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About World Choice Travel (WCT)
How is World Choice Travel different than other travel affiliate programs?
Is World Choice Travel an established travel company?
Qualifications
What if my company is based outside of North America?
What criteria does my website have to meet in order to be approved for your travel affiliate program?
Is your travel affiliate program exclusive?
Can I have multiple travel affiliate websites?
Commission Structure
Are there any costs involved?
How much money can I make?
How are high-volume producers rewarded?
How can I maximize my profits?
How often do I get paid?
We Build Your Brand�Not Ours!
Will World Choice Travel market to my customers?
Does my website maintain its identity?
Can I choose which travel products to sell?
How are bookings and commissions tracked?
Travel Affiliate Program Features and Benefits
What kind of support do you provide?
What are the benefits to my customers?
What are the benefits of your XML Interface?
Can I promote specific destinations?
About our Hotel Booking Engine
Where does your hotel inventory come from?
How are telephone reservations handled? What are the call center hours?
How our customer service inquiries handled?
What is the difference between online and phone bookings?
Become a World Choice Travel Affiliate Today
How do I become a World Choice Travel affiliate?
How quickly can I get started?
How do I switch from my existing travel provider?
About World Choice Travel
How is World Choice Travel different than other travel affiliate programs?
WCT is dramatically different than our competitors. Many of our most successful
affiliates started out with other online travel companies, and have since selected
WCT as their long term Internet partner. Here are some of the reasons why we are the
best travel affiliate program to grow and prosper with:
 We pay higher commissions
We build your brand, not ours
We do not compete with you or market to your customers
Our advanced Partner Support Center (back office) is at your disposal
Offer a wide range of travel products
Our Hot Rate Hotel program is one of largest proprietary discount hotel programs
Use our custom XML interface (XTra) for hotel bookings
Utilize exclusive, flexible OPTI-FEES to make more money
Use our powerful e-marketing tools
We have a highly experienced tech support team
Experience less downtime with our database redundancy
Customers can call our toll-free 24/7 reservations center
Toll-free customer service
Is World Choice Travel an established travel company?
World Choice Travel has been a leader in privately branded Internet travel programs for over
5 years. Our booking engines can be found on thousands of websites in 42 countries. WCT has
the experience and reputation you can trust.
Qualifications
What if my company is based outside of North America?
Websites based outside North America are encouraged to become WCT travel affiliates. WCT has
partners in 42 nations. Sites outside of North America can profit from our hotel and car rental
engines, golf vacations, destination content and flight tracker. Our hotel booking engine is
available in 12 languages. The hotel, golf and car engines can display rates in multiple
currencies. Air ticketing is limited at present to North America and UK bookings; transactions
are limited to US, Canadian and UK currencies. Air and hotel are available in both European and
North American date display formats. Once you become a WCT travel affiliate, these and other
international options can be configured in our Partner Support Center.
What criteria must my website meet in order to be approved for your
travel affiliate program?
In order to be approved for our travel affiliate program, we ask that your site meet the following criteria:
- You are the owner of your own URL. Your application must contain the URL intended for use.
- You plan on implementing the WCT booking engines within 30 days.
- You will not feature our competitors' booking engines on your site without WCT's authorization.
- Our engine will not be placed on a generic portal site or link directory.
- WCT will not be used as part of a pay-for-membership travel club.
- You do not use copyrighted images, text, etc. in an unauthorized manner.
- Your site does not contain objectionable content (violence, online gambling, pornography, or offensive content).
- If you own an existing web site, you must have travel-related content prior to approval. This may be in the form of tie-in merchandising (i.e. luggage).
- Developing unique content is essential to be successful with Internet marketing; therefore, you will need to develop a web site to integrate the booking engines. In the interim, you may use our Ready-to-Use Travel Portal while the site is in development.
- You must submit proper tax documentation (W8 or W9 form) within 10 business days or the account will be automatically closed.
- Registered affiliates must be at least 18 years of age.
While our services are free, we do require that you have a business/marketing plan developed for us to better assist you. A member of our affiliate relations department will review this with you upon contact.
Disclaimer: The above criteria are general guidelines for being accepted into our travel affiliate program. We reserve the right to approve, deny or terminate partner agreements at any time.
Is your travel affiliate program exclusive?
Websites approved for our travel affiliate program may not contain travel booking engines that
compete directly with the WCT booking engines. However, occasionally we will work with sites
featuring multiple providers if approved in advance by our business development team.
