Scott Austin had been with his host agency for only six months when things started to go wrong. A former hospital CFO, he signed up with Pinnacle Travel in 2022, and immediately immersed himself in learning about the industry first-hand. He traveled extensively with Pinnacle owner Annaliza Proctor to places like Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, and quickly came to consider her a “very, very good friend.”
When his first commission check failed to appear, he let it be. The second time, though, he called the supplier—and was told they had sent the money to Pinnacle 45 days earlier.
He wasted no time in moving on. “I was the first agent to leave Pinnacle because of this,” he told TRO. “It was a big shock to everyone because Annaliza and I were very good friends and traveled everywhere together—but there were clear indicators that there were bigger problems going on.”
As it turns out, he was right. In early December, the first travel advisor hosted by Pinnacle filed a lawsuit in small claims court in Hamilton County, Indiana, asking to be reimbursed close to $3,500 in commissions owed to her and monies paid for a fam trip.
A full-time teacher hoping to build a business as a travel advisor for her retirement, Andrea Perrin signed up with Pinnacle on June 1. She booked several trips for clients in June, July and August, but when no commission check showed up, “I didn’t quite know what was going on and I was just waiting to hear from her.” Then, in October, she got an email that Pinnacle was no longer a hosting agency, effective immediately.
Soon Perrin was talking with a dozen Pinnacle independent contractors, and they realized they were owed more than $40,000 in commission payments. Perrin is leading the way to court, figuring out how to navigate the small claims system.
“I literally recorded the steps to locating and e-filing the correct forms to share with the other agents since they all plan to file their own claims,” she says—including scheduling a Zoom appearance so she doesn’t have to make the four-hour trip to the courthouse. Being the first to file gave her the advantage of surprise; the sheriff served the papers to Proctor’s home on the first try.
So far, the whole process has cost her just $97.
The group of former Pinnacle agents has three goals, she says, “to try to figure out how to get the money we are owed, to support each other, and to stop Annaliza from doing this to anybody else. I am thankful every day for the group of agents that I have become close with throughout this process.”
Here’s her advice to other agents looking for a host: Check with IATA and CLIA (and any other places with which the host is affiliated) to make sure it is truly registered. Google the company and read all the reviews. Join several travel Facebook groups and ask other travel advisors for their experiences. Read the contract you sign carefully. As soon as something might seem amiss, question the host agency, and keep questioning until the situation is corrected.
At Across the Horizon Travel, meanwhile, Amanda Hietter figures she’s out about $3,000 in back commissions, and now has no way to collect on multiple clients who have traveled recently and multiple bookings for 2024.
She and Proctor were travel advisors at the same host in 2021, and when Pinnacle Travel launched she was the first to sign up. Now, she hasn’t gotten a commission check since August. She contacted the suppliers directly, and Sandals let her move her bookings to her new host. But ALG and Norwegian Cruise Line have refused, because Proctor still has a valid IATA number.
Berlinda Bowdwin is also headed to court. A registered nurse trying to build a retirement business, she was a top producer at Pinnacle, selling $500,000 in travel working part-time in her first year. “I’m 58 years old, so my goal was to build my business and become independent of nursing in four years,” she says. “Annalisa didn’t mess with my money that first year, but around the beginning of this year I started to notice some gaps in my commissions.”
IATA says it cannot move Bowdwin’s bookings to a new host as long as Proctor’s IATA number is active. So she and 15 other travel advisors have sent demand letters through certified mail.
While she is prepared to just forget the whole thing and move on, she is not sure the travel industry is for her, “for the agents for whom this is their bread and butter, it’s just not right. And my goal is for her not to be able to be a host any more and do this to people.”
Back at Show Me State Travel in Joplin, Missouri, meanwhile, Scott Austin can’t get over how very sad a story this is.
He’s happy with his new host, 1000 Mile Travel Group, the leisure division of Corporate Travel Management, where he is a sub-agent for David Petlin at Flair Travel. This time, “I really did my due diligence to make sure they had an accounting team in place, and I had multiple phone calls with travel advisors who had been paid on time and received monthly reporting,” he says. “It’s been 100% a perfect fit. They have about 500 independent contractors, and I never ever have to worry about getting my check.”
For anyone looking for a host or in a bad situation, “make sure you do your due diligence and know what’s best for you—whether you need marketing or a good accounting system or training or leads so you can build your book of business, he says. “Sit down and really ask yourself some tough questions about where you want your business to go and what you need to make yourself successful.”
And if your host misses a single payment, don’t hesitate. “There is no possible explanation; there’s no reason you do not get paid, not ever,” he says. “It’s your income, your livelihood. Move on.”
Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.
