International Commissions: Quick Reference for UK Travel Agents
This overview provides essential information to help travel agents maximise their benefits from Hilton’s central commission processing and from Travel Agency Commission Settlement (“TACS”), a division of NTT Data. This document supplements the information distributed by Hilton Sales and posted on https://www.hilton.com/en/portal/travel-agents/
Introduction
Commissions on individual bookings, also known as transient bookings, are paid through TACS to give agents one payment, one statement and one contact for logging inquiries for all participating hotels. Commissions on groups and C&E bookings are paid directly by hotels to agents. Hilton and the hotels reserve the right not to pay commissions on bookings made through non-accredited online travel agencies.
Hilton Distribution Services centrally calculates and pays commissions via TACS each week, based on the hotels’ daily check-out records for 99% of Hilton’s 7,000+ hotels, including all UK properties. Properties on non-centralised systems calculate commissions locally and pay via TACS.
There are brand specific commission limit policies applicable to Home2 Suites, Homewood Suites and Embassy Suites. For these extended stay brands, commission will be paid for each night at an eligible rate, up to the first 29 consecutive nights of a guest’s stay. This was effective as of September 1, 2017.
While Hilton facilitates the payment of travel agent commissions through a central payment system on behalf of hotels operating under the Hilton brands, Hilton is not a guarantor of payment. Hotels are solely responsible for all payments due.
The Commissions Process
Automatic Payments (non-UK hotels). Non-UK hotels can pay UK agents without a VAT Invoice. Hilton, therefore, pays these commissions through TACS automatically upon check-out.
‘Hold & Release’ Functionality (UK hotels). UK hotels are required by HMRC to have a VAT invoice before paying commission to UK agents. Therefore, TACS places domestic commissions on hold and then notifies the agent of the held payment. Upon receipt of a VAT invoice, the hotel manually releases payment.
‘Self-Billing’ Functionality (UK hotels). As an alternative to the Hold & Release process, HMRC has authorised Hilton to create Self-Billed Invoices on the agents’ behalf. For UK agents that have signed Hilton’s Self-Billing Agreement online via TACSnet on http://ce.tacsnet.com. Hilton pays commissions plus VAT automatically and immediately upon check-out, by invoicing itself for the commissions due. Agents who opt in to self-billing must not also deduct commissions at source. For detailed information, please see refer to the Hilton UK Self-Billing FAQ on https://www.hilton.com/en/portal/travel-agents/
TACS Services
TACS Payments and Reporting. All payments are accompanied by a paper or electronic statement that includes the property name, guest name, hotel confirmation number, the arrival and departure date, the commissionable revenue, the gross commission amount and the commission paid (the latter is in the agent’s currency). Commissions are processed on a weekly cycle, and the payment cycle takes approximately 10 days from the weekly cut-off, so depending on timing, payments should generally be received 2-3 weeks after check-out.
TACS Service Offering
Self-Billing functionality and creation of VAT Invoices
Online Self-Billing registration and annual renewal
Consolidated, weekly payments for all participating Hilton hotels
Consolidation of multiple branches’ payments, as selected by the agent
Payment in the agent’s preferred currency and preferred method, including bank transfer and cheque
Electronic statements of commissionable and non-commissionable bookings
Live travel agent help desk, plus automated 24-hour help desk
Online reporting and ad-hoc report capability
Real-time, online ability to check commission status and payment detail
Online ability to open inquiries and check status and automatic return of inquiry closure responses to agents
No tiered membership structure and no contractual obligation
Recommendations for Agents
Register With an Industry Association. Hilton only pays bona fide agencies that are registered with an accredited organisation such as IATA or TIDS. Other acceptable associations are ARC, CLIA, ERSP, SATO, TRUE and TSI. The use of pseudo-IATA numbers is severely restricted for control and regulatory reasons. Agents must quote their membership number when booking.
Register Payment, Reporting and User Preferences with TACS. Agents should go to http://ce.tacsnet.com to register for electronic payments and statements, and to select their preferences for payment method, currency, frequency and consolidation across multiple branches. Registration is free and is required if an agent would like access their payment information online. Agents should also provide TACS with details of users who should have access to researching and opening inquiries for various IATA/TIDS numbers.
Sign a Self-Billing Agreement. We recommend that agents opt for self-billing so their UK commissions will be paid immediately without being put on hold. This circumvents the usual process of invoicing UK hotels and waiting for them to manually release commissions. TACS then forwards a copy of the VAT invoice to the agent alongside the payment and reporting. Registration is done online via http://ce.tacsnet.com.
Do Not “Deduct Commissions at Source”. Hilton does not support this for individual guest stays due to potential duplication of payments through standard commission channels. Direct-billed companies should pay in full, and the hotel should pay the commission through TACS. Exceptions require explicit hotel agreement, subject to a strict internal approval process.
Reconcile Payments and Reporting Records with Booking Files. TACS provides agents with a detailed file of all transactions processed by Hilton and other participating chains, including non-commissionable records, no shows and cancellations. Agents should reconcile this against their booking files. All Hilton commissions are subject to a 3% processing fee for all Hilton hotels and for all agents worldwide. This applies regardless of whether the agent opts for Self-Billing, which is a free additional service.
Research Payments on TACSnet. Agents should reconcile the TACS reports with their booking files, and then research unreconciled transactions or missing payments on TACSnet. This requires registration with TACS.
Log Inquiries and Disputes with TACS. Agents should log inquiries with TACS, not directly with the hotels, so that we can centrally monitor inquiries and responses. Agents must log inquiries within 365 days of check-out. Inquiries outside this period must be addressed directly with the relevant hotels. TACS will research inquiries against Hilton’s check-out and payment records and forward unresolved inquiries to hotels for investigation.
Identify Disputed Commissions Separately from Standard Inquiries. Agents may raise disputes where they have evidence that contradicts Hilton’s reported payment amount, commissionable status, or stay status (no shows or cancellations). Agents must advise TACS they are raising a dispute, not an inquiry, by e-mail or telephone with details of the records. Failure to do so may result in the disputed record simply being closed as previously reported.
Advise TACS of Agency Address Changes. Please provide full detail to TACS to ensure your contact details are kept current.
Contacts
TACs
www: http://ce.tacsnet.com (online auto help desk)
e-mail: TACSCustomerService@nttdata.com
Tel: +1-703-480-6916