Can I have multiple travel affiliate websites?
Yes. Some of our most successful travel affiliates have increased their monthly income greatly
by operating many travel-oriented websites.
Commission Structure
Are there any costs involved?
There are NO setup fees or membership charges for websites approved for our travel affiliate
program.
How much money can I make?
This depends solely upon how serious you are about growing your online travel business. WCT
provides the travel products and the marketing tools; we also have the highest payouts among
travel affiliate programs. It is up to you to utilize marketing strategies that include search
engine ranking, e-mailing newsletters, and other marketing tools to attract customers to your
website.
For more details on our payouts, please see our Commissions page. WCT handles all collections,
saving you and your staff time and money. Commissions are paid on average of 30-90 days after
checkout. HOT RATES and OPTI-FEES can generate cash even faster. Electronic wire transfers will
be available in the future.
How are high-volume producers rewarded?
Affiliates producing a significant number of reservations every month may qualify for our
generous override program, in which we pay higher commissions for bookings. Many of our large
travel affiliates enjoy these higher commission rates, and consequently, sizable payouts each
month. Our goal is for our affiliates to make more money! High-volume producers may also be
eligible for their own private-branded toll-free telephone number serviced by our call center
personnel.
How can I maximize my profits?
One way of earning more is by promoting Hot Rate Hotels, which pay a higher commission than
GDS (Global Distribution System) bookings (i.e. ones made through Pegasus or Sabre). Hot Rates
have fewer cancellations and increase your cash-flow because Hot Rate Hotel bookings are prepaid.
The easiest way to increase profits and cash-flow is with our exclusive OPTI-FEE program.
OPTI FEES on hotel and car bookings give you the option of earning additional revenue through
service fees for travel services booked via your website. Please see our Commissions and
OPTI-FEE pages for more details.
How often do I get paid?
Checks are sent monthly. The minimum payout is $100. For those sites that do not earn enough
commissions in a month to total $100, the commissions are carried over until the next month.
We Build Your Brand�Not Ours!
Will World Choice Travel market to my customers?
No. Unlike other online travel companies, we do not compete with our own affiliates. Although
World Choice Travel started out with consumer-oriented travel websites, we have divested
ourselves of these sites and are strictly committed to building your brand�not ours.
Does my website maintain its identity?
Absolutely, because every affiliate site is branded with its own private label. You also have
the option of using our XML interface for hotels, which provides an even deeper level of
customization. We also brand e-mail hotel and car rental booking confirmations with your website
name.
As an added bonus, WCT brands each Hot Rate Hotel listing to reflect the name of your website or
travel business. When a customer selects a Hot Rate Hotel, the rate plan is labeled as
"Yoursitename.com Discount Rate." This is another exclusive branding feature you won't find
anywhere else.
Can I choose which travel products to sell?
Yes! You can choose from a broad array of travel services, including hotel reservations, car
rentals, cruises, airline tickets, golf vacation packages, travel insurance, and Hot Travel
Deals.
How are bookings and commissions tracked?
You can instantly monitor your hotel and car bookings, commissions and more in our Partner
Support Center, which serves as your own password-protected back office. WCT partners can
run reports on reservations, individual bookings, OPTI-FEES, commissions, client information,
statistics on visitors and bookings and much more. If you maintain multiple travel affiliate
sites, you can track them as a group or individually.
Travel Affiliate Program Features and Benefits
What kind of support do you provide?
At WCT, you have an entire team of experts at your disposal. As a travel affiliate, you are
assigned your own tech support staff member. Our online Partner Support Center also serves as a
resource for helping you run and maintain your travel site.
WCT is an industry leader for MARKETING SUPPORT. We have developed exclusive e-newsletter technology
that enables you to create your own, private-branded newsletter in less than five minutes. We provide
ongoing consultation services at no charge and we furnish you with the means to collect opt-in
customers for your database. Aggressively build your business and we'll stand ready to help you
prosper.
What are the benefits to my customers?
One of the greatest benefits to your customers is the number of hotels offered through our hotel
booking engine. Visitors can browse accommodations and rates at over 55,000 hotels worldwide in
nearly 10,000 cities.
