books in 2020. I had some really big luxury vacations because I had set a minimum spend for my clientele. Whole other conversation. And then we know what happened. COVID came, the pandemic arrived, and I felt very forced to make the decision to go into fees. I knew after losing my entire business, my commissions, my income, $500,000 in sales, well on my way to a million, which was what I had decided I wanted to do for 2020, especially on work I'd been doing Since 2019, you know, you're talking destination wedding planning that started early 2019 that wasn't going to travel until the end of 2020. Those groups were high value, but I did not charge a fee. So it was rough having to cancel all those reservations and realize that my commission that I got in January was $6,000 was all I was going to get. I guess I was paid that in February. And I think I got a small check in March from my February travelers, but my spring breakers had to cancel. My weddings had to reschedule. I spent hours and hours and hours rescheduling and canceling trips that I planned a year and a half ago. It was one of the hardest things I have ever experienced in travel, and I have been through some crazy-ass shit. I remember swine flu. One of my colleagues got it on a plane on the way back from Antigua. So she experienced it personally. I remember Zika virus, which kept pregnant women from traveling on babymoons for several years. I started this business so early that I saw those recession years. Don't even get me started on the hurricanes. I will never forget having to move an entire wedding due to a hurricane in 2014. You name it, I have tackled it in this business. And now, you know, we've dealt with the FAA closing or shutting down. We've dealt with, you know, just all these other things that have happened to us. We are tackling all of these things every single day in our business. It's like, what's on our bingo card for 2026, y'all? So I have a lot of experience with situations that require people to cancel, but there was nothing and there has never been anything like COVID. So I finally decided to make the leap into fees in angst, in desperation for some money, in respect for my time, changing how I looked at everything in my business. And in June of 2020, I announced after the finalization of cancellation— that's a mouthful. I think I had just canceled like the last trip that I had planned for the summer. And I had also just canceled my own Jamaica trip. To celebrate my birthday that July that I was just over it. Like I had had it up to fucking here. I was homeschooling a 3rd and 5th grader. I was missing my book club. I was drinking too much wine after quitting drinking, by the way, I quit drinking in 2018, picked it back up in 2020. I created a post in my Facebook group to announce that I was going to a fee-based model. And what I can say. Is the end of this story has not happened. I'm still in the middle of navigating charging fees, who I charge them to, how much I charge. These things are always on my mind as a business owner. But I will say this: charging fees was one of the best damn decisions I have ever made for my travel business. It is so much better for my sanity. I love the extra income. And it really does set a boundary around the client-travel advisor relationship. What I had to do to get over my fears was realize what an aligned client is for me. And my aligned client is willing to pay no matter what. And I also have to be in the mindset that no matter how many free agents are out there, I'm not free. And I'm okay with that. And frankly, I think it's okay if you don't charge, but I also think that we have to stop saying to people in public spaces that agents who charge are a fraud. We are not a fraud. It is not a scam. And we have to support each other in the choices we make. Do I think you should charge? Absolutely. Because I believe in your value, but if you're not ready, I understand that too. I understand that it takes time to get there for some people. And I understand why, because I took all the time in the world to get there, but I'm so glad I got there. My clients appreciate me. They want to work with me. They don't look at paying me as an extra. They don't look at it as something that doesn't deserve to be paid. They see it as an investment into somebody with my level of knowledge and care and expertise. And the services I provide. And I know if you're new, you're listening going, well, I don't have any of that, Marcie. I've only been doing this for a year or a month. It doesn't matter. And here's why. Every piece of experience that you bring to your business comes from somewhere. And this is something I've been wanting to talk about too. So this is a little sidebar that's not in my script today, but it just really is on my heart. You have been doing something That requires service for a very long time. Something, something in your life. If you've ever been a bartender, a waitress, if you're a flight attendant, if you are a teacher or a nurse, a mom, if you've ever worked in customer service, if you've ever been a receptionist in an office, an executive assistant, if you've ever worked in a drive-through, barista, I could go on and on and on. You are most likely a woman who takes care of shit. And we should not undermine our past experience that we bring in to being a travel advisor because it comes with such great value to the service side of our industry. And the one thing you may not feel like you're good at, I hear it all the time, is I'm not a salesperson. I'm not good at sales. Separate that out. That is not what they're paying for. They're not paying for you to be good at sales. They're going to be paying for all of the service and knowledge that you bring to your travel business