Travel agency client agreement template
A travel agency agreement is the contract between an agency or independent travel advisor and the client they plan a trip for. It says you book as the client's agent, what your fees are, and that airlines and hotels set their own rules. Read it below, then open it in SignMaster, fill in the trip and send it before you start planning.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 4 min read
The contract
Gray blanks are yours to fill in before you send. Each signer fills in the blanks in their color.
- You, before sending
- Client
- Travel agency
Travel Agency Client Agreement
This Travel Agency Client Agreement (the "Agreement") is made on Agreement date between Agency business name (the "Agency") and Client name (the "Client").
1. What the Agency does
The Agency plans travel and books it as the Client's agent with airlines, hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, car rental companies and other travel suppliers. It does not own or run any of those services. This Agreement covers:
- Destination: Destination
- Travel dates: from Departure date to Return date
- Services requested: Services requested
- Travelers, with names exactly as they appear on their passports: Traveler passport names
2. The Agency's fees
The Client pays a planning fee of Planning fee when signing. It pays for the Agency's research and time and is not refundable once the Agency has sent its first trip proposal. The Agency also charges Booking fee per reservation for each reservation it makes, and may receive commissions from suppliers, which do not increase the Client's price.
3. Supplier terms
Every booking is governed by the supplier's own terms, including its deposit and payment deadlines, cancellation penalties, change fees, baggage rules and refund policy. Before booking, the Agency will share the key terms, and by approving a booking the Client accepts them. Many airline tickets and prepaid hotel rates cannot be refunded or transferred.
4. Prices and payment
Prices are not guaranteed until a booking is paid in full and confirmed by the supplier. Until then, suppliers may change fares, rates, taxes and surcharges. Each invoice says whether a payment goes to the supplier directly or through the Agency, and when it is due. If a payment deadline is missed, the supplier may cancel the booking and charge its penalties, which the Client pays.
5. The Client's responsibilities
- Check every confirmation and itinerary as soon as it arrives, and tell the Agency of any error within Hours to report errors hours. Name corrections after ticketing may cost money or be impossible.
- Hold a passport valid for the whole trip. Many countries require six months of validity after the return date.
- Obtain any visa, vaccination, health form or entry permit the destinations or connecting countries require.
- Arrive in time for check-in, keep travel documents safe, and follow suppliers' rules while traveling.
6. Travel insurance
The Agency recommends travel insurance covering trip cancellation and interruption, medical care, emergency evacuation and lost baggage. Please tick one:
- Please quote travel insurance for every traveler.
- I decline travel insurance and accept the financial risk of cancellation, interruption, medical costs, evacuation and lost belongings.
7. Changes and cancellations
If the Client changes or cancels a booking, the Client pays the supplier's penalties plus the Agency's change fee of Agency change fee per booking changed. The Agency passes on supplier refunds when it receives them. Where a supplier gives a travel credit instead of cash, the credit follows the supplier's rules. The Agency's own fees are not refunded.
8. Limits of the Agency's responsibility
The Agency is responsible for its own errors in making bookings. It is not responsible for what suppliers do or fail to do, including delays, cancellations, overbooking, injuries, lost property or a supplier's financial failure, or for weather, strikes, illness, unrest or government action. To the extent the law allows, the Agency's liability is limited to the fees the Client paid to the Agency.
9. Personal information
The Agency shares travelers' names, dates of birth, passport details and contact information with suppliers only as needed to make and service bookings, and keeps them secure.
10. Governing law and the whole agreement
This Agreement is governed by the laws of the state of State. It is the whole agreement between the parties for this trip, and changes must be in writing. Electronic signatures count as original signatures. Seller of travel registration number, where the law requires one: Registration number.
Contact details
Client phone: Client phone Email: Client email
Travel advisor: Travel advisor name Phone: Agency phone
I have read this whole Agreement, including the supplier terms in section 3 and the change and cancellation terms in section 7.
Client
Travel advisor, for the Agency
Opens it in SignMaster as a template you can edit and send.
