General Reference – WestJet Vacations travel agency commission settlement FAQ

Information subject to change without notice

WestJet Vacations travel agency commission settlement FAQ

What is changing?

Canadian travel agency partners who book a WestJet Vacations package will receive a consolidated total credit or debit

for a specific monthly billing period, deposited directly to their account in TIESS.

The transactional detail will be sent to the agency by e-mail from WestJet Vacations on the same day of settlement.

Please note: this transactional detail is not available through the TIESS portal.

Why is WestJet Vacations making this change?

The decision to move to TIESS for settlement was based on several reasons;

This is standard practice in the industry.

Settlement will be completed faster by receiving an automatic credit to their TIESS account, rather than a

cheque.

The travel agent will no longer need to send a wire or cheque payment back to WestJet Vacations if money is

owed – the account will be debited automatically.

The travel agents will continue to receive detailed statements containing all booking information.

When is this change effective?

WestJet Vacations will start paying out August 2014 earned commission via TIESS on September 19, 2014.

How often will commission be settled?

Commission will continue to be settled on a monthly basis. In August 2014, WestJet Vacations will send out an annual

settlement calendar to travel agency partners highlighting dates of settlement.

Please note: Settlement will occur on the third Friday following two full weeks of a month unless otherwise stated on the

calendar.

What is TIESS? And how does an agency register for an account?

TIESS is IATA's Travel Industry Exchange Settlement Solutions, a system that enables the billing and settlement between

travel industry suppliers (i.e. airlines, railways etc.) and travel agencies by facilitating debits and credits to a travel

agency’s bank account.

Does an agency require an IATA or TIDS number to receive commission settlement through TIESS?

An agency must have either an IATA or a TIDS number issued by IATA. Agencies will need to request a valid IATA or

TIDS account from TIESS if they have no current access. Please contact TIESS support at http://www.iata.org/customer-

portal/Pages/contactus.aspx.

As a TIESS partner, a travel agency will be required to set up a profile and provide bank account details so commission is

paid in a timely manner. TIESS will not accept an agency’s profile creation if banking information is not provided. In

these cases the agency’s status will show as "Not Qualified" and TIESS will reject or keep in stand-by any transaction

received from the carrier with the agency’s code on it. The payments will only be released when the agency’s profile is

completed with a valid bank account number and TIESS confirms its validity.

General Reference – WestJet Vacations travel agency commission settlement FAQ

Information subject to change without notice

What if an agency has an inactive IATA number in TIESS? What are they required to do to get the IATA number active?

Contact TIESS support at http://www.iata.org/customer-portal/Pages/contactus.aspx if your account is inactive.

What if an agency only has a TIDS number? Can they still receive commission from WestJet Vacations?

If an agency has a valid TIDS number and has been linked to WestJet Vacations through TIESS, they will receive

commission settlements.

How does an agency receive commission from WestJet Vacations when registered with TIESS?

Agencies must request a link between themselves and WestJet Vacations through TIESS when they are notified that a

profile has been created. WestJet Vacations will approve the link, allowing the agency to receive settlement from WestJet

Vacations.

What if an agency has a dispute regarding a commission settlement they received?

The agency must send an e-mail to taaccounting@westjetvacations.com with all applicable details. The WestJet Vacations

Coordinators will respond to the request in three to five business days.

Can an agency still elect to receive commission settlement by cheque?

All Canadian agencies must transition to TIESS for commission settlement.

What is the impact for travel agents located in the United States?

There is no change in the settlement process for our U.S. travel agent partners, as there isn’t a U.S. settlement system

equivalent to TIESS. These agents will continue to receive a cheque as payment for commission earned. WestJet is

currently investigating an automated settlement solution for those travel agency partners.

Is there a change for travel agencies located outside of Canada and the United States?

There is no change for travel agencies outside of Canada and the U.S., as they don’t qualify for commission settlement.