before you are ever a travel advisor. All of that matters. All of it absolutely fucking matters because you didn't get here as a blank slate. Very few of us come straight into travel after college, and even if we did, We probably had some sort of job. I mean, I worked at Blockbuster when I was in college. Service, organization, detail-oriented, had to know where everything went, had to know what year it was released. There's so many things, you guys, that you have been doing your whole fucking life that allow you to be a good advisor. Somebody that cares about other people and their vacations, that is a skill set you bring to the business. Well before you ever got here. So I want you to put that into your mind when you think about your time. When you think about all that time you have spent learning to be the person you are right now, who's craving being something for somebody else, being a bigger part of their story. Because that's what travel advisors are. We are a big part of a special story. Vacations are memory makers, and we are a part of that. And when you are researching and studying and building knowledge, You deserve to be paid for that time that you spend doing that. So, okay. Let's rewind back to when I was a baby travel advisor. I was also a baby. I was like late 20s, 26, 27. I was planning my own destination wedding with an awesome travel advisor, and I just fell in love with her service. I really did. I was in shock at how often she would respond to my crazy texts at 11. PM. And I had dreamt of doing something similar in my future life since 8th grade. I have this 8th grade bound book thing that I found a few years ago that said, I want to be a travel agent when I grow up. And I had never really remembered that, but it was written right there next to a picture of Dean Cain as my future husband. So there's a little insight into my 8th grade self. And when I Pushed to be hired, which we're not hired. We know that now we're contracted. I mean, I pushed, I really wanted the opportunity to be a travel advisor and to plan destination weddings specifically. And I didn't know what I didn't know. Let's be honest. I didn't know I could go research different host opportunities and interview travel agencies. And I mean, it was 2006. I know I knew very, very little about the travel industry in general. I'd never been anywhere. The very first time I really left the country with a passport was my wedding. So I had to learn from the ground up, but I just knew I could do this. But let's be clear, back then it was absolutely a culture of free. I mean, when there are probably travel advisors listening to this who were in the '80s where they got paid 10% on airfare. I mean, by the time I came into the business, we were not being paid for air unless it was bulk or you were doing some kind of markup on A reservation in Funjet or TI or whatever, but Expedia was really new. It was just coming onto the scene when I started, so it was very competitive all of a sudden because we even didn't know how to Google things. We were learning how to do that, and so was the rest of the world. And when they realized they could Google, you know, how to book a vacation and end up on Expedia or Orbitz. Or whatever. And Cheap Caribbean was really big when I was new. I mean, everyone thought they could plan their own vacations. Hell, they still do. That's fine. I mean, it's true. And even in the industry of travel, amongst travel advisors, it was competitive. It felt very cutthroat, if I'm honest. And I didn't know any better, so I just assumed that's how it was. But I was very isolated from other travel advisors. And until I really had opportunities to talk to more travel advisors, I didn't realize What I didn't know. So if you're out there also thinking, gosh, I didn't know, I signed on too fast. I didn't realize my contract did this, this, and this. You are not alone. But when I think back to those early days, I was so excited to be a travel advisor. I would've done anything, including just what I did, which was work 24/7, answer my phone at all hours, get back to people within 3 hours, quote super fast without really understanding the qualifications for what they needed. You know, because I was just trying to get the sale. And of course I got ghosted. Of course there were tire kickers. Of course there were people who'd never responded when I called them back. And I remember thinking about fees because there was one company I knew of, I didn't know of any others, that was charging a $50 pay-to-go fee. And it was destinationweddings.com. I remember thinking, what an awesome idea. They pay this $50. It basically gives them access to a travel agent and she's going to quote them. And then if they book with her, They put that back onto their reservation. If they don't book with her, it's nonrefundable. What a great idea. But my travel agency owners did not agree. They thought we had to stay free to be ahead. And that is scarcity mindset 101. But back then I didn't even know what scarcity mindset was. That wasn't terminology anyone was regularly using. I mean, come on, live, laugh, and lose money. Okay. That's probably not that funny, but seriously, it's easy to buy into scarcity mindset when you are surrounded by scarcity mindset and that you got to do everything and you just never know what that person is going to give you like next, or the lead that will come after it, or the money that they'll spend next year. It's like, no, we don't need to know all that. But that was something I didn't understand. I was young. I was my first real sales job and I wanted to make money. I wanted the sale and I was willing to do almost anything to get it. So, you know, I never stepped into fees in those early days of my career. I