Becoming a travel agent or starting your own travel based business can offer attractive freedom and income. Travel agents can work full or part time and many work out of their own home or on the Internet.
What Is A Home Based Travel Agent?
By Jennifer Dugan
Many people are unclear about the travel industry. Travel agents are often thought to be the same as real estate agents. Becoming a travel agent or more specifically a home based travel agent is an exciting career change or retirement option. Some people do it full time while many do it as a part time business.
A travel agent books travel for customers and is paid by suppliers a commission on the booking. For bookings 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.
Jennifer Dugan CTA
Owner of Dugan's Travels
Travel agent since 1993
Mother of two who started a homebased travel agency in 1997. She has over 200 outside agents working with her agency and is active in the travel industry. She has been an agent since 1993. She is the author of three ebooks.
www.duganstravels.com
Travel Agent Training
Books and resources
How to Start a Home Based Travel Agency -
The January 1st, 2003 printing of How to Start a Home Based Travel Agency is the most up-to-date information available about operating a travel business in this exciting industry. Issues such as the elimination of airline commissions, the implementation of service fees, the fabulous growth of the cruise industry and all of the changes that have evolved are discussed and analyzed. This edition of How to Start a Home Based Travel Agency is a must have if you are considering entering the travel industry or are an agent going home-based from a storefront.
Home-Based Travel Agent, 4th Edition - Learn how to research trips, make bookings, find and keep customers, maximize earnings, and qualify for agent-only benefits. This user-friendly manual includes a mini sales training program, sizable resource section, and complete subject index. It's like having a friend sit next to you and answer all your questions.
The Travel Agent's Complete Desk Reference - Created specifically for home-based travel agents, this one-source reference includes airport and airline codes, supplier Web sites and toll-free numbers, sources of U.S., Canadian and international tourist information, passport and visa requirements, industry publications, reference books, geographic information, and a glossary of over 3,700 travel-related terms and abbreviations. expert in the field by publications such as "Travel Weekly," "Travel Agent," and "Condé Nast Traveler." Monaghan's books on the subject have been endorsed by such travel industry professional organizations as the Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN), which awarded him its 1994 Recognition and Achievement Award for his pioneering work in spreading the word about the home-based travel agency opportunity.
Manual of Travel Agency Practice -
The manual demonstrates correct methods for processing travel reservations, identifying business client needs and suitable documentation. It also shows key facts for the profitable planning, organization and operation of the retail travel agency. Each chapter contains exercises pertinent to the topics covered.