A starting point, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review it for your state and situation.
On this page
Why travel advisors need one
An advisor sits between the client and a dozen suppliers, and when a cruise line cancels or a flight is rebooked, the client calls you. Without a signed agreement, the conversation turns into whether you promised the price, whether you mentioned insurance and whether your planning fee comes back. The agreement settles all three before any research starts.
Use it for honeymoons, family trips, group travel and destination weddings: anything where you charge a planning fee or hold client money. Business travel programs usually run on a separate corporate agreement.
What the template covers
- Your role: you plan and book as the client's agent; you don't own or run the hotels, ships or airlines.
- The trip: destination, dates, the services requested and every traveler's name exactly as it appears on their passport.
- Fees: a planning fee that's earned once you send the first proposal, an optional fee per reservation, and a plain note that supplier commissions don't raise the client's price.
- Supplier terms: each booking follows the supplier's deadlines, penalties and refund rules, which the client accepts by approving it.
- Prices and payment: nothing is guaranteed until it's paid and confirmed, and each invoice says who gets paid.
- The client's job: checking confirmations quickly, passports, visas and entry rules.
- Travel insurance: a tick box to request a quote, or a signed decline that accepts the financial risk.
- Changes, limits and privacy: supplier penalties plus your change fee, the limits of your responsibility, and how traveler data is shared with suppliers.
Mistakes that come back to the advisor
- Booking from a nickname. Airline tickets usually have to match the passport, and a name correction can cost more than the ticket. Have the client type the names themselves.
- Offering insurance by phone and keeping no record. A signed decline is the strongest proof that you offered cover and the client chose to go without.
- Quoting a fare as if it's locked. Until it's paid and ticketed, a supplier can change it; say so in writing.
- Leaving the planning fee's refund rule vague. Say exactly when it becomes non-refundable.
- Taking blame for supplier failures. Your contract should say you answer for your own booking errors, not for the airline's.
Seller of travel registration
Some states, California and Florida among them, require businesses that sell travel to their residents to register and show a registration number. The template has a blank for it; check the rules for your state and the states your clients live in.
How to send it with SignMaster
- 1
Open the template
Choose Use this template above. It opens in your SignMaster account as a template with the client and the agency as signers.
- 2
Set your fees once
Fill in your planning fee, booking fee, change fee and error-report window, and save the template with them filled. To reword a policy, cover it with White-out in the editor's Markup tools and type yours in a Text box.
- 3
Add the trip
For each client, fill the gray blanks for destination, dates and services requested, then add the client's name and email.
- 4
The client fills in the travelers
They type each traveler's name as it appears on the passport, tick a travel insurance choice, add their phone and email, and sign. You countersign as the advisor.
- 5
Start planning
The signed PDF and its certificate of completion arrive for both of you. Keep it with the booking file in case a supplier dispute comes up months later.
Group trips and destination weddings
A destination wedding can mean forty households booking into the same resort, each with its own room category and price. Make a copy of the template for the group with the destination and dates filled in, then use bulk send with one spreadsheet row per household: their name, email and the services requested. Each household signs its own agreement and its own insurance choice, and the bulk send results show who has signed and who needs a call before the room block's release date.
Questions? Answers.
Do independent travel advisors need a client agreement?
It's strongly recommended. Host agencies and errors-and-omissions insurers often expect a signed agreement and an insurance decline on file for each trip, and it protects your planning fee.
Is a travel insurance decline signed online valid?
Generally, yes. Under the federal ESIGN Act and state e-signature laws, an electronic signature on a consent or decline carries the same weight as ink, and SignMaster keeps an audit trail of who signed and when.
Who is responsible if the airline cancels a flight?
Under sections 3 and 8, the airline's own terms decide what the client gets. The agency helps rebook and claim refunds but isn't responsible for the supplier's decisions.
Who fills in which blanks?
You fill the gray ones: the trip, your fees and the state. The client types the travelers' names, picks an insurance option, adds their contact details and signs.