mean, I wasn't technically allowed. They made that very clear. And that scarcity became my identity. And I leaned all the way in on that marketing, you know? So whenever I was at a trade show, I made sure to tell people there's no fee. You don't have to pay me. I'm free. And although occasionally I did bring it up, it really just never came to fruit. I mean, I remember doing like 12 destination wedding quotes for one couple thinking this is Fucking out of control, drowning in group pricing. I'm dealing with this high maintenance father-in-law. It wasn't even the bride or groom. It was the father-in-law. And just like always dealing with budget conscious Aunt Susan, because of course no one wanted to go more than 3 nights. And I just kept thinking, shouldn't someone pay me for this? Like to get all this information together and make sure you have the wedding of your dreams. Like, isn't it worth it? Something I just I can't. But I also remember when I would bring it up around other people, which I always have brought up uncomfortable things in mixed company. So this is like not new, but I've learned over time that people don't always appreciate that. I was told straight to my face that is flat out greed to want to be paid to do a few quotes for wanting to charge fifty dollars for three quotes. I was like, are you fucking kidding me? Do you know how hard I work? Do you know how many hours a day I work and never get paid? It might be months until I get my next commission check. And literally, if I could go back in time and slap my 29-year-old self, I would. I would be like, get it together, figure this out, charge fee. But if you fast forward to 2020, COVID is what smacked our industry. Truly came in like a freight train. Cancel, rebook, cancel again, rebook again, move the insurance, find new dates, requote, repeat. I even had to move 2 weddings and both of them had reduced costs because the new price for 2021 was so much lower due to, um, the pandemic. I mean, I moved so many trips and some of them just canceled flat out. And because I always booked CFAR, which is cancel for any reason insurance, I didn't see a dime of commission. But what really kept pushing me over the edge After the pandemic really got rolling and the kids got homeschooled, was those questions of full trip quoting just to see, Marcy, just to see how much it is. And they really wanted to pick my brain on whether it was quote unquote safe to travel. How the hell would I fucking know? I'm not a nurse. I'm not a doctor. I'm a travel advisor. And there's advisories all over the world about how sick people are. I was like, I don't think anybody should travel. And if I'm going to be in charge of it, you're going to pay me. And that's really how it got there. It was just like this moment in time when I was so fed up and I was probably drinking too much wine and I was like, fuck this, I'm done. I'm done quoting for free. I'm done with the non-commitment. I'm done with the pick my brain. I mean, I had lost nearly $50,000 in commissions. I hadn't been paid for a dime of that work. And I was like, I am done. Hell fucking no, I'm not giving you another quote for free. So I drew that line in the sand. That's how we got here. And I charged my first official fee, October of 2020, for a friend who wanted to go to Mexico in the next 7 days. I was like, girl, I gotta charge for this. It was like $100, but I loved getting that $100. I'm pretty sure she Venmo'd it to me because I didn't have an agreement. I didn't have anything in place for it. I was just over it and I charged it. And yes, it was scary to charge it, but I'm like, you know what? If you want me to do this, this is what it's gonna cost ya. So after that, I posted about it in my Facebook private group. By November, I had increased from $100 to $200 coming into 2021, and I haven't looked back. My minimum now is $300, and no, I don't charge every single person. I think a lot of people think I do, so I wanna clear it up that I don't always charge. There are some clients I trust with my time and energy. That is on you to decide, but it will change your brain chemistry, that first fee you get. So much of what we're doing here is belief and mindset. I was the one who was afraid. My aligned clients pay my fee. So getting that message out to them, that was probably one of the harder moments for me because I was nervous that they would basically say I wasn't worth it, right? Like, that's the belief. We're really not worth it. They could go do this themselves online. There's tons of free agents. They'll just go to one of those. That's a belief. And it's, it's true. It's still true. But what I had to start believing was I am a professional. And there is nothing wrong with professionals charging for their services. I pay a lot of money to the luxury services that I have in my life, including my housekeeper, my lawn care provider, my pool guy. They don't show up unless they're getting paid. And I know there's not— those aren't commission-based models, but it doesn't change that no one's working for free. And there's so much that goes into planning a vacation before someone ever travels. That requires us to work that I just knew I couldn't do it anymore the way I had been doing it. I value the services that I hire so much. I value their time investment. I value their expertise, their knowledge on things. And I knew I had that. I knew that my concierge care was exceptional. And the reality was, if I didn't start charging, I was going to have to quit because I was definitely done quoting what I Think about when I make choices around my fee is the relationship I have with that client. So if it is somebody I have been working with since the early days and they book their vacation every single year