FCM Travel and the shape of its agreements
FCM Travel is the global corporate travel brand of Flight Centre Travel Group, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange; the group’s small-business brand is Corporate Traveller. FCM Platform is FCM’s digital product, combining booking, traveler app and reporting. FCM serves clients through its own offices in some countries and through partner agencies in others, so a multi-country agreement can involve several servicing entities.
That structure is common in global TMCs and works well when the contract says which entity services each market and on which schedule. It creates invoice questions when it does not. If you are weighing FCM against an enterprise alternative, our FCM vs. BCD Travel comparison sets the two side by side, and the Corporate Traveler vs. Navan page covers the group’s mid-market brand.
FCM Travel fee lines to audit
| Fee line | Typical contracted range we see | What to verify in your contract | Red flag on the invoice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online transaction (FCM Platform or partner OBT) | $5–$12 | Per trip or per component | Separate air and hotel fees on one trip |
| Platform or technology fee | Per trip or fixed annual | Which modules it covers and whether it stacks with transaction fees | Platform fee and online fee on the same booking without a stated reason |
| Agent booking, domestic | $25–$50 | Channels that count as assisted | Assisted fee where the traveler only asked a question |
| Agent booking, complex international | $40–$65 | Complex threshold in segments or countries | Simple trips billed in the complex band |
| Non-booking agent touch | $0 to the assisted fee | Whether quotes, re-quotes and inquiries are billable | Touch fees with no booking reference |
| Exchange, refund, void | $20–$45 | Free void window and stacking rules | Exchange plus a new booking fee |
| Partner-market servicing | Local schedule plus any coordination fee | That each partner schedule is annexed | Charges from a market with no schedule |
| Split ticket | One fee per ticket issued | Whether the fee counts per trip or per ticket | Two fees on a trip where the saving was smaller than the extra fee |
| After-hours service | $15–$40 | Time-zone basis and disruption exemptions | After-hours fee during a weather event |
Define the billable agent touch before anything else
“Touch” is the single most consequential undefined word in many TMC agreements. If any interaction with an agent can be billed, the fee schedule is open-ended; if only completed bookings and changes are billable, it is predictable. Sort two quarters of agent-coded lines into five buckets: new bookings, changes, cancellations, quotes with no booking and general inquiries. In a well-drafted contract, the last two buckets cost nothing.
Write the definition with examples: a traveler asking about baggage allowance is not a touch; a quote for three options that ends in one booking is one booking fee; a disruption rebooking initiated by the agency is not a traveler-initiated change. Then compare your offline share with the adoption benchmarks in our 2026 TMC fee benchmarks.
Split-ticketing: when two tickets beat one, net of fees
Split-ticketing means issuing separate tickets for parts of one journey, such as two one-ways instead of a round trip, to reach a lower total fare. Agents use it legitimately to save money. Two costs can offset the saving: a second transaction fee when the contract charges per ticket, and the risk that a delay on one ticket is not protected on the other.
Illustrative: a round trip at $820 against two one-ways totaling $700 saves $120. Online, a second $9 fee leaves $111; offline, a second $35 fee leaves $85. On a short-haul trip where the split saves $40, an extra $35 offline fee leaves $5 and a misconnect exposure. Require a net-saving floor, disclosure to the traveler and a single fee per trip unless the saving clears the floor. Fare-side tactics are covered in our airline sourcing guide.
Partner markets, hotel commission and the global SLA
For each country in scope, the contract should name the servicing entity, attach its fee schedule in local currency, state any coordination fee and confirm that global SLAs apply there. Ask for the same SLA report by market: speed to answer, abandoned calls, first-contact resolution and invoice accuracy, with service credits when a market misses for two months running.
On hotel commission, follow the approach in our hotel RFP guide: agree a pass-through percentage, a quarterly report by property and whether partner markets follow the same rule. Without that, 7%–10% commission on non-negotiated properties stays with whichever entity booked the stay.
Contract clauses to demand from FCM Travel
Clause 2.2 · Billable touch
A fee is payable only for a completed booking, a traveler-requested change, a cancellation or a refund, each identified by booking reference. Quotes that do not result in a booking, general inquiries and agency-initiated disruption rebookings are not billable.
Clause 4.6 · Split-ticketing
Supplier may issue separate tickets for one journey only where the total saving after all additional fees exceeds [$75] or [10]% of the single-ticket fare, the traveler is informed of the separate-ticket risk before issue, and a single transaction fee applies unless that threshold is met.
Clause 8.1 · Partner markets
Schedule E lists every country in scope, its servicing entity and its fee schedule. No fee may be charged for servicing in a country not listed, and the service levels in Schedule C apply in every listed country.