Overview

The FareHarbor Distribution Network (FHDN) is a solution designed to help experience providers expand their reach through affiliate-based selling and API-based selling.

By connecting operators with a local network of affiliates and a global and regional selection of industry leading OTAs, FHDN streamlines the process of managing partnerships, showcasing experiences, and automating bookings.

This approach enables businesses to supplement their channel mix through a single, efficient solution.

For all bookings, Fareharbor is the middleman between the client and the affiliate, allowing our clients to connect with OTAs and other affiliates without managing the paperwork.

Core Value Proposition

The FareHarbor Distribution Network (FHDN) empowers experience providers to expand their reach and maximize bookings through two channels under one roof:

In H1 of 2025, we are opting all clients into FHDN (with the option to opt-out). Here’s WHY:

• Client Growth and Value
  • FHDN drives incremental growth for our clients, connecting them with high-quality affiliates and delivering bookings without upfront costs.
  • Clients only pay when they receive bookings, making it a risk-free growth opportunity.
• Increasing Demand from Key Partners
  • Large partners joining FHDN require more supply than is currently available. Without increasing supply, partners will create 1:1 contracts with our clients anyway, and clients will be subject to the API fee on top of OTA commissions. Auto-opting clients ensures we can meet this demand and strengthen these partnerships.
• We Validated This
  • We auto opted clients into FHDN in Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico, and we had >96% retention within the program.
• Efficiency Gains
  • Scaling FHDN opt-ins across the board is significantly more efficient than managing individual opt-ins, reducing operational complexity for our teams.
• Flexibility
  • Clients are able to use Affiliate Rules to control access to their inventory.
  • Clients are able to opt-out at any time.

FareHarbor Distribution Network Feature Table

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the FareHarbor Distribution Network (FHDN)?

• The FHDN is our in-house affiliate program and a full part of FareHarbor’s success. Let’s work together towards our goals of 5M revenue in 2024!

How can our clients join?

• Clients are automatically opted in upon joining FH. If they opted out and wish to opt back in, they can join here. If they were using affiliate rules to restrict access to FHDN, they can update their rules to open their inventory up to FHDN affiliates.

Why should our clients be part of FHDN?

• Save a ton of time in affiliate relationship management
• Save ton of time in bookkeeping with our automated commission handling system
• Multiply affiliates to not rely on one distribution channel (don’t put all of your eggs in one basket!)
• Increase online bookings and exposure
• Earn commission by acting as an affiliate and selling items from other FH clients.

Why should our clients pay 25% for the API connected affiliates?

• These affiliates put more effort into finding clients in new markets (i.e Trip.com/Ctrip brings customers from China), and generally invest much more in marketing to generate bookings. These affiliates are therefore demanding higher commissions to make up for the higher spendings they have.

What if our clients don’t want the API connected affiliates?

• Although not encouraged, our clients can opt-out from these affiliates using affiliate rules. They can do so by reaching out to support@fareharbor.com, and our team will take care of it.

Can clients work with OTAs that are part of FHDN on their own?

• Yes – while clients are agreeing to make their tours available to be sold by any affiliate that is part of FHDN, they can still work with the affiliates on their own, with a direct contract. However, the client will have to handle the invoicing and collecting the payments of any direct contracts.

Can clients limit the number of items that can be resold?

• Yes, if clients are concerned about opening their availability to more affiliates, we recommend utilizing our new affiliate rules feature. This tool enables our clients to control which affiliates have access to their items and availability, and when they can book. Learn more about affiliate rules here

Can clients have control over which affiliates can sell their items through FHDN?

• No – any affiliate that has joined FHDN is able to sell the tours and activities of FH clients. We do vet each affiliate that joins to ensure that only quality affiliates are referring bookings to FH clients. For clients that would like more control, it is important for them to know that the major OTAs that work with our clients also forward distribute activities through their own affiliates, so FHDN is no different.

Questions?

