wholesale travel define

Please wait while your request is being verified...

Working with tour wholesalers: 9 tips for tour operators

By Rezdy — 7 Feb 2019

agent bookings   distribution   tour operator   wholesaler

Updated April 2023 – Expanding your distribution network and improving your online distribution strategy can greatly benefit both outbound and inbound tour operators , but it’s key to remember that success in the travel industry is not solely based on the quality of your product. Partnering with travel wholesalers can provide a valuable channel for reaching a wider audience and increasing bookings, but it’s important to strike the right balance between working with wholesalers and maintaining your own tourism profit margins .

These tips will help you develop relationships with the top businesses in the wholesale travel industry.

What is a tour wholesaler?

If you want to target wholesalers as a distribution partner, then you need to know exactly what they do within the travel industry.

The role of the wholesaler is unique, in the sense that they don’t work directly with travelers in the marketplace. Rather, a wholesaler will sell your tour products to retail travel agencies. In addition, they work with inbound tour operators to manage the specific details of itineraries. Essentially, B2B travel wholesalers help create all-inclusive packages for travelers to book. More and more travelers are now searching for comprehensive travel packages that include all of their experiences. By engaging with tour operators and travel wholesalers, it will be a valuable distribution channel for you to focus on.

9 tips for tour operators working with wholesalers

Here are nine tips for successfully working with B2B travel wholesalers.

Learn how tour wholesalers work

Learning how tour wholesalers work is crucial for tour operators who want to effectively partner with them and grow their business. Wholesalers act as intermediaries between tour operators and travel agents, and they often have established relationships with a wide network of agents who can help promote and sell the tours. By understanding how wholesalers operate, tour operators can better navigate the process of negotiating commission with travel agents and setting competitive pricing for their tours. 

Additionally, understanding how much travel agents make can help tour operators tailor their offerings to meet the needs and expectations of their target audience, ultimately leading to increased sales and a more profitable business.

Highlight the unique selling point of your tours

Wholesale tour operators are frequently searching for tours and activities that are both unique and authentic. These are the types of experiences that travelers are craving, and they want to be able to customize the itineraries. Not only that but having unique experiences will also be appealing to retail travel agents to better market the activity. According to Arival’s Path to Purchase September 2021 edition, the demand for unique experiences in 2021 has increased at drastic levels. More travelers are now searching for an experience that stands out and they’re willing to spend more for it.

When working with travel wholesalers, use online marketing techniques to showcase your products. Be sure to emphasize any value-added features that you include with the booking rate. Building unique experiences can be as simple as adding extra elements that your competitors might not do. For example, Offering lunch or dinner options along with a tour maybe that extra bit that will seal the deal.

Streamline your bookings online

Given the nature of their job, wholesalers will almost exclusively work with tour and activity operators who offer online booking. They are not going to have the time available to make phone calls or wait for e-mail responses. To attract the best wholesalers in the wholesale travel industry, you should implement an online booking system that simplifies the booking process. In addition, your online booking system should allow them to automatically earn their commission. This is, understandably, a priority of wholesalers.

For instance, an online booking software like Rezdy allows you to integrate and connect with multiple distribution agents. Once connected, they’ll be able to see live rates and real-time availability that allows them to book instantly. This removes the need to get in touch with you in order to process the booking. Once a booking has been processed, the commission rate you set will be automatically distributed to the agent. 

With a system like Rezdy in place, it’ll help both you and the wholesaler save time spent on processing orders. As a result, it will allow you to allocate your resources to more important areas of your business.

Set consistent rates for your tours

It’s imperative that you set consistent rates for your tours and activities, regardless of who is selling or booking them. For example, you can’t charge OTAs (online travel agents) one rate for your tours while switching up the prices on your website. When working with wholesalers, it is important to note that the commission rate may vary from one wholesaler to another. This may impact your profit margins, but it is beneficial to work with a diverse range of distribution agents.

Approach each tour wholesaler individually

Each wholesaler is different and the services they provide may vary from one wholesaler to another. As a tour operator, you’ll be working with multiple wholesalers located in different countries and regions that provide different services to different types of travel communities.