for February, I typically don't charge those people, but I only send one, maybe two quotes as well. So if you want a ton and ton of quotes, I say that, hey, if we go beyond two, I'm gonna have to send my invoice for $300. I don't always charge my higher spend clients, although I do think My higher spend clients value me a little bit more and will pay it without issue. And there are just some people in my life who I just love dearly, and I'm like, sure, I'll send you a couple of proposals. Like, it depends on the situation. It depends on the relationship. And you know, I'm very straightforward. So if you waste my time, I'm gonna say something to you about it. And I'll say, hey girl, next time I'm gonna have to charge you because you keep wasting my time. So it's like, I usually don't regret not charging, but on occasion. I absolutely do. So you have to decide each time that you're going into the conversation, what is right for you. But because we know that loyalty doesn't always equal low maintenance, right? I mean, sometimes your lifers are the most work with the highest expectations, and they often don't have boundaries because they came from a different time in your career, right? So you have to choose when you're going to do this, but that is part of the learning and growing. And you'll know when you've undercharged, you'll know when you should have charged. You will understand that in your own way as you navigate this. You're not going to go without mistakes. We always make mistakes, but that's the beauty of this business. We get to make the next best call for our business, right? We are the CEO. So we pivot, we adjust. I mean, that is what is absolutely awesome. And of course I had people who questioned my fee. Of course I did. In fact, I have a closer friend here in Tampa that She had been hiring her travel advisor for years and he was retiring and she wanted to transition the business to me and I wanted that business, but I did tell her upfront, I think it was like a Christmas party in 2020, that I was going to charge $200 if they wanted to book their Disney cruise through me. And she said, okay, let me talk to my husband. And she came back and said, he does not want to pay $200 for your service. We've never paid for a travel advisor. And I said, oh, I get it. No worries. I understand. I guess that means we're not going to be working together. And I think it took her by surprise because I think when she heard like, oh, no worries, that I was going to waive my fee. But I was standing on business for the first time and I really wanted to make sure even my friends understood that my time, energy, and expertise to service their booking was not free. And I think she was kind of like, Oh my gosh. What? Really? And my husband, who was in kind of a business relationship with her husband, was like, what the fuck, Marcie? Waive the fee. And I was like, no, dude, this is why I have one. I don't want people to waste my time. I don't know them. They've never booked a trip with me before. I mean, I didn't know them in that way. I knew her. She was in my book club. But I think because they spend a lot on trips, He thought, why not just do the work? The commission's gonna be worth it. But I'm like, then I'm worth $200. I am not fucking doing this for free anymore. So it was unpredictable who would pay and who wouldn't. But I truly believe our friends and family should not be asking for a discount. And that was really one of the first times I was like, yeah, not everybody's gonna say yes to this. But it's just like me choosing a hairdresser over a different hairdresser. Or getting 5 quotes for a roofer and realizing I'm probably going to go with one of the cheaper ones if it's the same thing, right? Like you just have to decide for yourself what you're going to charge and who you're going to charge. And just because you've always done it some way doesn't mean you can't shift your business model today. I mean, those people who slide into the DMs who are just, you know, trying to get a quick quote and compare and, you know, why do, why do they think they might say, I don't know why I would have to pay for that. And I get that too. I understand that we don't have to pay for it if you go over there and get it. I'm just not the person you're going to get it from. So in this time, one thing I wanted to do was not burn bridges. And that's something else I know we worry about, right? So it's like, but I do want them to come back for the right trip, or I do want them to reconsider me in the future. So I coined a phrase called help and release. And this is something I teach in Propose to Close, like the specific language and all of that. And that's essentially what I started doing with anyone who wasn't super keen on working with me because of my fee. So I would say, no, I'm not doing that for free. Here's what it costs to work with me. And this is usually during a consultation is when I'm really addressing the fee, because I like to do it in person, quote unquote, like on a Zoom. Okay. And so I might say something like, I understand if you don't want to invest in my services, you absolutely should work with a travel advisor whose pricing model you feel aligned with. So here's where it comes in, where I say something helpful. I am happy to find an advisor that specializes in this. I can't guarantee if she doesn't charge a fee, but if you would like to talk to someone else, I can refer you. Or I would send them some kind of like starting point article, either from like TripAdvisor or perhaps just something I had read, a blog, an Instagram story, something that would give them a place to start, something that was helpful. in their journey forward in their vacation planning, but where I was releasing them. You