Competitive pricing will keep your customers coming back. We feature over 12,000+ Hot Rate Hotels
with deeply discounted rates. Our cruise engine offers some of the best deals in the world (our
parent company is the largest cruise supplier in North America). Our airline ticket engine
searches up to 28 airlines and airline sites to get the best rates. We also offer a prime
selection of special travel deals, with great combination rates on hotels, cruises, airline
tickets, and vacation packages.
Our well-designed and privately branded booking engines are fast, convenient and secure. All
credit card transactions are handled in a secure environment. Your customer will have peace of
mind knowing they are dealing with a reputable and established travel company in good standing
with the Better Business Bureau, ASTA and IATA.
As a WCT travel affiliate, your site will be able to provide these comprehensive features:
- The wisest array of travel services
- The ability to earn extra income from hotel and car service fees
- Hotels in thousands of cities, not just a handful of metropolitan areas
- The largest inventory of online hotel brochures
- Hotel videos, pictures, descriptions and ratings
- Innovative features such as "My Hotel List"
- Free interactive mapping and destination information
- Competitive rates for airline tickets and car rentals
- Global golf vacations and packages
- The ability to purchase travel insurance and other travel-related products online
What are the benefits of your XML Interface?
With our customizable XTra (XML for Travel) interface, you can turn lookers into bookers with an
attractive and sophisticated presentation of travel information. XTra/ XML is more flexible and
powerful than standard HTML encoding, and allows you to configure search forms and results pages
to your liking. With this deeper customization, your brand is strengthened. Increased
functionality and improved appearance provided by our XTra interface can gives you the
competitive edge that other travel booking engines cannot. Please note that before incorporating
XTra, your site must meet certain requirements, which are detailed on our XTra page.
Can I promote specific destinations?
Yes. You can program our hotel booking engine to feature hotels only in specific destinations,
making it perfect for sites specific to particular geographic areas. You can also specify which
hotels to promote.
About our Hotel Booking Engine
Where does your hotel inventory come from?
With a choice of over 55,000 hotels worldwide, our hotel booking engine has direct access to the
GDS (Global Distribution System) databases of Pegasus and Sabre as well as our own extensive,
proprietary room management system, known as RoomDeposit.com. Our own inventory allows us to
offer Hot Rate Hotels at discounted rates while paying a higher commission.
How are telephone reservations handled? What are the call center hours?
You can have customers make reservations directly with you, or you may direct them to our call
center. Our call center handles reservations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Callers will be
asked for the particular promo code associated with your affiliate account, so that you are able
to receive your share of the commission. Larger affiliates may qualify for special privately
branded numbers that do not require the use of promo codes.
Please note that hotel reservations made to our call center pay 30% on gross commissions, whereas
calls made to you and online sales pay up to 60% commission, depending on the type of rate.
How are customer service inquiries handled?
Customer service operates between 9:00 AM and 5:30 PM EST. From the U.S. and Canada, customers
may dial toll-free 1-888-729-7705. International callers may dial +1-972-894-1173.
What is the difference between online and phone bookings?
Online bookings pay up to 60% of the total gross commission to WCT depending on the type of rate
GDS or Hot Rate. Reservations made through our call center pay 30% of the total gross commission
to WCT. In addition to commissions, online bookings can also include your share of OPTI-FEES.
OPTI-FEES on phone bookings are not shared with our affiliates.
Become a World Choice Travel Affiliate Today
How do I become a World Choice Travel affiliate?
Go to the Join Now section of our website. Review the terms and conditions, and fill out our
form, including your Payee information. Send us the online application. Once your website is
approved, an Affiliate Relations Manager will contact you with final approval. You can then
login to the Partner Support Center and start to configure the booking engines and layout of your
website.
If you are presently producing a high volume of hotel bookings with another provider, please
contact Rick Schneider, Vice President of Global Business Development at 561-845-8856 ext. 1012
to discuss opportunities with World Choice Travel
How quickly can I get started?
Implementation is easy. Your private-labeled travel products can produce revenue for your company
the same day you are approved to become a partner.
If you have a limited development budget and want to quickly launch an entire travel channel for
your website, check out our Ready-to-Use Travel Home Page. Simply select your color scheme,
customize the header and your travel site will be ready to launch.
How do I switch from my existing travel provider?
It's easy to switch. We can provide a helpful conversion spreadsheet to simplify the process for
converting codes etc. from other travel affiliate programs.
If you have any additional questions about our travel affiliate program, please feel free to
e-mail us at [email protected] or contact our Affiliate Relations Department at 561-845-8856.
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