I see this constantly: someone gets excited about becoming a group travel coordinator, sources a great trip, and then prices it by just adding a flat "$50 fee" per person on top of cost.

That's backwards, and it's why so many first trips barely break even.

Here's the fix — price as a percentage markup on total trip cost, not a flat fee:

• 10-15% markup for larger groups (10+ people) where volume makes up for lower margin per person

• 15-20% markup for standard groups (6-10 people) — this is the sweet spot for most first-time coordinators

• 20-25%+ markup for small, high-touch groups (under 6 people) where you're doing more relationship management per person

A flat fee doesn't scale with your effort or the trip's value. A $3,000/person luxury trip and a $600/person budget trip take wildly different amounts of coordination work and risk — your pricing should reflect that, not charge them the same $50.

Quick gut-check before you send any group trip pricing: does your markup cover (1) the hours you'll spend coordinating, (2) a buffer for last-minute changes/cancellations, and (3) actual profit — not just break-even? If not, rework the number before you pitch it.

Happy to break down a specific trip's pricing in the comments if you're working on your first one right now.