A travel agent books travel for customers and is
paid by suppliers a commission on the booking. For things that
suppliers do not pay a commission on, a travel agent also can
charge the client a service fee for his/her time. An example is
if you were to book a hotel for a client, the hotel would then
send a check to the agency after the client checked out. Most
hotels pay 10% of the price of the hotel before taxes and fees.
A $100 per night hotel reservation would mean $10 a night for
the travel agent who made the booking. This hotel would cost
the same whether the customer uses a travel agent or books
through the hotel directly. In many cases the travel agent can
get a better price. It costs the customer nothing to use the
travel agent unless the travel agent charges service fees.
Can
anyone do this? In order to work with suppliers, you must have
an account set up with the supplier. Most require an agency to
hold an IATAN, CLIA or ARC number. IATAN stands for
International Airlines Travel Agent Network. CLIA stands for
Cruise Lines International Association. ARC stands for Airline
Reporting Corporation. Each of these memberships requires
different things including sales, money in the bank, experience
or training in the industry, and membership fees. Many will
require Errors and Omissions insurance of $1,000,000 or more.
For the average travel agent, membership is not a possibility
with some organizations so the agent will team up with an agency
and work as an independent agent or outside agent. There are
also advantages of working with an agency because most travel
agents cannot make enough in sales with a particular supplier to
obtain higher commission levels and bonuses. Working with an
agency with many agents can increase the commission percentages
the agent gets because of the joint sales of all the agents at
the agency. Support is also a very important aspect of being a
successful agent. Agents who do not work with others tend to
feel more isolated and have to learn to do it all solo. Since
no agent can have the experience of being everywhere in the
world or staying at every hotel or resort, having others that
you can get advice from is really helpful.
The future of travel agencies is always questioned. The truth is
the industry has changed in many ways. Some changes were for the
better, some for the worse. Many airlines have cut commissions
for travel agents. However, there are many other suppliers who
are paying
travel agents more than they were ten years ago. Cruises used to
be booked by only the rich and now people in every income book
cruises. Each year more and more people go on cruises. Most
people say they want to go on a cruise at least once and many
who go on their first come home to want to book another.
You can earn commission on many travel reservations.
Hotels
Rental Cars
Tour Packages
Cruises
Some airline tickets
International airline tickets
Travel insurance
Ground transportation including limos
Attraction tickets
Train tickets
People all need travel arrangements at some point in time.
Those who take road trips need hotel reservations. Those who
need to travel for business need airline tickets, rental cars,
and hotel reservations. Families want to experience vacations
with their loved ones. People visit family and relatives. Most
people who win money say they are going to spend it to take a
nice vacation. Newly married couples go on honeymoons. You are
not selling something that is hard to sell. People contact you
for help, you are not calling them or approaching them trying to
sell them something they don’t want. Educating the public is the
main thing any travel agent must do. Most people put travel
agents into the same category as real estate agents. They
believe it costs additional to use a travel agent. This is
untrue. In many cases a travel agent can get a better price
than the general public through the suppliers who work only with
travel agents. Many people do not know all the options for
booking a vacation. A good travel agent does. Once people are
educated on how a travel agent gets paid, they are more willing
to work with travel agents. If a person knows that if he or she
let you book a hotel and it will cost the same price regardless,
she or he will work with you. It is important to let people
know how you can help them save time and money on their travel
arrangements.
So how do you get into the industry? Many people think they
must go to school or become certified. This is not true. You
can get into the industry and begin training. I don’t recommend
anyone spend thousands on a travel school until he or she knows
this is a career that he or she will really want to pursue. The
truth is you do not have to spend thousands to get trained.
There are many courses free to travel agents from suppliers.
There are also organizations such as ICTA (Institute of
Certified Travel Agents) who offer courses as you get more years
experience in the industry. CLIA also offers courses. There are
some agencies that will offer training. Even if you decide this
is a career you would like to pursue, you do not need to spend
thousands to become an educated and competent travel agent.
There are many courses you can take with suppliers and
organizations to get a better education in travel. I truly
believe a hands’ on approach is the best way to become a better
travel agent. Learning to work with suppliers and how to find
the information your clients need is an important part of
becoming a good travel agent.
How can you find an agency to work with? There are a few
organizations dedicated to independent travel agents. NACTA and
OSSN are the top organizations. NACTA stands for National
Association of Commissioned Travel Agents. OSSN stands for
Outside Sales Support Network. You can also search online for
home-based travel agent programs. I would never recommend
anyone spending a lot of money to start this business. It is
key to first try and see if it is something you would really
want to do and get training before you invest too much money
into it. Get involved in the industry first and see if it is
really a career that is best for you.
For more information, you can visit:
www.nacta.com
www.ossn.com
www.hometravelagency.com
www.homebasedtravelagent.com
I also have an ebook and website on this topic available. You
can get more details at
www.travelathome.com/ebook
Books I recommend are:
Jennifer Dugan
Bizy Guide To Operating A Home Travel Agency
Kelly Monaghan
How to Choose a Host Agency and Home-Based Travel Agent
www.hometravelagency.com
Tom and Joannie Ogg’s How to Start a Home Based Travel Agency
www.homebasedtravelagent.com
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Copyright Jennifer Dugan
Certified Travel Associate and Owner of Dugan’s Travels
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