It’s important that you treat each wholesaler individually and build a personalized partnership. By doing so, it will help maximize your bookings and give you ideas for future marketing strategies. Consider incorporating a cloud based phone system into your operations to enhance your collaboration during the initial stages of your partnership. With this system, you can easily communicate and coordinate no matter where these wholesalers may be located. Features like call forwarding, voicemail, and conference calling enable seamless communication allowing for quick responses and effective coordination.

Meet your tour wholesaler face to face

Building a strong relationship with your tour wholesalers is crucial in ensuring you continue to have a smooth ongoing partnership. Being able to build trust and likeability with them allows for a more personalized venture that benefits both parties.

To communicate with your wholesaler via email gets the job done, however meeting them in person or over video -call will add that personal element. You will see that communication and negotiations will flow much easier once you have met them face-to-face.

Connect with your tour wholesaler on social media

Social media is currently one of the strongest platforms many businesses use to communicate with their customers and followers. In this day and age, many businesses – big or small – have a social media page that they will use to promote their business or provide updates.

You can use social media to your advantage by engaging with your tour wholesalers on multiple platforms. When you’re able to show support and promote your partners on social media by following, sharing, and engaging with them, they will likely return the favor. 

When other businesses promote you on their social media page, this will open you up to a pool of viewers that may not be aware of your business. Consider it as free publicity.

Treat your tour wholesalers like your business

When you apply to partner up with a travel wholesaler, it’s best to do some research about the company and approach them personally. Partnering with a travel wholesaler is more than just signing up to become one of their suppliers, you need to treat them as if they’re your own business. After all, they are providing you with another stream of income.

When working with a travel wholesaler, make sure you inform them of the latest updates, promotions, and opportunities. This will ensure that their staff is up to speed on the latest information that they then can share with their customers.

Keep track of your bookings

It’s important to be able to measure the success of the partnership between your business and the travel wholesaler. After all, you want to know what’s working and what’s not in order to cater to and strategize for the best possible outcomes. 

Keeping track of the bookings that come through from each distribution agent will allow you to have a better understanding of each market. This can then help you create marketing strategies catered towards these markets in order to boost your bookings.

Key takeaways

Working with travel wholesalers can be a valuable strategy for tour operators looking to grow their business and reach a wider audience. By understanding how wholesaler tour operators work, negotiating fair commission rates, and developing strong relationships with their partners, tour operators can successfully navigate the complex landscape of the travel industry and maximize their profitability. 

One effective tool for achieving just that is an online booking software like Rezdy, which streamlines the process of partnering with distribution agents, including wholesalers. Rezdy’s innovative channel manager platform ensures that all partners have access to your live rates and availability, making it easier to manage your distribution network and maximize your profitability.

If you’re interested in trying Rezdy for yourself, you can sign up for a FREE 21-day trial or request a free demo from our friendly team.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to subscribe to the Rezdy newsletter , where you’ll receive up-to-date learnings and news from the experiences industry straight into your inbox.

Start your free trial today

Enjoy 21 days to take a look around and see if we are a good fit for your business.

No obligations, no catches, no limits, nada

FastAdvices

The best adviser for everything

What is the difference between retail travel agencies and wholesale travel agencies?

Table of Contents

• 1 What is the difference between retail travel agencies and wholesale travel agencies?
• 2 What is wholesale travel?
• 3 What does a TMC do?
• 4 Who are travel wholesalers?
• 5 What do retail travel agents do?
• 6 What is the difference between retail and wholesale travel agents?
• 7 Which is an example of a wholesale price?

A wholesale travel agency purchases tourists’ product components in the bulk and designs tour packages. Wholesale travel agencies assemble package holidays and sell them to clients through retail travel agencies.

What is wholesale travel?

They are the people that offer travel-related products and services to travel agencies that sell those services to customers. In other words, travel wholesalers provide all details that go into organizing a trip. That includes a place to stay, a list of activities and tours, and find the best offers on the market.

What is a retail travel?

Travel Retail is the business mainly revolving around airports, airplanes, cruise ships, and downtown duty free stores.

What are the different types of travel agency?

There are four main types of travel agents in the travel and tourism industry: high street, business, callcentre and Internet.

What does a TMC do?

