With commission the partner sells your trip at your public price and keeps an agreed share; with a net rate the partner buys at a lower agreed price and sets its own. Set a net rate from what the trip costs you plus the margin you keep, check the gap to your public price is worth the partner’s time, and write down how long it holds and what it includes. Hold one retail price per route across your website, OTAs and partners, and put the rates and the model in the partner pack.
What is the difference between a net rate and a commission?
- Commission: the partner sells your trip at your public price and keeps an agreed share of it. You set the price, and the commission comes out of your margin.
- Net rate: the partner buys the trip from you at a lower, agreed price and sells it to the traveller at a price it sets itself. You receive the net rate, and the partner's margin is its own business.
Travel agents, destination management companies, tour operators and hotels use both models, so agree which one applies before the first booking. A travel agent reselling your airport transfer in a package usually wants a net rate; a hotel concierge passing on your public price usually takes a commission. OTAs such as Viator and GetYourGuide work on commission, and since Viator's August 2026 agreement the platform and its partners also set the retail price, which is closer to a net rate in practice; the Viator guide explains the change.
How do you set a net rate?
- Start from what the trip costs you to run: the driver, fuel, the car and the time without passengers. The pricing guide shows how to get the hourly and per-kilometre figures.
- Add the margin you need to keep on every partner booking, after the time you will spend confirming it and invoicing it.
- Check the result against your public price. The gap between the two is what the partner can earn when it sells at your public price, and it has to be worth the partner's time or the partner will not sell.
- Write down how long the rate holds, usually for a season, and what it includes: waiting time, luggage, extra stops, child seats, meet-and-greet.
- Decide the volume rule: a rate for an operator sending fifty groups a year can be lower than one for an agent sending three.
How do you set a commission?
Take your public price, decide the share you can give away and check that what is left still covers the trip and your margin. If it does not, the commission is too high for that trip, and a net rate for that route may work better. The travel agent commission guide covers what agents expect and what commission actually costs you once the booking is paid.
How much should a partner earn?
Enough to prefer you. A partner who earns 10 percent on your transfer and 15 percent on a competitor's will book the competitor when both cars are free. Work out what one partner booking is worth to you across the year, including the repeat business it brings, before deciding how much of it to share. The OTA commission calculator does the arithmetic for one booking, and it works the same way for a partner as for a platform.
How do you keep prices in line across channels?
Whichever model you use, a partner should never see its traveller offered the same trip for less on your website or an OTA. Hold one retail price per route and vehicle class across every channel, and let the partner's share come out of your margin rather than out of a lower price elsewhere. Check your own prices and listings whenever partner rates change, because an OTA listing left at last season's price undercuts every partner you have. GetYourGuide's supplier terms include a price parity rule, so the discipline is required there in any case.
What goes into the partner pack?
Rates, the model, what is included, how long the rates hold, how bookings are confirmed, how you invoice and when you expect payment belong in one document, so a partner can sell your trips without a call. The partner pack guide covers what else goes in it, and the hotel partnerships guide how to approach the first hotels. Irish Transfer works with 47 travel agencies and tour operators won since October 2025, and every one of them started from that document.
Questions owners ask
What is a net rate in chauffeur work?
A lower, agreed price at which a partner buys the trip from you and resells it at a price it sets itself. You receive the net rate; the partner’s margin is its own business.
Is commission or a net rate better for a chauffeur company?
Commission suits partners who pass on your public price, such as hotel desks; net rates suit agents and operators who package your transfer and set their own price. Many companies use both, written down per partner.
How much margin should a partner get?
Enough to prefer you when two cars are free. Work out what one partner booking is worth across the year, including repeat business, before deciding how much of it to share.
Can your website be cheaper than the partner’s price?
No. A partner should never see its traveller offered the same trip for less on your site or an OTA. Hold one retail price per route and vehicle class and let the partner’s share come out of your margin.
How long should a partner rate hold?
Usually a season, written into the partner pack with what it includes, and sent again before the partner sets its own prices for the next season.