group-vs-fit-trip-operations

name	group-vs-fit-trip-operations
description	Decide and run group vs FIT trips: FIT (individual custom) flexibility vs group-block economics (room block, deposit, cutoff date, attrition, tour-conductor benefit). Build the block before you sell against it, and manage the deposit/cutoff/attrition liabilities. Contract terms are verify-at-use per supplier.

Group vs FIT Trip Operations

FIT (individual, custom) and group (a contracted block) are different economic instruments with different risk. Choose deliberately, then operate the one you chose.

The loop

1. Classify the trip. Party size, price sensitivity, need for shared inclusions, and flexibility drive FIT vs group — traverse the group-vs-FIT tree in ../../knowledge/travel-agency-decision-trees.md.
2. FIT path — flexibility over leverage. Book each element individually; each carries its own penalty schedule (see ../itinerary-design-and-quoting/SKILL.md). Best when travelers want custom pacing and there's no block economics to capture.
3. Group path — build the block first. Contract the room/seat block: deposit, cutoff date (when unsold rooms release), and attrition (the % you owe even if unsold). Understand the tour-conductor (TC) / comp benefit (e.g. one comp per N paid — [verify-at-use]). Build and hold the block before selling against it (§ best practice below).
4. Manage the liabilities. Track pickup vs the block, watch the cutoff, and reduce attrition exposure before the penalty date. Group payment cadence differs from FIT — deposits and name lists on a schedule.

Metrics

Metric	Reads	Note
Block pickup rate	rooms sold / rooms blocked	Low near cutoff -> attrition risk
Attrition exposure	unsold block × attrition penalty	The liability to manage down
TC / comp earned	comps earned vs threshold	A group's margin sweetener
Group deposit adherence	on-schedule deposits collected	Protects against traveler melt

Anti-patterns

• Selling a group before the block is contracted (overselling or attrition surprise).
• Ignoring the cutoff date until it passes.
• Running a group as N separate FIT bookings and losing the block benefit.

See also

• ../itinerary-design-and-quoting/SKILL.md, ../service-recovery-and-disruption/SKILL.md.
• Best practice: ../../best-practices/build-the-group-block-before-you-sell-it.md.