A travel management company (TMC) is a travel agency that provides extensive business travel support to organizations of all sizes. A TMC can simplify your workload, help you manage travel risks, reduce travel spend, serve your travelers, and provide integrated and centralized data reporting.

Who are travel wholesalers?

Wholesalers: Operators that package products together and sell it through retail travel agency outlets for agreed commission levels. These commissions are generally a minimum of 20%.

Who are the retail travel agents provide an example?

Travel Agents: Retail – An example of a retail travel agent would be Travelsupermarket. Retail travel agents like this advise people about different hotels, the weather and the currency exchange.

How does travel retail work?

“Travel retail” is a term that commonly refers to sales made in travel environments where customers require proof of travel to access the commercial area, but which are subject to taxes and duties. Duty free & travel retail generates vital revenues for national aviation, travel and tourism industries.

What do retail travel agents do?

Retail travel agents offer advice to the general public. They provide travellers with timetables and travel literature, compute fare costs and make reservations, and sell tours developed by the wholesale travel organisations.

What is the difference between retail and wholesale travel agents?

What’s the difference between retail and wholesale trade?

What’s the difference between a tour operator and a wholesaler?

Which is an example of a wholesale price?

Share this post

Privacy overview.

List of 18 Key Travel Agency Suppliers

What do we mean by travel agency suppliers?

Suppliers by type of agency, list of suppliers for travel agencies.

In a constantly evolving emerging industry, it is a good practice to periodically evaluate your agency’s suppliers. You can always make adjustments according to your criteria and market-facing strategy. Let’s analyze the requirements together, in the current market conditions.

Suppliers are defined as any entity that offers tourism or management products, i.e. that can be marketed, or used by travel agencies.

Examples include:

• Airlines 
• Hotels 
• Cruise companies 
• Car rental companies 
• Excursion providers 
• Travel insurance companies 
• Tour operators  
• Wholesale companies. 

It is also important to consider the software suppliers needed to promote, distribute and sell your tour packages.

Each type of agency has suppliers geared toward its target market. 

For retail travel agencies , their suppliers, in terms of products, will be mainly local wholesale agencies, located in their outbound market, that provide them with structured services. 

For wholesale travel agencies , dedicated to tour planning, their product suppliers will be destination tour operators, hotel chains and major outfitters, such as bed banks.

Which suppliers are used by a retail travel agency ?

In a market that requires an omnichannel presence, retail travel agencies must have suppliers dedicated to strengthening their outreach to the end customer with the best offers.

• Management tools : using travel agency software can reduce manual work, streamline administration and offer customers a more personalized experience. 
• CRM and Marketing Tools : a good CRM allows you to track the activity of your leads and customers and offer them the alternatives that best suit their preferences and needs. Marketing tools offer email marketing and enable actions to be automated to keep in close contact with travelers and retain their loyalty. 
• Integrations : connecting an agency’s systems with suppliers of flights, tours, hotels and activities will allow you to offer a better experience to your clients. You can see a list of examples of simple integration capabilities at the end of this article.
• Product suppliers: A selection of local or global wholesale agencies with tour planning and services in line with your agency’s business model.

Which suppliers are used by a wholesale travel agency?

Focusing on the organization of trips and tours and targeting the B2B business, wholesale agencies require suppliers that reinforce their outreach to other companies to achieve their objectives.

• Management systems to automate the processes and administration of the company. Managing and integrating suppliers is key to achieving this goal.
• Booking software to offer your agencies simple and streamlined access to your product portfolio. 
• CRM oriented toward market support and development. 
• Product suppliers : in this case these will be the hotels and chains directly or through Channel Managers, Tour Operators, bed banks, destinations and all the providers involved in running a tour.

Although it is impossible to make a list including all the options, the lists of exhibitors at the major travel fairs are an excellent source of contacts and supplier data. 

