The collaboration gives ASTA members another route to recover aged hotel commissions while pointing to a wider focus on protecting travel-agency revenue.
Commtrak has partnered with the American Society of Travel Advisors to give ASTA members an additional resource for recovering aged and unpaid hotel commissions. The Philadelphia-based firm, which has served North American travel agencies since 1987, specialises in pursuing commissions that can remain unresolved after a booking has been completed. The arrangement places commission recovery alongside booking generation as a practical concern for travel agencies.
Hotel commissions represent earned income for travel advisors, but discrepancies in reporting, missing documentation and missed reconciliation timelines can leave qualifying bookings unpaid after travel is complete. Commtrak describes this problem as commission leakage, a term used for revenue that agencies may eventually write off when recovery becomes too difficult or time-consuming. ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby said advisors should not have to pursue payment for work they have already completed.
Under the partnership, Commtrak will pursue eligible commissions beginning 180 days after checkout and on records up to four years old. The company uses a structured, contingency-based process focused exclusively on unpaid hotel commissions from aged bookings, meaning agencies do not pay for records that produce no recovery. The arrangement is intended to address revenue that may otherwise remain outside an agency’s normal reconciliation process.
The collaboration also includes discussions about practical industry tools and shared resources. Those efforts are expected to examine hotel commission payment patterns, identify suppliers with strong payment records and highlight areas where discrepancies occur more frequently. Commtrak and ASTA are additionally exploring ways to make reconciliation more efficient for hotel partners through clearer documentation, communication and resolution processes.
Commtrak said it currently works with 12 agencies on Travel Weekly’s Top 40 Power List and 21 agencies on its Top 70 list, while ASTA represents travel advisors, the wider travel industry and the travelling public. The partnership therefore connects a specialist recovery service with an industry association focused on advisor support. Its immediate emphasis is narrow—recovering unpaid hotel commissions—but the model also reflects the operational importance of preserving revenue after a sale has been made.
