A host agency is an accredited travel agency that lets independent advisors run their own travel businesses under its accreditation, supplier agreements, client account and systems. You’re a contractor with your own ABN. The host earns from a share of your commission, a fee, or both, and usually keeps the supplier overrides. In Australia most people call hosts home-based or mobile travel agent networks.
I’ve run a host agency since 2013 and now run Niftrip, so this is the model I know best. Below is what a host does for you, how hosts charge, and how a host differs from a franchise, a mobile network and your own agency.
What does a host agency do?
A host carries the parts of a travel business that are hard or expensive to set up alone. You find the clients, sell, and look after them. The host backs you up.
| What the host provides | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Accreditation | You sell under the host’s ATIA accreditation, so you don’t need your own |
| Ticketing | Airline tickets are issued under the host’s IATA accreditation, by a ticketing desk or by you through the host’s system |
| Client account | Client payments go into the host’s separate client account, and suppliers are paid from it |
| Supplier agreements and rates | You book on the host’s supplier agreements and preferred rates, and earn its at-source commission rates |
| Back office | Receipting, supplier payments and reconciliations, done by the host’s team, its platform or both |
| Support and training | Help when something goes wrong, and on some networks training, famils and holiday cover |
The host also keeps the overrides. These are incentive payments suppliers make to the agency in arrears, based on performance against targets, on top of the at-source commission on each booking. Hosts generally keep them as part of their margin, and a good host will tell you so up front.
On most Australian networks your client list stays yours if you leave. MTA, TravelManagers, Global Travel Network, Go Tours and Savenio all say so on their own pages.
How do host agencies charge?
There are two models.
A commission split. You keep a percentage of the commission you earn, and most hosts add a monthly fee. On the networks that publish a split, you keep between 72% (Go Tours) and 90% (TravelManagers Business Pro, Global Travel Network, Travel Crafters and itravel). Savenio pays 100%, but only to advisors turning over $2.25 million or more.
A flat fee. You keep all of your at-source commission and pay the host a fixed fee instead. Niftrip charges $99 + GST a month plus 1% + GST of turnover, the total you invoice your client.
| Network | You keep | Monthly fee | Joining fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niftrip | 100% of at-source commission, less 1% + GST of turnover | $99 + GST | None |
| TravelManagers Business Pro | 90% of commission and service fees | $370 + GST | Induction, fee not published |
| Global Travel Network | 90% or 85% | $200 + GST or $150 + GST | $200 + GST |
| Your Travel Centre | 80% of commission and service fees | $100 or $200 incl GST | $695 or $1,495 incl GST |
| Go Tours | 72% | $75 (GST not stated) | $600 |
| MTA | Not published | $150 + GST, waived above $61,000 gross commission a year | $495 + GST |
Which one leaves you more depends on your average commission. At a 10% average, a 1% fee costs about the same as keeping 90%. At 15% it’s like keeping 93.3%, and at 20% it’s like keeping 95%. If your book is mostly low-commission air, a low-fee 90% split can come out ahead. The full working is in 100% commission vs a split, and every network’s published fees are in best host agencies in Australia.
Also check what the split applies to. On TravelManagers and Your Travel Centre it applies to service fees as well as commission.
Host agency, mobile network, franchise or your own agency?
The names overlap, so it helps to look at who holds the accreditation and whose brand you trade under.
| Model | Whose brand | Whose accreditation | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Host agency | Yours, on some hosts | The host’s | Niftrip, Your Travel Centre, Global Travel Network |
| Mobile network | The network’s | The network’s | MTA, TravelManagers |
| Franchise | The franchisor’s | The franchisor’s | MTA describes its agreement as compliant with the Franchising Code |
| Co-op | Yours | Yours | Travellers Choice, ATAC |
| Your own agency | Yours | Yours |
A mobile network is a host agency under another name. MTA advisors trade as MTA and TravelManagers advisors as personal travel managers, while Your Travel Centre lets you trade under your own name and Niftrip gives you your own email address, branded itinerary and client portal.
A franchise is decided by what the agreement does, whatever it’s called. The Franchising Code brings disclosure documents and cooling-off rights. MTA’s FAQ says its agreement runs five years, with one month’s notice allowed after the first twelve months.
Your own agency means your own ATIA accreditation, client account, insurance and, if you want to ticket, IATA accreditation. Co-ops are built for owners at that stage. Most people start with a host and think about this later, once they have a steady book.
Who is a host agency for?
A host suits an experienced consultant who wants to work for themselves without setting up an accredited agency, and a newcomer who has done the training and wants support around them. Most networks ask for two or three years’ experience, and a few take newcomers. If that’s you, read host agencies for beginners. If you’re weighing up working from home in general, work from home travel agent in Australia covers what you need and how you’re paid.
How do you choose one?
Start with the cost in dollars at the sales you expect, then the exit: the term, the notice period, who owns your clients and what happens to bookings that haven’t travelled. How to choose a host agency has the 16 questions I’d ask any host, mine included, and how to spot a travel MLM.
How does Niftrip work as a host?
Niftrip is the host agency I run. You get full accreditation, preferred supplier rates, a ticketing desk, 24/7 backup and a platform that does the admin. You keep 100% of your at-source commission and pay $99 + GST a month plus 1% + GST of turnover, with no joining fee and no GDS or ticketing fees. Your clients, contacts and domain stay yours.
We run a program for advisors new to travel. We’ll talk you through it when we meet.
See our pricing page, or try your own numbers in the take-home calculator.
The details
Ticketing and liability
The agency whose IATA number issues a ticket is liable for paying the airline and for any debit memos. Home-based agents usually ticket under their host’s IATA accreditation. TravelManagers lets advisors ticket themselves through Quikticket on its BSP, with ticketing fees that vary by airline and fare. MTA charges no ticketing fees, even after hours. At Niftrip tickets are issued by our ticketing desk, with no ticketing fees.
Client money
ATIA requires most accredited businesses to keep client money in a separate client account. When you work under a host, it’s the host’s client account your clients pay into.
Who the client’s contract is with
Read the host’s booking terms. Envoyage’s names the independent advisor as the seller, while Connected Travel’s names the host. It changes who carries the consumer liability, and it should match what your agreement says about who owns the client.
Who owns the big networks
| Group | Home-based network | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Helloworld | MTA | About 450 advisors |
| Helloworld | ITA (through Express Travel Group) | Not stated |
| Flight Centre Travel Group | Envoyage | About 1,800 Australian advisors and agencies in FY25 |
| House of Travel | TravelManagers | 480 personal travel managers in the year to March 2025 |
Smaller and independent hosts include itravel, Your Travel Centre, Global Travel Network, Travel Crafters, Go Tours, Travelglobe, Savenio, Connected Travel, 1000 Mile Travel Group and Niftrip.
What a split costs at different commission rates
| Average commission | Niftrip’s 1% fee is like keeping |
|---|---|
| 10% | About 90%, plus $99 a month |
| 15% | 93.3% |
| 20% | 95% |
| 25% | 96% |
Your own agency
ATIA accreditation costs $750 + GST a year for businesses selling under $1 million, plus a $250 application fee. You’d also need accountant-prepared financial statements, insurance, a complaints policy that meets the Australian Standard and trained staff. State travel agent licensing ended in 2014, so there’s no licence on top.
Next step
If you’re experienced and a host with no split sounds right, see pricing or apply here.