Suppliers aimed at wholesale agencies:

• Juniper or Travelgatex : These are tools that offer different modules depending on the scope of the company. They are designed to consolidate the sales flow, operation and supplier integration in a single platform. They also enable access to customers so that they can carry out their transactions. In this field we can also include Price Surfer and Booking Motor.
• Hotelbeds: the world’s largest bed bank following the acquisition of Tourico and GTA in 2017, Hotelbeds offers global coverage in its hotel and service offerings, and is easily integrated into your company’s internal systems.
• Omnibees: offering a solution that provides access to more than 5,000 hotels in Brazil and Latin America, it also allows you to negotiate direct agreements and simplifies international distribution .
• Trivago: a leading metasearch engine with global reach. Through FastConnect it streamlines distribution and allows customers to access your products as they search. 

Suppliers aimed at retail agencies:

In this day and age, it is more important than ever to place market staying power as a valuable asset when choosing a wholesaler for our passengers. Here are some examples:

• Bedsonline : a global supplier of the Hotelbeds group. It distributes services, hotels and car rentals worldwide.
• Fuerza Delta , in Colombia, is the wholesaler of Viajes Chapinero , a pioneer in the market with more than 40 years of experience.
• Cielos Abiertos , a wholesaler that is part of the Aviatur group, offers hotels and international services to all agencies in Colombia.
• Mega Travel is one of the leading companies in the Mexican market. Its strength is its wide range of products in the five major continents.
• OPESA is a company with several years of experience in the Mexican market. Through VIP access, agents can receive special training and other benefits.
• SALMOR , in Ecuador, has been offering products to travel agencies for more than 30 years. They are representatives of WDW and several cruise companies.

Suppliers aimed at both wholesale and retail travel agencies

The difference lies in the commissions and the level of connectivity.

• Expedia Travel Group : Founded in 1996, it shares 95% of the world market with Booking. 

Through EPS (Expedia Partner Solutions) it offers solutions to the industry, from integrations, to 100% customizable landing pages, to affiliations so that agencies can offer flights, hotels, cars and activities in exchange for a commission.

• Booking.com : A member of Booking Travel Holdings, Booking revolutionized the industry with its pay-at-destination model.  

It offers an affiliate program with access to its hotels, tours and services, along with various tools geared toward travel agencies.

• Best Day : Mexico’s largest travel agency. Acquired in 2020 by Despegar.com, it specializes in hotels and services in Latin America, through its wholesaler, Hoteldo.com .
• Civitatis : provides a wide range of tours and experiences around the world. You can access its affiliate program that allows you to earn commissions on sales.
• Grayline : with over 100 years of experience and 700 destinations worldwide, Grayline is a pioneer in transfers and city tours. It currently offers an extensive range of excursions and it is possible to become an affiliate , as well as to integrate its content.
• Ofran : founded in Israel, this company provides car rental solutions in more than 50 destinations around the world. You can integrate their product into your travel agency’s product range, or use their affiliate program and earn commissions on sales.

The options are endless. The important thing is that you can choose your suppliers by paying special attention to those that suit your company’s strategy.

• Hubspot : This is a global CRM tool that allows you to manage your contact and customer information, manage your sales actions and track the work of the different teams in your company. 
• CRM Travel : This system is specially designed for the travel industry, so it has specific adaptations related to the sector.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Yay you are now subscribed to our newsletter.

Cristóbal Reali, VP of Global Sales at Mize, with over 20 years of experience, has led high-performance teams in major companies in the tourism industry, as well as in the public sector. He has successfully undertaken ventures, including a DMO and technology transformation consulting. In his role at Mize, he stands out not only for his analytical and strategic ability but also for effective leadership. He speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. He holds a degree in Economics from UBA, complementing his professional training at Harvard Business School Online.

Mize is the leading hotel booking optimization solution in the world. With over 170 partners using our fintech products, Mize creates new extra profit for the hotel booking industry using its fully automated proprietary technology and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue across its suite of products for its partners. Mize was founded in 2016 with its headquarters in Tel Aviv and offices worldwide.

