Travel Agents Wanted

[cruisingberger]

Has anyone become or considered becomming a travel agent in order to save money on cruises? My DH thinks that I should become a travel agent since we love to travel. I laughed and thought it was a joke. Then thought, why not, I love to travel, well cruise mostly, why not? Has anyone else thought the same thing?:D

[6rugrats]

Try a search. There have been many discussions about this on previous threads.

 

You may want to research exactly what being a TA entails, and what kind of training, etc. Is involved. You may find it isn't worth it and you wouldn't save any money.

[LHT28]

I think you have to actually sell travel to get your Iatan card in order to get discounts on travel packages, cruises etc...

 

You may want to read up on how

http://www.iatan.org/accreditation/idcard/Pages/index.aspx

 

There are ways I guess to get the discounts without it I am sure those that are more up to date on it will post

[finzup-kt]

I have always wanted to be a TA (not just for the perks but because I LOVE planning travel. I am insane and do my own + most of my friends and family, etc).

 

My concern is the salary -- I don't know how good it would be starting out... it's a tough transition .. I'm in my late 30's good career, good salary and starting over entry level is scary :eek:

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We do it for free for people.

[sweetlissa]

I would love to be a travel agent and luckily I found out the other day Houston has an accredited school. Haven't called yet but really thinking about it. :-)

[MCC retired]

The large TA's , most have "Cruise" in their name , use many homebased TA's working as Independant Contractors .

They will supply access to their own training as well as CLIA & cruise line training. Usually a inital startup fee applies.

No Salary , Homebased TA's will work on a comm. split (the more you sell , the better the split) There may be fee's that a new , or low producing TA's ,may have to pay .

They are always recruiting new Independant Contractors as there is a big turnover when those not in it for the right reasons , drop out.

Sales skills and product knowledge are a must to learn a quickly as you can.

Don't quit your day job , do it part time first. Very few make big $$ . Competition is fierce .

[DanJ]

I recall a few years ago a lot of cruise lines cracked down on so-called "travel agents" who basically became one for exactly this purpose. There are several online agencies that people can join, do some quick test, and voila, you're a TA. The lines got wise to this and stopped accepting their credentials.

 

I've often thought that if I had to change careers that becoming a TA would be something I would enjoy. I love helping friends plan a trip (especially a cruise), doing research, and even spend more time on this board than I should looking stuff up (as do many others). Making a career out of it would be rewarding from a job satisfaction standpoint, but in this day and age, travel providers are cutting out the TA in favour of their own websites, and many customers feel they save money dealing direct anyway. I think it would be hard to break into the industry and make decent money at it.

[LHT28]

Sales skills and product knowledge are a must to learn a quickly as you can.

Don't quit your day job , do it part time first. Very few make big $$ . Competition is fierce .

I agree

Prices & rules change daily ...sometimes hourly :D

[firefly333]

I have a CC friend who is a TA and she has cruised with me and she is on her iphone 24/7 and clients expect to be in touch with her all the time. Have you read where people are upset, they find a price drop and their TA isnt picking up their phone and all upset.

 

Expect to be on the phone constantly. You would have to love it a lot to make enough to be worth it. She could get me started, but I decided it wasnt worth the money Id save, and Im cruising a lot, 6 to 8 times a year.

[sail7seas]

I sense the same as airlines got away from having TA's book flights and stopped paying commission, the cruise lines are planning ahead for the same exclusion of TA's. They are all eager for cruisers to book on line at their sites. No commision. No salaries. No people and no benefits to pay. Make us do all the work for ourselves.

 

If I were starting out in my career path, I would seriously think being aTA does not look promising for the long run IMO

 

[cruisingberger]

Thanks for all of your responses. I agree that it would be difficult and that the trend is to book your own cruise through the website. I just can't think of anything more fun then looking up cruises all day. I will do some more research and then see if it is a viable option or if it is a pipe dream.

[eh2zed]

Not a great idea with how the industry is going and how it pays. Also heard the perks are not as great as you may think.

