Concierge Membership or Pay Per Request?
Membership makes sense above roughly 15 to 25 substantial requests a year. Below that, paying per request is usually cheaper. The exact crossover depends on your provider's hourly rate, but the shape of the answer is stable: memberships reward volume, and most people overestimate their own.
How the two models actually differ
A membership buys standing capacity: someone is retained for you whether you call or not. Pay-per-request buys work: you are billed for time spent, typically at $200 to $500 per hour for specialist work.
The difference is not service level. It is who carries the risk of a quiet quarter — you, or the provider.
Where is the break-even?
Take a mid-tier membership at €3,000 per month, so €36,000 a year, against pay-per-request at $300 per hour. Assume a substantial request — sourcing, comparing, booking and managing changes — takes about four hours of someone's time.
| Requests per year | Hours at 4 each | Pay per request | vs €36,000 membership |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 20 | $6,000 | Pay per request wins clearly |
| 10 | 40 | $12,000 | Pay per request wins |
| 20 | 80 | $24,000 | Pay per request still ahead |
| 30 | 120 | $36,000 | Level |
| 50 | 200 | $60,000 | Membership wins clearly |
How this was calculated. Membership figure at the midpoint of the published mid-tier band (€2,000–5,000/month); hourly rate at the midpoint of the published specialist band ($200–500/hour), both consulted 1 September 2026 from the sources cited in what a concierge costs. Four hours per substantial request is our own working assumption, not a published figure — a simple restaurant booking is well under an hour, a multi-city trip is well over. Adjust the hours and the crossover moves accordingly.
On these assumptions the crossover is near 30 requests a year — roughly one every twelve days. Fewer requests but larger ones shifts it down; a lower membership tier shifts it down sharply.
What the arithmetic leaves out
Two things, and they both favour membership.
- Continuity. A retained manager stops needing to be briefed. By the tenth request they know which airline you avoid and which hotel floor you want. Pay-per-request usually restarts that each time.
- Priority when it is scarce. On a night when a venue has one table left, members are called first. That is not a service level you can buy per request, at any hourly rate.
Against that, one thing favours pay-per-request and is rarely mentioned: you only pay when you get value. A membership through a quiet year is a pure loss, and quiet years happen.
When neither model fits
If your requests cluster — nothing for eight months, then an intense fortnight around an event or a move — both models are poor. A membership sits idle; hourly billing spikes exactly when you are least able to supervise it. A project fee for the defined piece of work is usually the right structure, and any provider worth using will quote one.
The question that decides it
Not "how much do I travel" but how many times last year did I want someone to handle something and did it myself instead? That number, not your aspiration, is your request volume. Most people find it is lower than expected — which is why the honest answer for a first-time buyer is usually to start per request and convert once the pattern is real.
Note that commission changes this comparison in ways the table cannot show, because it sits inside the prices you pay under either model. See how concierge commission works.
Common questions
Can you switch from pay per request to membership later?
Usually yes, and some providers credit part of what you have already spent against the initiation fee. Ask before you start paying hourly, because the credit is far easier to negotiate at the outset than after the fact.
Do pay-per-request clients get worse service?
They should not, but they do get lower priority when capacity is scarce. On an ordinary Tuesday the difference is invisible. On a Saturday in high season with one table left, it is decisive.
Is there a minimum for pay per request?
Many providers set one, often a few hours, to make small jobs worth taking on. Confirm it before sending a request that might take twenty minutes, or you will pay for three hours of it.
What counts as one request?
This varies enough to be worth pinning down. Some providers count a multi-leg trip as one request; others bill each hotel, each transfer and each reservation separately. Get the definition in writing, since it changes the arithmetic above completely.
Working out which fits you
Count the requests you would genuinely have made last year, then apply the table above. If you land under twenty, start per request. If you are over thirty and rising, a membership will be cheaper and better. Tell us what a typical quarter looks like and we will tell you honestly which side of the line you are on — including when the answer is that you do not need us yet.