Related Posts

List of 32 travel agency management groups

6 min. Whether you are thinking of moving into the travel industry or you already own a business in this sector, the concept of travel agency management groups is a task worthy of analysis and study. Defining an effective business model for your retail travel agency is one of the key factors in optimizing sales […]

Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Benefits of a Travel Management Company

12 min. Managing and operating modern businesses often encompasses corporate travel. However, managing business travel is complex, especially with limited experience and resources. You must ensure that everything goes smoothly for the travelers while staying on top of the logistics and expenses. That’s why many organizations decide to outsource their travel management to a dependable […]

The Essentials About the Inventory System Used by Travel Agencies

11 min. While travel agencies have to overcome many challenges to remain competitive, there is one challenge in particular that all agencies need to overcome despite their size or target market. They need to excel as intermediaries between tour operators or travel product suppliers and consumers or travelers. The real question is, how do they […]

Distributing and Promoting Products and Services

Wholesaling.

• What is wholesaling, and what are the types of wholesalers?

Wholesalers are channel members that buy finished products from manufacturers and sell them to retailers. Retailers in turn sell the products to consumers.

Wholesalers also sell products to institutions, such as manufacturers, schools, and hospitals, for use in performing their own missions. A manufacturer, for instance, might buy computer paper from Nationwide Papers, a wholesaler. A hospital might buy its cleaning supplies from Lagasse Brothers, one of the nation’s largest wholesalers of janitorial supplies.

Sometimes wholesalers sell products to manufacturers for use in the manufacturing process. A builder of custom boats, for instance, might buy batteries from a battery wholesaler and switches from an electrical wholesaler. Some wholesalers even sell to other wholesalers, creating yet another stage in the distribution channel.

Types of Wholesaler Intermediaries

The two main types of wholesalers are merchant wholesalers and agents and brokers. Merchant wholesalers take title to the product (ownership rights); agents and brokers simply facilitate the sale of a product from producer to end user.

Merchant Wholesalers

Merchant wholesalers make up 80 percent of all wholesaling establishments and conduct slightly less than 60 percent of all wholesale sales. A merchant wholesaler is an institution that buys goods from manufacturers and resells them to businesses, government agencies, other wholesalers, or retailers. All merchant wholesalers take title to the goods they sell.

Agents and Brokers

As mentioned earlier, agents represent manufacturers and wholesalers. Manufacturers’ representatives (also called manufacturers’ agents ) represent noncompeting manufacturers. These salespeople function as independent agents rather than as salaried employees of manufacturers. They do not take title to or possession of merchandise. They get commissions if they make sales—and nothing if they don’t. They are found in a variety of industries, including electronics, clothing, hardware, furniture, and toys.

Exhibit 12.5  If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, then women can find plenty of friends at Sam’s and Costco. The two leading membership warehouse chains recently entered the luxury market, offering expensive diamond rings at steeply discounted prices. At Sam’s, a 3.74-carat pink diamond pendant was reportedly priced 25 percent below its $750,000 valuation. At Costco, a 5.6-carat yellow-diamond ring valued at $280,000 listed for $99,999. Why do cash-and-carry wholesalers offer jewelry for considerably lower prices than those offered by high-end retailers such as Tiffany and Neiman Marcus? (Credit: Phillip Pressard/ Flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))

Brokers bring buyers and sellers together. Like agents, brokers do not take title to merchandise, they receive commissions on sales, and they have little say over company sales policies. They are found in markets where the information that would join buyers and sellers is scarce. These markets include real estate, agriculture, insurance, and commodities.

concept check

• Define wholesaling, and describe what wholesalers do.
• Describe merchant wholesalers.
• Explain the difference between agents and brokers.

Summary of Learning Outcomes

Wholesalers typically sell finished products to retailers and to other institutions, such as manufacturers, schools, and hospitals. The two main types of wholesalers are merchant wholesalers and agents and brokers. Merchant wholesalers buy from manufacturers and sell to other businesses. Agents and brokers are essentially independents who provide buying and selling services. They receive commissions according to their sales and don’t take title (ownership) of the merchandise.

• Intro to Business. Authored by : Gitman, et. al. Provided by : OpenStax. Located at : http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected] . License : CC BY: Attribution . License Terms : Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]

Privacy Policy

• More from M-W
• To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Definition of wholesale

 (Entry 1 of 4)

Definition of wholesale  (Entry 2 of 4)

Definition of wholesale  (Entry 3 of 4)

Definition of wholesale  (Entry 4 of 4)

transitive verb

intransitive verb

Examples of wholesale in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wholesale.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

15th century, in the meaning defined above

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 2

1696, in the meaning defined above

1792, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Dictionary Entries Near wholesale

wholesale life insurance

Cite this Entry

“Wholesale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wholesale. Accessed 11 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of wholesale.

