Activity Link Systems – ALS is a software that FareHarbor acquired in 2015. It consists of two parts. AL-Pro is another reservation software. AL-Desk is a desk software, used by activity resellers and concierge desks to book FareHarbor activities in real-time. Learn more.

Affiliate – An affiliate is any third-party that resells/refers customers to one of our clients’ activities. Any type of business (or individual) can be an affiliate: a local business; a blog; a hotel concierge desk; a traditional travel agency; an online travel agency.

Affiliate Users vs Agents vs Desks:

• Users – For affiliate dashboards, it’s best practice to create 1 generic user login. Various reservationists booking under 1 Affiliate name typically share the same permission group, so it is unnecessary to create more than 1 user on an Affiliate Dashboard. Affiliates also oftentimes have higher turnover than Charters, so 1 generic login works best.

• Agents – Within an affiliate Dashboard, specific reservationists at an Affiliate Company can add their name under the ‘Agent’ line on the booking. This will allow affiliates to share 1 generic login to make a booking under the Affiliate name, but once the booking is created, it will also track the specific Agent who made the booking. The Charter can run reports on bookings made by specific Agents just as they can with Users on a Charter Dashboard. Please note that charters can’t delete agents from their side, they must be deleted by the users on the affiliate Dashboard, or by FH employees.

• Desks – If an affiliate has several locations, they can use 1 generic login to create a booking under the Affiliate name, but they can use the Desks feature to specify the location the booking was made from. For example, they have a large hotel with a front desk and several concierge desks.

Affiliate Dashboard – An affiliate dashboard, also sometimes referred to as an affiliate portal, is an account in FareHarbor that an affiliate can log into and make a booking for a charter directly into their booking calendar. Learn more.

API – API stands for “Application Programming Interface.” It is a backend integration between two different softwares, which allows the two to communicate and share data back and forth. FareHarbor has API integrations with various activity resellers. They use an API to access availability data from FareHarbor and to push a completed booking back into our system. There are Channel and External API’s. Learn more.

API Mapping – In a Channel API integration, the Connectivity Team creates and maintains the mappings which dictate how the products in FareHarbor are connected to the products in TripAdvisor Experiences/Expedia/etc. Learn more.

API Partner – third-party business (often an Online Travel Agency) that resells FareHarbor clients and is connected via our API. Both systems talk to each other, and when an end customer is trying to make a reservation on the API Partner’s website, the API Partner’s system checks to see if there is a spot available, and pushes the booking through into FareHarbor. That way capacities are updated in real time, and there is little risk for overbooking. Learn more.

ASN – ASN stands for “Affiliate Shortname.” An ASN integration is when we give FareHarbor book buttons to an affiliate (like a blog or hotel “Other Activities” page,) so the affiliate can resell the charter’s activities online to their own customers. These integrations include a special ASN tag so that our system automatically tags that specific affiliate as the referral source when the booking is created. Learn more.

Billing Affiliate – A billing affiliate collects 100% of the payment from the customer at the time of booking in their own point of sale system and bank account, and then owes the charter company their net rate (ex. 80%) back afterwards.

Commission – A commission is the financial incentive that a charter company offers to an affiliate for any bookings they make for them. For example: If there is a 20% commission, this means that if Hotel ABC refers a $100 booking to XYZ Tours, XYZ Tours will owe Hotel ABC a commission of $20.

FareHarbor Distribution Network – The FareHarbor Distribution Network allows FareHarbor businesses to resell each other’s tours and activities, as well as to have their tours and activities resold online through Hawaiian Airlines, and many more. Learn more.

Invoice – An invoice is a bill that reflects an amount due between an affiliate and a charter, whether it is a commission owed to the affiliate or a net rate owed to the charter. FareHarbor can be used to calculate and generate invoices for these scenarios. Learn more.

Net Rate – The net rate is the final amount that a charter company will keep for themselves for a booking that was referred to them by an affiliate. So if Hotel ABC refers a $100 booking to XYZ Tours for a 20% commission, XYZ Tours will end up earning their net rate of 80% ($80.)

OTA – OTA stands for “Online Travel Agency.” An OTA is a business like TripAdvisor Experiences, Expedia, or Booking.com, who aggregate an inventory of different travel products (including tours and activities) and resell them to an online audience. View a list of OTA’s that FareHarbor has API integrations with here.

Partner – In an affiliate partnership, the “partner” or “charter” is the company whose activity gets booked. From an affiliate dashboard, their “partners” are the charters they have access to book for. They are the affiliate, and the companies are their partners. On a charter dashboard, if they have a “partner dropdown”, it means other charter companies have given them access to book. If they book one of their partners tours/activities, they would be the affiliate,

Rate Sheet – When a charter company works with an affiliate, they oftentimes have a rate sheet, which dictates the commissions and nets that the affiliate is contracted for. Rate sheets from a charter help us build their invoice sheets in FareHarbor.

Referral Deposit/Balance Due Affiliate – A referral deposit affiliate collects just their commission (ex. 20% of the payment) from the customer at the time of booking in their own system. The charter company then collects the remainder (ex. 80%) from the customer when they arrive for the tour. Nothing is owed back after the tour and no invoicing is required since both parties collect their amounts separately.

Referral Affiliate – A referral affiliate does not collect any payment from the customer themselves. Instead, they refer 100% of the payment to the charter company, and then the charter owes the affiliate their commission (ex. 20%) back afterwards.

Reseller – is a party that remarkets (or resells) tourism products. A reseller does not run their own tours – instead, they sell tours that are operated by another company.

Supplier – A supplier is the tour and activity provider and we use it interchangeably to refer to a charter company or a FareHarbor client.

Travel Agent – is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism related services to the public on behalf of suppliers such as activities, airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, travel insurance, and package tours. Travel agents receive a small commission from the airlines and hotels when they book your trip.

Visitor Center – A tourist information center, providing visitors to a location with information on the area’s attractions, lodgings, maps, and other items relevant to tourism. Often, these centers are operated at the airport or other port of entry, by the local government or chamber of commerce.

Voucher – A voucher is what a billing-style affiliate might use when they resell a charter’s activity. The affiliate generates its own voucher to give to the customer, and then the customer exchanges that voucher to the charter at the time of the activity.

This page is a directory of relevant affiliate FareHarbor Slack channels, including a description of their purpose and the direct access link.

Ever confused about which slack channel to use when you have a question about a partnership? Here is a friendly reminder about which channel to use and who to tag!

#strategicpartners-affiliates room is used for questions about the FareHarbor Distribution Network (FHDN): Referral Links & API Bookings, potential API partners, affiliate site inquiries, partner status updates and/or anything related to affiliates and Channel Support. Post your question in that Slack channel using the correct workflow form based on your question type (i.e. FHDN (Referral Links & API), API, Sites Update, Channel Support Question) by clicking the lightning bolt to the left of the text field.

#connectivity room is used for questions, updates, troubleshooting, status updates, etc. about our LIVE Channel API Partners. Pricing questions for APIs should be directed to Channel Support in the #strategicpartners-affiliates room. All new connections are shared in the #connectivity channel. If you have a question, tag the @connectivity_team in the #connectivity room!

#softwarepartnerships room is used for questions about any of our platform or webhook partners. Platform partners are non-resellers. They work with our clients to provide extra services in addition to tours. If you have a question about a current or potential platform partner, like a waiver system, CRM, photo sharing company, etc. – please inquire in the #softwarepartnerships room and tag @software-partnerships!