[shippmates]

Most suppliers do not pay your commission until after the trip is completed. TA must make $5K in commissions prior to getting and IATAN card which is used to get your discounts. This amount of commission must be made every year to renew your card. Most suppliers only by 10 to 14 percent on certain parts of the cost of the trip. To get a TA rate on cruise lines you must book so many cruises before you qualify and these are only available on certain cruises. It is a fun job but it is hard work to get a client base established. Do your research, get your education and go from there.

[LHT28]

Thanks for all of your responses. I agree that it would be difficult and that the trend is to book your own cruise through the website. I just can't think of anything more fun then looking up cruises all day. I will do some more research and then see if it is a viable option or if it is a pipe dream.

 

Maybe find a TA in your area that you can go & talk with

Maybe even sit & observe for the day

 

It is not all that much fun :D

Maybe it is at home on the internet but not so in real life

[greatam]

Thanks for all of your responses. I agree that it would be difficult and that the trend is to book your own cruise through the website. I just can't think of anything more fun then looking up cruises all day. I will do some more research and then see if it is a viable option or if it is a pipe dream.

 

Just a few suggestions:

 

No money needed to sign up as an outside agent with a prominent Florida cruise agency. The agency advertises on CC and often has advertisements "cruise for free" on CC.

 

To start, you round up family and friends and book a cruise or individual cruises. Book 8 cabins, you generally get 2 free (in the same category), so you can either cruise for free with your friends/family or split the price of the 8 paid for cabins 10 ways for a discount. Signed up with the above mentioned agency, you will also get commission.

 

You need a LARGE network of friends and family. Know a real estate agent in town? Work with them and their databases. There is often cross indexing on those buying new houses and those cruising/vacationing.

 

A very close friend of mine in LA owns one of the larger travel agencies in the area. She started as a general purpose agent selling vacation packages and cruises 20+ years ago in Manhattan Beach Ca. She went to some school and paid a lot of money for it. It was complicated back then, particularly booking air and cruises. Today, she states you can pretty much know the basics (including how to book air and package tours) with two days sitting with a mentor. She doesn't feel there is much need for a school anymore and yes, she hires some people right off the street if they are well traveled and UNDERSTAND travel, glitches and flexible thinking.

 

She states where the REAL money is in today's world are corporate trade shows, university travel programs and HOW TO DO AIR for the corporate/show biz/celebrity/rich world. She puts together 4-5 fairly large (50-200 people) group travel programs for USC and UCLA every year (generally for professors and researchers). She also puts together a large amount of concert/Bowl game packages. She also deals with a fair amount of celebrity/rich clients. She deals with managers/promoters/corporate people to put together air/cruises/vacations in private places. She personally knows every concierge in every upscale hotel in the USA. One of her "newbie" very young agents put together 5 spring break packages for the local universities. They are all sold out (over 3000 people total). She makes a few dollars off each reservation. It's all in who you know and how much you are willing to network and make those very valuable connections.

 

You can't sit in your home office and HOPE someone will book a vacation with you, even with the backing of a large agency. She does very, very well but it is a ton of work.

[karinad]

Yes, I've thought about it. I decided that it would be more aggravating then fun. I didn't want the responsibility if something went wrong with someones trip, especially if it wasn't my fault. You really have to LOVE your job, even the bad part!

[Lov2Cruisseee!!!!]

I have thought about it also. Was wondering if you need a degree in hospitality and tourism to be able to get hired to be a TA.

[Jasalth]

My husband said the same thing to me... so I looked into it.

 

Work + luck involved /= worth it to me, and I work an online job I make about $3 an hour doing....

 

If you really want to do a home based TA business, there is a lot more involved than "get some training, profit". A lot of well seasoned travelers will not book w/o specific certifications. While not to hard to get.. cost $. You can't have people calling long distance to your home phone number all day and night, you need an 800 service with a mail box. You can't have a web page with out paying for it, and unless you hope people just stumble onto it, you also have advertising to do.

 

The biggest question to ask yourself, is would YOU ever use a TA to book a cruise and what would they have to give you (out of their own pocket mind you) to make you book with them? If the answer is NO or an amount that seems.. silly to spend (remember about 10% or less commission on the price of the room ONLY), then you probably shouldn't look further. If you think those are reasonable, look at all the OTHER monthly costs for running a business before making a final decision.