 (Entry 1 of 3)

Kids Definition of wholesale  (Entry 2 of 3)

Kids Definition of wholesale  (Entry 3 of 3)

More from Merriam-Webster on wholesale

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for wholesale

Nglish: Translation of wholesale for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of wholesale for Arabic Speakers

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Your vs. you're: how to use them correctly, every letter is silent, sometimes: a-z list of examples, more commonly mispronounced words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), absent letters that are heard anyway, popular in wordplay, 12 bird names that sound like compliments, 10 scrabble words without any vowels, 12 more bird names that sound like insults (and sometimes are), 8 uncommon words related to love, 9 superb owl words, games & quizzes.

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

CLICK HERE to get access to our exclusive FREE printables library!

How Does She

Women. Sharing. Ideas.

Best-Kept Secret: Using Wholesale Travel To See the World and Make Amazing Memories

March 13, 2019 by Andrea 2 Comments

Do you remember your family vacations as a kid?

I do. I remember our first family trip to the beach.

I remember piling into the mini van with way too many passengers and way too much stuff, pool noodles swinging across the back seat and hitting me in the head as we went over each bump in the road.

We stopped at Waffle House after driving all night long and I thought it was the best restaurant in the world. When we pulled up to the beach after 18 hours in the car, waves crashing into the shore, I thought it was paradise.

I remember the smell of the salt water, crab dinners with the family on the balcony and sand in our hair for days.

My parents didn’t have a lot of money, but they always made family vacation a priority. Any money they spent on vacation was completely worth it. I’m so grateful they did because those memories have stuck with me forever. And now, I get to create them with my own family

The Best-Kept Secret in Travel

We all dream of traveling more; of visiting places on our bucket lists and creating fun memories with our families. But travel gets expensive, especially when you bring the whole family along. Did you know the travel industry has a big secret they’ve been keeping for a long time? It’s called wholesale travel and until now, the general public has never had access to it.

When you search for hotels, cruises, and resorts on discount sites like Travelocity and Expedia, you’re  not actually getting the lowest price like you think you are. These sites have picked up all their deals from the wholesale travel market and then marked them up to make a profit.

Understandable, but how cool would it be to just get the wholesale price yourself? Well, guess what? Now you can!

It’s called a wholesale travel club and it allows you to gain access to all of the wholesale prices that Expedia and Travelocity do. But now YOU get the bottom line price, and not a middle man.

It’s super cool and helps you save tons of money on rental cars, hotels, cruises, vacation packages, excursions, and flights. Here’s how it works.

How Wholesale Travel Works

Have you ever wondered why hotels and flights that aren’t full don’t just drastically drop their price to fill them? Well, the truth is, they do. We just don’t see them.

When hotels have empty rooms they want to fill, they sell those rooms in something called the wholesale market.  This is a secret little nook in the travel industry where you can save tons of money on everything travel-related: cruises, rental cars, hotels, travel packages, flights, and more.

So why can’t everyone see these prices? The general public doesn’t have access to this wholesale market. In order to access them, you have to join what’s called a wholesale travel club . Think of it like a Costco membership or a Netflix subscription. To access those amazing chocolate coconut almonds or the hottest shows on TV, you have to be a member of have a subscription.

2 Ways To Access Wholesale Travel

A wholesale travel membership acts as much like booking sites you’re already using (Kayak, Expedia, etc.), but it grants you access to wholesale travel. These are the bottom-line prices. NO MARK-UP.

You log on, search for wholesale travel deals, and can even compare the prices to other popular booking sites in real-time. They have over 400,000 hotels, flights, rental cars, cruises and activities in their system (which, by the way, is growing daily).

There are two easy ways you can access this wholesale travel site:

1. Sign up for a membership:   This works similar to Costco or Netflix. To get full access to 100% of the wholesale travel savings, you’ll want to sign up for a membership (choose the first option in purple). There’s a one-time fee of $50 (yep, just one time) and then it’s only $25 per month, just like a subscription. You guys…that is a STEAL for the savings you will get! It’s a serious no-brainer. You can save up to 70% off of popular destinations worldwide, even Disney Resorts and 5-star hotels. Plus, you  can rack up travel rewards credit and earn FREE travel. The membership is completely worth it and will pay itself off with your first trip.

