Glenn Sacco

Does anyone know how travel agents make their commissions?

Kathy B

Commissions are paid by airlines (though very little these days and still going down), resorts, cruise lines, etc. Our commissions are hard-earned through constant study, many hours on the phone and the keyboard, constantly investigating which suppliers give the best service and lowest prices to our clients, but most importantly, stiving to give you the BEST travel for your dollars.

ET

As long as we're on the topic, how does one get the experience needed to get a job at a travel agency? They don't seem willing to train a beginner and the one school I know of that teaches for a travel career charges thousands- for a job that pays poorly. How do I get in without going broke?
Thanks.

chyz

Before you consider going to any school to learn how to become a travel agent, do some research!! Many schools are not what they appear to be, so contact the BBB and any other agency that keeps notes on various businesses in your town. If a school has lots of dis-satisfied students and doesn't have high marks in the business world, get away at once. Keep your eyes and ears open to the little things that should alert you to the fact that something isn't right. Do they ask for an excessive amount of money up front or ask you to get a loan at their office? Is their equipment sub-standard or in shaby condition? Ask to tour their facilities and ask questions!! Ask travel agencies in your area for their opinion to the different schools you may be interested in. Who knows, you may even impress an agency and might even get an intern position in an agency. You may not earn a lot of $$ at first, but after you have been on the job for a while and gone on a couple of fam trips, you may decide you like this work after all. Don't give up, but please be aware of scam artists.

lynne

My travel agent told me that he made very little on my package holiday that I booked, (although he was very helpful and gave great advice) he told me the money comes from the insurance you buy! Interesting....

TC

I went to a travel agent school and worked as an agent some years ago. At that time agencies made all their money from commissions on air tickets, hotels, car rental, tours, etc. They had a monopoly on this market because there was no way for a consumer to purchase services directly. In addition, air tickets were a lot more expensive so that a 10% commission on a $500 ticket was reasonable income. Internaional tickets paid 15% comm. Hotels paid 10%-20%, etc. Agencies were the only way corporate travelers could purchase airfare, hotels, or cars and that's were the real money came from. This was all regulated and sources were not allowed to sell to the public directly - not even airlines. You could call the airline and make a reservation, but you had to purchase the ticket at a travel agency that got the commission. Travel agencies had a lock on the whole industry. However, under de-regulation things began to change. Airlines started negotiating directly with big business for their travel dollars and cutting out the travel agent. The agents comm. became the business's discount. Travel departments within companies sprang up and soon were given the right to print tickets for themselves. This set off a ripple within the entire industry. The corporate consumer was soon demanding the same kind of deal with car rental, hotels, etc. and many agencies lost 80-90% of their business. Airfare wars cut ticket prices to all time lows, so that a 10% comm on a $100 ticket wasn't very profitable. At that time there were no restrictions on tickets. Customes could (and did)exchange tickets at will. A $10 comm doesn't stretch far if you've printed and delivered that same ticket 3 or 4 times. Today agencies still make their money on commissions. However, airlines have cut commissions to 8% (or less)with all kinds of restrictions for the agent. Now, anyone can do their own travel arranging and purchasing on the Internet. You can work directly with an airline reservationists on the phone and receive an e-tic via mail or fax. Hotels, car rental companies, tour operators all deal directly with consumers. Most even offer incentives to book your own reservation on the Net. With all this competition, some agencies went bankrupt, others just bailed out, while some reinvented themselves by starting to charge the consumer for services provided or began to specialize in only one aspect of travel,ie. cruise, destinations, adventure travel. Some started doing business on the Net. Many are still struggling to survive or have joined large franchise organizations. I got out of the business when it became a numbers game. We were expected to handle a certain number of calls each hour. We were expected to sell whatever was paying the agency the best commission promotion that week. We were discouraged from doing research for clients. The object was just to sell. As for the perks of being a travel consultant these days, I hear from my friends who are still in the business that they are few and far between. Free air travel no longer exsists (does anyone still offer 1/4 fares?), fams (free trips to destinations for familiarization)are gone or have price tags attached now. Most perks are offered to agency owners or corporate or frachise buyers. But even with all of these negatives, travel is still perceived as a "glamore" job. It is for that reason that travel schools can still charge a fortune for training and promise placement which usually turns out to be unpaid internships. Most entry level positions are minimum wage or commissioned (2%) on any business you bring in. I'm not saying that travel agents don't provide service anymore, I'm just sad that they can no longer exsist solely for the best interest of today's travelers.

cindy

Just a suggestion if schools for travel agents are too expensive. A great way to get experience in the travel industry is to work in reservations for an airline. It is an entry level job so no experience is needed. They train you and the job gives you lots of experience working with travelers. You can even work up to working with vacation packages to get hotel and car rental experience. The big plus is with an airline you really do get to fly for almost free and get discounts at hotels etc. I like this a lot more than working for commission.

Keith Berry

Ethnic travel agencies are still doing okay especially in metropolitan areas,travel agencies that book flights
to South America, and Central America,
seem to have a loyal hispanic following.
If you want to go into the business,try
a Community College, most co.co's have a
hospitality curriculum which includes
travel in their curriculum.

Kate

I started in the business by working for a new start up leisure agent. He didnt have computers at the time, so I spent most of the time learning by watching, filing, distributing brochures, talking on the phone. I helped some of my friends book some trips, then after 6 months of that I landed a corporate travel job. It was a great job. I was lucky to have been given the opportunity. Corporate agents from what I hear make more money than leisure agents. I was an assistant, so I did mostly administrative/secretarial/reporting jobs. At the time I didnt want to be an agent, but now that I have left that job, Im thinking about getting back into becoming an agent. Leisure agencies aren't willing to pay as well though, and the benifits are hard to come by. Im hoping I can get trained on the job, to avoid having to goto school.

Fancy

I was just accepted to the best Travel Consultation program in Western Canada and the whole thing is going to cost me approx. $6000 for 2 years, but there is a valid reason for this. The school has one computer lab devoted entirely and only to my program and if that's not enough, the students start from day one working with Live Transactions, not computer models, plus a semester long Practicum Placement with local agencies, and when all is said and done the job rate for the program is 96% upon graduation. It's not the best pay (approx. $18,000 per annum in Canada), but it gets me into the industry where I can travel as much as I have always wanted to, and it's a good thing to work at until I do decided what career path I am going to follow.

dan woodlief

For those who want to get into the travel industry, being an agent is not the only way. I have an MBA in Marketing and interviewed for marketing positions with two very large travel companies. I almost got the last job. These companies are not just located in New York and LA. The ones to which I applied were in Milwaukee, WI and Raleigh, NC. I am sure these types of businesses have many jobs besides Agent.