know, it let us both off the hook, right? And it wasn't like I wasn't helpful, which I think is one of the things we all need to be anyway. Like, I don't gatekeep. So if somebody asks me what my favorite resort is in Mexico, I always say Atelier. Like, I don't hesitate. I don't— it's a secret. You have to, you have to get a quote from me. It's none of that. It's literally Atelier. You can either look into it with me. I charge $300 for that. Or you can, um, go book it yourself. I don't care. You have to release the outcome. So not only are you helping and releasing them into the universe, you're also releasing the outcome of what happens next for you and your business. And that is what I refer to as abundance mindset, that when you say no to something, you're leaving room to say yes to something else. And yes, Guess who plans her own vacations now? My book club friend, because her husband believes she has the time to do that. She did want help, but he wasn't willing to pay me. So I'm pretty sure she's still doing that. But until she's willing to pay me, I am not involved in those vacations. Do we still talk trips and go to coffee and hang out and go to book club? Absolutely. We're still friends because I'm not trying to burn that bridge. And if she ever asks me for something, I might send her a quick link. But I do not work, okay, without the fee. So yeah, I probably lost some people on my journey into fees, but let's be honest, I probably should have lost them years earlier. If $200 is going to make you combust, then you shouldn't be in my business model anyway. Like, let's be for real here. So a lot of you want to know how I price my fees. Setting up your fee is important though, so I want to kind of dig into the Setup of the fee, and then I'll talk about how I price. It is a professional fee. So let's stop with the Venmo requesting. Like, that's not appropriate. I'm not saying I didn't do it, but it's not a great way to funnel your money. Because if your fee becomes a stream of income, you do have to pay taxes on it. And you want to make sure they receive an invoice with the terms and conditions of your fee and make sure that fee agreement, what they are getting. How, like, all of the details is very clear. And you'll live and learn through this agreement as well, because you want to make sure they know exactly, spell it out, explaining what they're paying for. The research and itinerary design. If you do any sort of vendor price matching, quote sourcing, price monitoring, if you offer that. I don't, by the way. The booking management, support during travel, if you're going to offer 24/7 support during travel. Beyond whatever the TO offers. If you're going to book their flights, every little piece needs to be included in the agreement. And it can be like included but not limited to type of language. And then you're gonna want the fee amount very clearly near the top. Like they need to know right away what the fee amount is, what the payment terms are, and how to pay it. The easiest way to pay it. There should be a link. There should be, you know, something simple that they can literally pay it from their phone. The easier you make it to get it paid, like we're not taking checks and cash for the fee, right? You have to make sure you notate if it's refundable. It should not be refundable. It should not be pay-to-go. You should not be putting it towards a vacation. That is an accounting fucking nightmare. So just don't do it. And you want to make sure it's paid before you even start working. It's not to say that you haven't shared some ideas with them or that you're not excited to get to work, but until this fee is paid, you're not sending a quote. The scope of the work, right? So how many revisions are they going to get? How many quotes Does it include? How many destinations does it include? Some people charge per destination. I think that's really smart. How many hotels are you going to include? Is this an FIT? Okay, well then what does that look like? How many days does it cover? And then how long is the planning window? Because I like to close within a week of sending a proposal, but typically people say their quotes, you know, and these fees last about 30 days. So there needs to be some sort of expiration date because this will save you a ton of headaches. Oh, I quoted them 6 months ago. They're back now. What do I do? It's like, well, it should have had an expiration date on it. And then you wanna make sure you define your no. What is not included? If you're not going to do unlimited revisions, make sure it says that. If you're not going to do visa applications and like, I don't, I'm like an all or nothing agent. So like, if you wanna book some of your hotels on points, I'm probably not even doing your reservation, but I also don't price match. So I make sure that's included in my list. I don't price match. Mm-hmm. Um, and I mean, I'm pretty ruthless. Okay. Like you're only getting one quote, probably. Like I do a first and best proposal. That's something else I teach in Propose to Close. It's a fucking game changer, by the way. And then you just want to make sure that that planning process does not go on forever. In Propose to Close, I teach you how to close a lead in 3 to 5 business days, whether that's not booked at all. Like we're not doing this at all, which doesn't include any quotes or they're not ready. Or if they move forward, pay my fee, then we're getting booked in the next 7 days. So really understanding how long those proposals are valid, and if they choose to not return emails and texts and things like that, what does that mean for requoting in the future? Are you gonna work with that person again? Like these things need to be in the fine print of your agreement. And