All Room Type and Rate Plan allocations to Agent Channels are listed and managed in SETUP | RELATIONSHIPS | AGENT RELATIONSHIPS. The default screen of Agent Relationships displays the details of your Agent Channels: Agent ID, Agent Type, Agent Name, Number of Rooms Allocated, Commission percentage and Rate Loading percentage. Agents are both traditional 'Travel Agents' and 'Channels' of distribution. This reduces confusion and allows one to think of an 'agent' as a business partner who sells rooms at unique prices and/or allocations. This area allows you to print Agent reports, view an agent's booking history, or make payments to the Agent. There are three general types of Agents, each of which can have multiple channels depending on the online distribution channels you choose to set up. Some Agents are set up by BookingCenter (Master Agents), some are created by you (MyPMS Agents) and some are added automatically after you have signed up for an OTA contract Rate program (Net Rate Agents). Agent Types (See Agent Types for more details) - Master Agents: These agents control the availability and rates to your basic channels: They must have allocations in order to function properly.
- PMS Agents: These are "special" agents that you have set up in the My Agents area. This Agent is also used to set up Promotional Codes.
- Net Rate Agents: These agents will only be visible if you have signed up for a Contract Program with a major OTA
Agents are both traditional 'Travel Agents' and 'Channels' of distribution. This reduces confusion and allows one to think of an 'agent' as a business partner who sells rooms at unique prices and/or allocations. This area allows you to print Agent reports, view an agent's booking history, or make payments to the Agent.
You can also publish your rooms at special 'agent prices' and assign them a percentage (%) of any of your room inventory. For example: You might choose to 'load' (increase) your default rates by 10% to a specific Agent, and only sell the agent 40% of a specific Room Type. When the Agent went to their special web address, they would see 10% higher prices and only 40% of the available rooms.
When you click on Agent Relationships, a list with all of your Agent Channels is displayed with the following information. | 