Reach out to our team using the channel #strategicpartners-affiliates on Slack.

Where is the FHDN available and which clients can join?

• Starting in the new year, we will auto-opt all existing and new clients into the FareHarbor Distribution Network (FHDN). This initiative is driven by our commitment to fostering client growth and scaling our operations efficiently. Clients will retain the option to opt out, and we will provide a 30-day notice period before activation.

• Auto opt-in: All new clients (since June 2025) are auto-added to the FHDN.
• Already opted out? They can rejoin via the FHDN Join Page.
• Setup handled: By Channel Support (client receives email + Zendesk welcome ticket).
• Stripe required: Clients must use Stripe to join.

There are two types of FHDN agreements:

• Provider Participation Agreement – Lets clients have their tours and activities sold by others through the FHDN.
• Affiliate Participation Agreement – Lets clients (or affiliates) resell tours and activities listed in the FHDN.

We can understand if a company is on the FHDN and which role they have through the Advanced company settings on the FareHarbor Dashboard.

To check if a client is on the FHDN:

1. Go to the client’s Dashboard > Settings > Advanced company settings.
2. Open the Connections menu.

3. Check if the options under FareHarbor Distribution Network (FHDN) are selected.

   

To view the list of participating OTAs available through the FHDN API, please refer to our Close record here:

• List of OTAs on the FHDN API (Close)

For a more detailed list of affiliates (partners and clients acting as resellers) distributing FHDN Links, you can view the record in Close and filter by location as needed:

• List of FHDN Links affiliates (Close)

For FHDN Referral Links

FareHarbor makes money through this program in the same way that we make money through all online bookings – with our 6% booking fee. The other way we make money is through invoicing. Since FareHarbor handles the transfer of all funds, we are paid a maintenance fee of 5%, bringing our total revenue to 11%.

Example scenario:

Of this 20%, or $20, Tour Company A makes 15% (or $15), and FareHarbor makes a 5% invoicing fee (or $5).

The 1.9% + $0.30 credit card processing fee is subtracted from the total amount of $105 ($111 less the 6% or $6, since FareHarbor pays the credit card processing fee on our 6% booking fee) originally collected by Tour Company B.

For FHDN API Bookings

FareHarbor earns between 5-10% per booking out of the OTAs commission. There is no additional cost to our client!

For FHDN Referral Links

For FHDN API Links

• FHDN API Affiliates Example Integration – Virgin Experience Gifts
• FHDN Referral Links Affiliate Example Integration – Travel Lemming
• FHDN Client reselling other clients Example Integration – Kayaking Puerto Rico

FHDN affiliates can report on bookings associated with their FareHarbor Dashboard. FHDN Report (located under Reports > Advanced) can be used to gather important insights, such as:

• Which experiences sell best on their website
• Which days their website generates more bookings
• An overview of their expected earnings

Setup

If the FHDN Report option is not available under Reports > Advanced, ensure the Affiliate checkbox is checked under Settings > Advanced company settings > Connections > FareHarbor Distribution Network.

In order to access FHDN Reports, a user must have permission to view All advanced reports based on their permission group (Settings > Users & Permissions > Permission Groups > [relevant permission group] > Reporting > Reports > Advanced reports).

To ensure FHDN booking commissions aren’t stripped from FareHarbor and the affiliate, we prohibit charter and outside users from removing the FHDN affiliate from existing bookings or the Dashboard.

Charter and outside users cannot remove the FHDN affiliate from following places or processes:

• The Dashboard: The “delete” button isn’t visible for them. FareHarbor admins can still remove it.
• An existing booking: FareHarbor admins can still remove it.
• Rebooking: FareHarbor admins can still remove it.

Please note: All of these limitations are specifically for FHDN; it doesn’t affect other affiliates.

General FHDN Questions

What is the FareHarbor Distribution Network (FHDN)?

