Amtrak Limits Travel Agent Commissions

Effective November 1, 2013, Amtrak reports it will pay base commission only to Amtrak National Account Partner Travel Agencies. The Amtrak national accounts include: AAA travel agencies and Vacation.com.

"Reservations for any of our long-distance (leisure) trains that are ticketed by a National Account Partner Travel Agency through an approved booking channel (i.e. GDS’s Apollo, Sabre and Worldspan, or the Amtrak RailAgent online booking tools) are commissionable. National Account Partner Travel Agencies will receive base commissions as previously negotiated on Long Distance Amtrak trains."

In addition, all Amtrak appointed travel agencies (National and Non-National) can earn 8-10 percent commission on Amtrak Vacations packages and group tickets, Amtrak said in a statement.

"If you are a member of an Amtrak National Account, please contact your National Account Headquarters for specific details. For information on group sales, contact Amtrak Group Sales at 1-800-872-1477. For information on Amtrak Vacations packages contact 1-866-326-8725."

Reservations made on Amtrak.com are not eligible for commission, Amtrak said.

GDS: National Account Partner Travel Agencies using Apollo, Sabre or Worldspan receive their commission payments via the ARC weekly IAR Sales Report process, Amtrak noted.

Amtrak RailAgent Sites: National Account Partner Travel Agencies using any of the RailAgent sites (Amadeus, International, Tour and Vacation.com) receive commission payments electronically through PayPal. Commission payments are processed approximately three months after the reservation was created, Amtrak said.

Amtrak urged agents be sure that the agency’s manager/owner has submitted the PayPal account information to Amtrak Travel Industry Programs support.

Visit www.Amtrak.com