TRAVEL TRADE BASICS
Understanding net rates, markup and commission in B2B travel
Published August 24, 2026
These three terms come up constantly in B2B travel but are often used loosely. Here is what each one actually means in practice.
A net rate is the price a supplier charges the agent or platform, before any margin is added — it is not the price shown to the traveller. Markup is the amount an agency adds on top of the net rate to set the price a client actually pays; this is the most common model on B2B hotel platforms like GateTrips, where agents see net rates and set their own selling price.
Commission works differently: instead of adding a markup, the agent sells at a fixed retail rate set by the supplier and receives a percentage back afterwards. Most modern B2B hotel booking is net-rate-and-markup rather than commission-based, since it gives agencies more control over their own pricing and margins.