• The FHDN is FareHarbor’s affiliate program, which is designed to help streamline how our clients manage their affiliate relationships by finding affiliates, automating contracts & invoicing, and managing commission payments. FHDN does not replace clients existing affiliate relationships, it is supplementary! There are two booking methods through the FHDN: Referral Links & API Bookings.

Which FareHarbor team is responsible for the FHDN?

• Strategic Partnerships

How are FareHarbor Distribution Network (FHDN) bookings generated?

• FHDN bookings are generated in two forms:
  • Via API – A booking is originated & paid for in an Online Travel Agency (OTA)’s booking system and pushed into FareHarbor through an API connection. For these bookings, clients will receive your net rate the month after the activity occurs.
  • Via Referral Links – A booking is originated & paid for via FareHarbor (similar to an online booking on the client website), the only difference is that the booking took place on the website of an Affiliate. For these bookings, clients will receive payment up front, and owe commission after the activity occurs.

Where is the FHDN available?

• Since June 2025, all newly onboarded clients on the FareHarbor, would be automatically added to the FHDN on their Dashboard.

What is the commission structure of FHDN?

• FHDN Referral Links: If your activities are sold through FHDN booking links, clients will pay 20% commission on all bookings generated.
• FHDN API Bookings: If your activities are sold through the API, clients will pay 25% commission on all bookings generated.

Are the FHDN commissions negotiable?

• The commission rates are non-negotiable.

Can the client set separate FHDN-price sheets?

• All FHDN prices come from their Online Rates only.
  • If the client finds the 25% commission on the FHDN API quite high – our general recommendation is to increase their online rates to account for all methods of sales. They can then use Affiliate Rules to place any restrictions they would like to control their channel mix.

How does FareHarbor make money from the FHDN?

• FHDN Referral Links: FareHarbor collects a 5% service fee and 6% online booking fee.
• For FHDN API: We earn between 5-10% per booking out of the OTAs commission. There is no additional cost to our client! The contract will include a standardized commission rate of 25% that is split between the OTA & FareHarbor. The net rate is always 75% for the client. Example: if the OTA makes 20% commission, FareHarbor will make 5% commission.

Read more about this here.

How is the FHDN different from the old Partner Program?

• Clients can now choose if they want to resell, be resold or both, their commission structure has changed from FareHarbor keeping 2-3% to now keeping 5%. Clients no longer have to sign an NDA. Read more about this here.

Which payment processors that FareHarbor offers work with FHDN?

• Clients can only join the FHDN if they are using Stripe. FHDN is not currently supported if clients are using PayPal.

Can clients work with OTAs that are part of FHDN on their own?

• Yes – while clients are agreeing to make their tours available to be sold by any affiliate that is part of FHDN, they can still work with the affiliates on their own, with a direct contract. However, the client will have to handle the invoicing and collecting the payments of any direct contracts.

Where are the client’s items sold?

• Online: on an affiliate’s website we can add a “Things to Do” page, or build an activity specific page within the affiliate’s site. We can also integrate throughout other parts of any website that references tours & activities/things to do. Example here. On a client’s website we can add an “Other Activities” or “Things to Do” page where their customers can go to book activities provided by other tour operators. Check it out here.
• Confirmation & Reminder Emails: Affiliates can sell activities in confirmation emails, pre-arrival emails, itinerary emails, and really any client communication. We can also add these other activity buttons to our clients’ confirmation and reminder emails. Every booking made from these emails will be marked as coming from the client who is reselling through their emails.

Can you book directly (offline) on the FHDN?

• No, you cannot! The FHDN runs online.

What are the main benefits of the FHDN for tour operators?

• More bookings – clients can get more bookings
• Repeat Customers – FHDN bookings will appear as regular online bookings in the client’s Dashboard, saving customers’ contact information for future marketing.
• Automated invoicing – FareHarbor handles the invoicing and paying out the commission to the affiliate.
• No more contracts – FareHarbor handles the contracts between the affiliate and the client.