2. Get a free Buddy Pass : This is a totally free and no-risk way to try out wholesale travel. You create an account , access the site, and start searching for deals. The Buddy Pass is good for 6 months and you are able to book any and all travel you want during that time. The catch is that with a Buddy Pass, you only get half of the savings that members get. Still a great deal. Still better than other discount sites, so still awesome. And if you want to upgrade to get the full savings, you can do that at any time. Also to note: Buddy Pass members don’t have access to cruises and flights, whereas full membership does.

Examples of Savings

When we heard about the wholesale travel club, we knew we had to test it out extensively before we told you about it. (Which meant lots of travel, so don’t feel too sorry for us.) It’s crazy how much our team has saved on travel. Shelley booked the Ritz in Maui and saved $600 on her trip. That more than payed for her membership in one trip! Missy scored a 4-star hotel in Sedona, Arizona for spring break and saved $300.

One of our team members had already booked a trip to Hawaii before we’d heard of wholesale travel. She looked up her hotel (which she had already paid for through another booking site) and realized she would have saved $500 by booking through the wholesale travel club. $500!  In one trip, she would have paid for a year’s membership! The savings are real and they add up. All of our experiences with our wholesale bookings have been positive.

And if for some reason you find the same hotel cheaper elsewhere, you are credited back 110% of the difference. No questions asked. That’s pretty cool.

Sign Up Now

So start saving money on travel now!

Get ALL the savings here with a wholesale travel membership .

Try out the Buddy Pass for free and get access to half of the savings .

Either way, it’s a great decision. A win-win.

Start making your dreams of travel a reality. Get out there and start crossing off your bucket list. Explore new places, show your kids the wonders of the world, or just relax on a beach. We can’t wait to see where you go! Oh, and if you want to be the first to know about the latest travel deals, tips, and secrets, join our HowDoesShe Travel Group .

About Andrea

Andrea is mom to 6 blonde haired, blue-eyed babies and hundreds of cattle. City girl turned wife to a cattle rancher in the boonies, she’s slowly trying to prove herself as a pioneer woman. She enjoys reading, traveling (rather, dreaming of traveling), and legitimately wishes she were in the cast of the TV show ”Friday Night Lights.”

Reader Interactions

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

March 14, 2019 at 10:49 am

I looked at the full membership package that you indicated was just $100 for sign-up and $30/a month thereafter (stating it was the purple option). However, when I clicked on the link you provided, there are only 3 options (none of them purple) with the cheapest option being $400 for sign-up and $40/a month. Am I missing something?

Michael says

March 24, 2019 at 8:28 pm

Not bad, but there are wholesale travel sites out there that cost nothing to join.

• Giving Back
• Exclusive Free Printables

BREAKING: Kansas City Chiefs’ Rashee Rice turns himself in on an arrest warrant in Dallas following a high-speed car crash

Solar eclipse 2024: Photos from the path of totality and elsewhere in the U.S.

Images show the Great American Eclipse, seen by tens of millions of people in parts of Mexico, 15 U.S. states and eastern Canada for the first time since 2017.

Millions gathered across North America on Monday to bask in the glory of the Great American Eclipse — the moment when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun. 

The path of totality measures more than 100 miles wide and will first be visible on Mexico’s Pacific coast before moving northeast through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and upward toward New York, New Hampshire and Maine, then on to Canada.

Total solar eclipse 2024 highlights: Live coverage, videos and more

During the cosmic spectacle, the moon’s movements will temporarily block the sun’s light, creating minutes of darkness, and will make the sun's outer atmosphere, or the corona, visible as a glowing halo.

Here are moments of the celestial activities across the country:

Breaking News Reporter

Elise Wrabetz is a Senior Photo Editor for NBC News digital

Chelsea Stahl is the art director for NBC News Digital

Wholesale Inventories Rose 0.5% in February, Matching Economists’ Expectations

U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.5% in February compared with January.