then they need to know what to expect from you. Communication channels. If you wanna be email only, if you're gonna text. The hours that you work and really emergency protocols for during travel, things like that. And then last but not least, cancellation terms. If they cancel their vacation, are you charging a fee? How are you gonna collect that? I personally don't charge a cancellation fee. The majority of my clients who cancel are doing so for a good reason. I don't wanna make it difficult for them to cancel. And if I am charging enough on the front, I do feel like my time has been paid, especially if they don't travel. No matter what. The number one rule is this fee is non-refundable. So just keep all of this type of thing in mind that you're gonna want this in your agreement. I do think hiring a lawyer to write terms and conditions and fee agreements and waivers of insurance and all kinds of documents are so important because you wanna make sure that you're legally covering your own ass as well as being hyper clear to the client. Like, I'm in business, I'm a business person, and I used to send this through DocuSign, but Google has a document signer now. You can use your CRM. I believe Travel Joy, Travify, and Tern all offer some kind of form signature option. At the end of the day, your role is to save them time, eliminate as much stress as possible, and be an advocate for their entire trip from start to finish. So that fee really allows you to show up as a dedicated professional. For me, it meant I could take a limited number of clients per month, which 5. Like, I really was able to limit how many clients I was working with per month. And of course, I'm Google. Like, text me, message me, get with me if you have a question. Like, you don't have to wait on hold for hours. You know, these are services that they don't even realize they're gonna need, and clients will realize just how serious you are. Now, a lot of you are like, but you're in Florida, how do you legally charge fees? Well, I have my own Seller of Travel license for Florida and you can absolutely charge. Anyone telling you that you cannot has not actually— doesn't understand the law. And I'm not a lawyer, but do your research. You can absolutely charge a fee if you have an SOT license in Florida. I don't really understand the other states that offer SOTs or force SOTs, but you only have to have a Florida SOT if your host is in Florida. So for those of you with OA cruise planners, they're based in Florida, so you have to have it to charge a fee. If you have clients who live in Florida, who are residents of Florida, you have to have an SOT to sell to them. And then if you live in Florida, you have to have an SOT for Florida. A lot of you have the option to get the $50 host under a host SOT, in which case you are tied to their IATA and CLIA, and you need to run those particular fees that are addressed with Florida through the host. So if your host is in Florida and you're trying to charge a fleet fee, you are supposed to run it through them. But if you get your own, if you spend— I want to say it's like $400-ish because the SOT is $300 full price to get your own, and then you need a surety bond. And if you're not in Florida, you need a registered agent, you need your LLC. So it's a little more expensive per year to do your own, but I highly fucking recommend it. And your host can't tell you how to do this. Like, if you want to get your own, get your own. One, maybe 2 fees. Fees are going to essentially pay for this. So it's an investment back into your business. The minute you get those fees, you pay for your next year of SOT. I wanna make sure you guys also understand you do not need your own IATA number or CLIA number to get your own SOT. It's only tied to an LLC and EIN. This is for Florida. I don't know all the rules for the other SOT states off the top of my head. Fees are not commission and are not related directly to credentials unless you sign up under your host for that SOT. To pay that $50, in which case legally you are supposed to run all your fees through them. But if you guys are not in Florida, your host is not in Florida, you have zero clients in Florida, and you don't live in Florida, then you can do whatever the fuck you want with your fees. You can absolutely do whatever you need to, and you don't even have to get an SOT if you don't want to, as long as you are not doing any of the above. So how do I collect my fee? I use Stripe. I've also used Wave. Both require you to have a website, terms and conditions laid out very clearly, privacy policy, and you have to set it up correctly or they do hold funds and it gets very stressful because that did happen to me early on. But I was able to provide them with all the paperwork and all the necessary information— my LLC, my EIN, my privacy policy, all the things. And once I did all that, they, with, you know, they have allowed me to continue to charge fees without issue. So if that does become an issue for you, you can use them to invoice somebody, like Stripe invoicing service is free, and then you can collect it through Zelle using like a QR code or something like that. No matter what, you just want them to sign your agreement and pay the fee before you work. So where do I share this? How do I get the information out that I charge a fee? You need to go to all the spaces that you are in. So if you're on social media, share it there. If you are— if you have a website, update your website. You don't ever want to share the exact amount that you're charging because it should be variable based on the vacation that you're planning. I mean, there's so much that goes into the different kinds of vacations we all do. And the one thing I don't advise is like when someone