What are the main benefits of the FHDN for affiliates?

• More money – resellers receive 15% commission for all sales generated through FH on their website – without any effort on their end.
• Automated invoicing – they won’t need to worry about chasing down tour operators for commission – FH will deposit their commission into their bank account directly on a monthly basis.
• No more contracts – FH will handle setting up contracts with our clients on their behalf.
• Free website integrations – FH will integrate activities onto their website or build them an activities page at no cost.
  • To those who qualify – Resellers who have an existing website with a high organic search.

What are the main benefits of the FHDN for FareHarbor?

• Make more bookings for our clients through online travel websites.
• Additional revenue source for FareHarbor.
• Aids in client retention.
• Help us stay on top of our competitors.

How does a company join the FHDN?

• • Clients join the FHDN through FHDN Page on the FareHarbor website.
  • If they join only as a provider, they will be automatically opted-into the FHDN and will be able to receive booking through the FHDN API (Formerly FH Connect) and FHDN Referral Links. The client setup in the Dashboard is handled by Channel Support.
  • If they join as an affiliate, they would only be able to resell others through FHDN Referral Links.
• Once they join, they receive an automated message and a welcome email in Zendesk.

Do clients get contacted once they join the FHDN?

• Yes! Once they join they receive an automated message and a Zendesk ticket to welcome them.

Where in Close does the FHDN opt-in date show?

• In the Close lead under Contracts Objects. The date when a company joined the FHDN will appear in one of the Documents custom fields depending on which agreement option they selected. If they have joined only as a provider they will have Provider Participant Agreement (PPA) and FareHarbor Connect Provider Participation Agreement.
• If they have joined only as an affiliate then the Documents – Affiliate Participant Agreement (APA) will be shown under the Contract Object.

Can clients choose which reseller sites they will be listed on?

• No, clients cannot choose. Affiliates select which clients to feature from the FareHarbor Marketplace. The Strategic Partnerships team offers recommendations based on the affiliate’s audience and location.

Can clients’ tours be sold by affiliates in other countries and vice versa?

• Yes, clients’ tours can be sold by affiliates globally.

When will clients start getting bookings after signing up for the FHDN?

• Once a client joins the FHDN, their tours and activities are listed in the FareHarbor Marketplace, where affiliates can choose to feature them on their sites. It may take time for affiliates to start promoting these items and driving bookings, depending on their audience and interests. As with any affiliate partnership, bookings through the FHDN are not guaranteed.

Can clients limit the number of items that can be resold?

• Yes, if clients are concerned about opening their availability to more affiliates, we recommend utilising our new affiliate rules feature. This tool enables our clients to control which affiliates have access to their items and availability, and when they can book. Learn more about affiliate rules on our help center here

Can a client run a report to see which affiliate is selling them?

• At this moment the client cannot see until the affiliate generates a booking.

Can clients opt out of one of the booking methods?

• Yes, if clients don’t want to be enrolled in one of the two booking methods (FHDN Referral Links or FHDN API), they can fill out this form. Please note that they’ll need to give FareHarbor 30 days notice if they wish to opt out of the Network.

A client says that they joined the FHDN but didn’t get the welcome email. What should you do?

• Check first if the Documents - Provider Participation Agreement Accepted, Documents - FareHarbor Connect Provider Agreement Accepted and/or the Documents - Affiliate Participation Agreement Accepted custom fields are present in their Close lead. They will be shown under Contracts object. Next, check the lead history for an email about the FHDN as sometimes clients just don’t reply to FHDN welcoming email.
• If you are sure that the client didn’t receive any email about the FHDN, please inform the Strategic Partnerships Team in the the #strategicpartners-affiliates Slack channel.

A client says they joined the FHDN but keeps getting email prompts to join again. What should you do?