When compared with February 2023, these total inventories declined 1.5%, the  U.S. Census Bureau  said in a Wednesday (April 10)  press release .

The monthly rise in wholesale inventories was expected by economists polled by Reuters, the media outlet  reported  Wednesday.

The rebound in these inventories — which fell 0.2% in January — suggests that these wholesalers’ stocks could contribute to economic growth this quarter, according to the report.

Wholesale inventories totaled $901.1 billion at the end of February, according to the Census Bureau press release. That figure includes total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, with adjustments for seasonal variations and trading day differences.

From January to February, durable goods inventories rose 1%, the release said. Among the categories contributing to that gain were machinery, up 2.1%, and lumber, up 1%. Those categories led the way, while the rest of the durable goods categories defined by the Census Bureau also rose, but by smaller percentages.

During the same period, nondurable goods inventories declined 0.3%, per the release. The month’s biggest drops were seen in farm products, down 3.9%, and petroleum, down 3.6%. Four of the nine categories of nondurable goods went against this trend, with inventories of drugs, apparel, chemicals and alcohol recording gains during the month.

The  Commerce Department  reported Feb. 28 that the  economy grew at a 3.2% annualized pace in the fourth quarter, down from an initial estimate of 3.3%.

The agency’s newest calculation reflected a deceleration from the 4.9% pace that had been seen in the third quarter, PYMNTS reported at the time.

On March 29, the Census Bureau reported that  retail inventories  increased to $808.8 billion in February, a figure that was 0.5% higher than January and 5.6% higher than February 2023. That figure is adjusted for seasonal variations and trading day differences, but not for price changes.

Retailers are reportedly embracing “just-in-time” inventory management once more after years of excess stock. Having sold off the goods that collected in stores and warehouses since 2022, merchants have shifted their focus to restocking instead of holding onto product in case of supply chain issues, the so-called “just-in-case” strategy.

Recommended

Trending news, the big story, featured news, partner with pymnts.

We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.

What is the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse?

It almost time! Millions of Americans across the country Monday are preparing to witness the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse as it passes over portions of Mexico, the United States and Canada.

It's a sight to behold and people have now long been eagerly awaiting what will be their only chance until 2044 to witness totality, whereby the moon will completely block the sun's disc, ushering in uncharacteristic darkness.

That being said, many are curious on what makes the solar eclipse special and how is it different from a lunar eclipse.

The total solar eclipse is today: Get the latest forecast and everything you need to know

What is an eclipse?

An eclipse occurs when any celestial object like a moon or a planet passes between two other bodies, obscuring the view of objects like the sun, according to NASA .

What is a solar eclipse?

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes in between the Earth and the sun, blocking its light from reaching our planet, leading to a period of darkness lasting several minutes. The resulting "totality," whereby observers can see the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere, known as the corona, presents a spectacular sight for viewers and confuses animals – causing nocturnal creatures to stir and bird and insects to fall silent.

Partial eclipses, when some part of the sun remains visible, are the most common, making total eclipses a rare sight.

What is a lunar eclipse?

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon and the sun are on exact opposite sides of Earth. When this happens, Earth blocks the sunlight that normally reaches the moon. Instead of that sunlight hitting the moon’s surface, Earth's shadow falls on it.

Lunar eclipses are often also referred to the "blood moon" because when the Earth's shadow covers the moon, it often produces a red color. The coloration happens because a bit of reddish sunlight still reaches the moon's surface, even though it's in Earth's shadow.

Difference between lunar eclipse and solar eclipse

The major difference between the two eclipses is in the positioning of the sun, the moon and the Earth and the longevity of the phenomenon, according to NASA.

A lunar eclipse can last for a few hours, while a solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes. Solar eclipses also rarely occur, while lunar eclipses are comparatively more frequent. While at least two partial lunar eclipses happen every year, total lunar eclipses are still rare, says NASA.

Another major difference between the two is that for lunar eclipses, no special glasses or gizmos are needed to view the spectacle and one can directly stare at the moon. However, for solar eclipses, it is pertinent to wear proper viewing glasses and take the necessary safety precautions because the powerful rays of the sun can burn and damage your retinas.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, Doyle Rice, USA TODAY