slides into your DMs, unless you just want to kick them out immediately, is to drop a bomb in a DM. Like, I charge $400 for an FIT to Europe and like you want to Always respond to DMs with excitement and your Calendly link. And in that Calendly link is where they will also approve that they understand that you charge a fee after the complimentary consultation. I don't usually swing big in DMs because people can't hear tone of voice, and I don't think it's professional to be talking too much in the DMs. Like if somebody really wants to understand it, I might give them a little background. Like if they do ask me, hey, I heard you charge a fee. Like why do you do that? I might send the small explanation, but no apologies. And I go deep into this in Propose to Close with actual verbiage, email, and text templates. And I also have a fee guide that I added in 2025 to really get into all this and the steps that you need to take to get your fees implemented. But bottom line is it should not be a secret. Making sure you share in the educational expertise posts that you're doing in your social media and on your website. That you do charge a fee beyond the consult is really important so that you are not blindsiding anyone and they're not wasting their time getting on a call with you just to find out you charge a fee. Now, if they don't read that Calendly link and they just sign off, that's on them. As long as it's there, you can always refer back to it. But no matter what, I always say my fee is variable depending on the complexity of your vacation needs. So repeat after me, my fee is variable depending on the complexity of your vacation needs. You do not have to spend too much time overexplaining your fees. The less time you spend, the better, because this is not meant to be something that makes your life harder. It's meant to eliminate tire kickers. It's also meant to teach people that your time and energy is valuable, and it does it quickly when you say things that are simple. Okay? When you start to go on and on and on about your fee, they're going to get like. Like want want want want want like Charlie Brown teacher voice in their brains. You guys could be getting that right now because this is a lot of details, and I was so hoping this would be a thirty-minute pod. But when have I ever been able to only talk for thirty minutes? So technicalities here also include what do I charge Marcy? How do I charge? Like you know those types of things. It's like well, I personally went to a per person model pretty early on. Like originally, I was like it's a hundred bucks. Bucks for your trip, it's $200 for your trip. But then I realized I was really dealing with multiple people, multiple flights, multiple details, sometimes multiple rooms, especially if it was FIT Europe or Asia, things like that. Those that require a lot of extra time, and every single added person required more time. So my planning fee needed to go to a per-person model, and I'm glad I went that way. I think it's also a little softer presentation to say $75 per person Or $150 per person or $200 per person instead of, oh, your fee is $1,000. It's just in that presentation, right? And there are some coaches who believe having a 7 or a 9 at the end, like $149, $197, is a softer approach. It's a Walmart approach because Walmart does that. It's not quite $10, it's $9.99. So it depends on your marketing brain, like what you think your clients will refer to, but I'm happy with mine. numbers that end in 5 and 0. Like, I don't have an issue. My minimum fees that I recommend to you is $75 per person for all-inclusive or cruises, $200 per person minimum for FIT Europe, Asia, and Africa, for like, you know, Bora Bora, those, those FIT bookings, Hawaii, um, for 7 to 10 nights. Anything over, I think you should add $50 per person. For higher complex itineraries, like, it's going to To where you're going to have to decide really fast what your time is worth. I'm up to $300 per person now for my Europe trips because I am spending so much time and I only work on one at a time. If you are like, oh my God, that feels like so much, like, no, it doesn't. You will spend a lot of time researching, finding the right vendors. Many of you are price shopping until your eyes are fucking bleeding. You will be booking excursions, restaurant, you know, reservations, things that don't pay you. Like, especially if you're doing fucking Disney, if you're doing all the things, you're not being paid for the majority of it. Charge your worth. I know you're over there organizing spa appointments, tracking flights. I mean, you're doing so much. You're getting them ready. You're sending packing lists. Like, value that. Okay. That's all valuable, but it's all about mindset at the end of the day. Like, you have to fucking believe in yourself that you are worth it. You deserve to be paid for your time. And until you do, it's going to be so challenging for you to implement fees. I mean, you think you have to be doing this a certain length of time. You don't. You think you have to sell a certain amount before you should charge. You don't. And any host who requires that is fucking stupid, and you can do whatever you want. Like, we do not have to follow these asinine rules. We are 1099 contractors. You don't have to be fucking established because we go back to what I said before. You have experience in service far before you became a travel advisor. You absolutely deserve to. be paid from day one of this job, but especially if you're a veteran with insane experience, you should absolutely be charging for that. Because at the end of the day, we are worthy of, of the costs that we have invested into this business. So we are worthy of that fee because it does pay for our time, energy, and