• If your client continues to receive email prompts about joining the FHDN but they tell you that they have already joined, check first the Documents - Provider Participation Agreement Accepted, Documents - FareHarbor Connect Provider Agreement Accepted, or the Documents - Affiliate Participation Agreement Accepted custom fields in their Close lead. They will be shown under Contracts object. If one of these custom fields is present then they have indeed joined the FHDN. Please notify the Strategic Partnerships team in the #strategicpartners-affiliates Slack channel.

FHDN Referral Links Questions

What commission does the provider (aka tour operator) pay out through the FHDN Referral Links?

• 20%

What commission does the affiliate receive through the FHDN Referral Links?

• 15%

Please explain the commission structure for a client that wants to be resold and resell.

• We would inform the client when they are being resold we take 20% commission on the 5th business day of every month and if they are reselling we will pay them 15% commission on the 10th business day over every month. We keep a 5% maintenance fee for handling the payment process and invoicing.

Who pays the cc fee?

• The tour operator (FH client).

From what Total is the commission calculated?

• Subtotal – for US companies
• Total – for European companies

Does the commission include custom fields?

• Yes

Who does the monthly payouts?

• The Finance Team has an automated report to determine how much in commission we owe our clients/affiliates. An email is sent out to all participants of the FHDN monthly, letting them know that if they received bookings through the FHDN, they will be able to find an invoice already created in their Dashboard. We also let them know that we will be pulling commission funds on the 5th business day of the month, based on the activity date. If they were the reseller of any bookings, they will be receiving a commission on the 10th business day, also based on activity date.

For FHDN Referral Link bookings, who pays the credit card fee?

• The credit card fee is paid by the activity provider. So, if someone books Company A’s activity from your website, all of the money will flow to Company A and Company A will pay the credit card fee.

Why can’t we provide affiliates with customer name and contact information in the FHDN reporting?

• We’re not able to provide affiliates with PII (personal identifiable information) data of FHDN customers, as it is not included in the terms of the agreement. This is similar in practice to all other online affiliate/partner programs. We hope this doesn’t cause any inconvenience for you, and are happy to see your continued success as an FHDN partner! We are working on creating more reporting functionality in the future so you can keep track of revenue/website performance, and will be sure to keep you up to date.

FHDN API Booking Specific Questions

How do clients get paid via the FHDN API Booking method?

• The OTA collects full payment, and will pay the client’s net rate of 75% to FareHarbor the following month from the date of the activity. FareHarbor will then deposit this amount into your bank account, as listed in your FareHarbor Dashboard, within 15 days of the invoice being sent.

Can the client set separate FHDN-price sheets?

• All FHDN prices come from their Online Rates only.
  • If the client finds the 25% commission on the FHDN API quite high – our general recommendation is to increase their online rates to account for all methods of sales. They can then use Affiliate Rules to place any restrictions they would like to control their channel mix.

What type of reporting can clients expect?

• Once a booking is generated, clients can expect to see all of the same reports they currently use to track your affiliate bookings..

Can clients cancel a booking that was made through the FHDN API booking system?

• No – If clients cancel a booking in FareHarbor that was generated by a FHDN API affiliate, the affiliates will not be alerted, so the affiliates need to be made aware. If there is an emergency or a weather issue or some extenuating circumstance and the tour needs to be canceled, please contact FH Support at support@fareharbor.com, we will let the FHDN affiliate know they need to cancel the booking.

Why is an OTA able to cancel 0-24 hours before the start time when my cancellation policy is a 48 hour cancellation policy?

• All FHDN API companies now default to a 24-hour cancellation policy. The new 24-hour policy is now automatically applied to all existing FHDN API dashboards. OTAs are able to cancel but not refund bookings between 0 and 24 hours before the start time. The booking will not be marked as refunded. This is to help FH clients understand who is participating in their tour, and ensure that operators do not wait for customers that will not show up. The FH client will still be paid their net rate for these transactions.

OTA Emergency Contact Info

• FareHarbor Support at support@fareharbor.com