expertise. Fees create clarity. They have— it creates a boundary. Align clients pay the fee. It really allows you to have a healthier calendar. Fewer tire kickers. That appointment-only model with the fee is a lifesaver. You're going to get more respect. You're going to have authority CEO vibes in your business, and it is going to lead to calmness and confidence. Your job is not to convince people that you are good enough. It is to believe you are good enough and address that when it's needed. When you are a value service-first advisor, Never apologize for charging. And if they want to work with someone else because they want free, cool. Go on with your bad self. And, and let me give you a few names if you need it. It's so important to just release the outcome because that is when abundance will come your way. It opens that energy pathway to allowing for the right client to come through that door. So I have a few affirmations for you. My fee is a filter that protects my energy. Put it on your mirror. Repeat it every morning. I will not waive my fee for friends or family. They should not be asking for a discount. People pay me because I am worth it. I release all guilt for charging a fee because I am an amazing advisor who fucking delivers. My worth is non-negotiable. Charging my worth creates the freedom I desire in my travel business. Guys, this was literally one of the best, most CEO badass decisions I ever made in my business. And I want that for you. Charging fees changed everything in the best way. It cut my workload in half. It allowed me to boost my income. In fact, in 2023, I collected over $20,000 in fees alone, and I was able to reinvest that back into my business. And when you start to think about what you could do with $20,000 in your business that you didn't didn't expect because it's not commission. You will be able to surprise your clients with upgraded transfers and have a gift delivered to their room if you want, or maybe do a fun Christmas ornament present for your honeymooners. You might be able to take a class or get a coach or do whatever you want. Go on an extra trip that makes your business stronger. The fee literally brought excitement back into my life, and I felt appreciated. I mean, if your love language is a pat on the back, those words of affirmation, that fee plus that word of affirmation, it is like amazing. I mean, it filters out all the bullshit. It attracts a specific client to me who trusts me because they'll pay for me before I even get started. And it really did eliminate the tire kickers. I got my sanity back. I was able to really reduce my hours and take on less clients, which allows me to protect my family time. Which is what, you know, I got so burnt out before. I never was spending any time with the people that mattered. And I really started to feel in charge of my business when I started the fee model. Beyond everything else, it gave me my power back. And I'm so glad that I did it that I look back on my old self and wonder what would have happened if in 2009 I just did what I wanted to do in my business and charged a fee. Would I have had to take 3 years off? I don't think I would have. Because it would have allowed for me to start having boundaries early and change my mindset and honor myself. I mean, this is who I am, and I like my business model, and there are plenty of aligned clients out there who are willing to pay it. And if you've been listening to this and just getting that spark in your chest, if you're like, yes, yes, yes, like your coffee, you're like down in your second cup of coffee with me, It's time. You don't need to wait till January fucking 1st. You don't need to wait for the next best time to start. There is no good time to start. Start today. Get your process set up, get your Stripe, get your business accounts in order. Like, that's what you need to work on. And then start talking out loud, practicing what you're going to say to people when they ask. Practice with your husband, practice with your best friend, practice with your kids for all I care. Just keep practicing. I charge a fee. It's variable based on the complexity of your vacation. I would love to chat with you in a complimentary consultation before we work together to make sure it's a good fit. These are easy things to say that show authority and confidence and a belief in what you're doing. All right. Thank you so much for being here. I am so excited to be doing solo podcasts for a few weeks, and I really just want to make sure that you know how much I care About independent contractor businesses. If you're still out there afraid to charge fees, I mean send me a message. Like let's talk about it on Facebook Messenger. I respond to every message I get as long as you're not being hateful, which it is what it is if you are because I'll just block you. I want you to learn how to do this with confidence and feel good about it, and I would love your feedback on the Solo podcast today. I want your life to change. I want you to have the business you desire. And I don't even want it to be about the money, although the money is fucking nice. I want it so that you can show up in your business calmer, confident, and clear. The more you do that, the more you truly are the CEO of your travel business. And if you start today and valuing your time and expertise and energy, Moving forward, you're going to be a different person a year from now, and I want that for you. So have a great day. And if you need anything at all, reach out to me. Also, if you don't mind sharing a 5-star review, every little bit helps and I really appreciate it. And if you don't want to miss an episode, please push the follow button on your choice of podcast or YouTube channel. Have a great day, guys.