How To Become A Travel Agent For Free
Rocki Stenger
Have you ever thought about becoming an independent travel agent? This was an amazing decision I made last year and it has greatly benefited our family financially. It has also given us the opportunity to grow my blog, take more trips together as a family, and meet new like-minded people along the way.
After being a travel agent for several months, I decided to start coaching other travel agents in growing their own business. As their team leader I can give them all of the resources, coaching calls, and guidance to not just learn but help them navigate the different skills needed with growing their business and speaking with clients.
If you love to travel and also plan trips for your family and friends, then this is the job for you! As a travel blogger I am always creating itineraries and helping others plan their vacation. When I found out I can get paid to plan trips to amazing destinations for others, I was blown away.
Becoming a travel agent opens many doors and the best one is to travel. By becoming a travel agent you can learn about different destinations and plan trips for your clients while getting paid a nice commission for each trip you plan for them.
As a travel agent you can save money on your own trips as well making it more affordable for you to travel to those bucket list destinations. This means that you will make a commission on the trips you book for yourself. There is also something called Familiarization Trips, also known as FAM trips, that some company will open for travel agents so they can familiarize themselves with that destination, cruise, resort, etc. There is usually an agent rate for these types of trips and it all varies by vendors.
When working with InteleTravel you will earn 70% of your commission and work up to 80% of your commission after hitting $5,000 in commissions for the year. This is the highest paid commission in the industry right now which is amazing.
InteleTravel provides numerous trainings and ongoing webinars and events to help you learn more about travel. They provide webinars and even in-person events where you can learn more about a specific preferred partner or vendor so you can provide better insights and travel guidance for your clients.
Many preferred partners that InteleTravel is partnered with also have their own individual trainings so you can learn more about them from the comfort of your own home. There is also destination trainings that you can take to learn more about that specific travel destination. I recently completed a few including Orlando, Disney, Jamaica, and a few others.
By learning more in-depth about the different vendors and destinations, I am able to provide a better planned trip for my clients. And even if you still have questions, we have a very amazing team that helps each other out.
There are so many amazing vendors that you can work with to help plan the perfect trip for your clients. As mentioned before, there are over 250+ preferred partners to choose from for your trip. I know that number may seem overwhelming at first but they are all for different types of trips and different parts of your trip.
Yes! Of course you can. I want you to feel as comfortable as possible with making this decision of starting your own business so I want to share as much information as possible with you from the very beginning.
There are two sides to this business. There is InteleTravel which is for becoming a travel agent and running your own remote travel agency from home. Then there is PlanNet Marketing which is to become a coach and mentor for your own team of travel agents.
InteleTravel has been in business for 25+ years and continues to hold a A+ rating on BBB. It is one of the highest paying commission host agencies in the travel agency industry. They also have an extensive list of preferred travel partners that they are partnered with allowing you to plan a well-rounded vacation for your clients. InteleTravel also provides on-going webinars to help you continue to learn and grow as well as in-person events where you can meet more like-minded agents and entrepreneurs.
InteleTravel also provides their travel agents with a back office to process their client bookings, access to other resources, official documents to help you run your business professionally and legally, and much more.
I am a wife and mother to three amazing kids. A coffee addict and wine lover. I also have a huge love for the mountains and the the ocean. Through my blog I hope to inspire families to spend more time outdoors.
Before we jump in, gor all things destination wedding planning, we have created this 100+ page guide for you to deep dive into. It would actually be INCREDIBLY helpful if you are thinking of becoming a destination wedding planner because, really, we cover everything. Grab your copy here!
On my road to destination wedding planning, I became a travel agent first. I always knew I wanted to specialize in destination weddings though. If you are considering this as a career path, you can become a destination wedding planner two ways: the first (and I think easiest) would be to become a travel agent and then book the destination wedding travel components. For this, you help couples choose a resort and sort through wedding packages, but then they usually do the actual planning with the resort. Some travel agents are very hands on when it comes to this process and some are not so it really depends on your style. You have more flexibility if you choose to start your own business as well.
I talk a little more about the differences between a destination wedding planner and a destination wedding travel agent here. Really, you can choose what you want to do when you own your own business. For a while, we offered both services but in 2023 we decided to niche down as a team and focus our efforts on the travel side of things instead of pursuing full-service destination wedding planning!
The most important quality to have is to ALWAYS be learning. I personally got a bachelor degree from the University of Alberta before I opened my business. I majored in psychology (and it does come in handy every now and again) but a bachelor degree is definitely not a necessity! What is DID teach me though was how to work HARD and how to be RESOURCEFUL.
The reason this industry is full of AMAZING and AWFUL (real talk!) travel agents is that you need to be SUPER SELF-MOTIVATED to get Education. Although I got basic education from my host agency, I did a majority of training on my own. A few examples of courses I took (and paid for!) are the DWHSA Romance Travel Specialist Course (I also followed up with their DWHSA Bootcamp this year) and we are still a part of The Planners Playbook membership today!
On top of a few SOLID courses, I have probably watched over 1000 webinars from my computer. Many suppliers have trainings as well (Sandos Smart Agents, AMResort Master Agents, Royal Caribbean WOW Specialist, etc). I attend as many industry events that come to Edmonton as I possibly can. I also TRAVEL as much as possible so I can personally see hotels & destinations that I sell. If you really are planning on starting your own business, please be prepared to invest in yourself. I am not even counting all of the business specific training I have taken!
Find a mentor. On top of trainings, one of the most invaluable things I did for my business was find a mentor. Learning how she does destination weddings was more valuable than anything I could have learned myself online. Business happens in real time so find a mentor you trust and who is willing and happy to help. Be grateful for them too because this industry can be crazy and they are likely very busy.
Interested in starting your own home-based travel agency? Why not join a trusted franchise whose time-tested marketing strategies, organizational structure and cutting-edge tools have allowed over 2,000 franchise owners to set-up and operate travel agency franchises throughout the country.
Being a travel franchise owner can be an engaging and lucrative career. If you love to travel and to connect with people, a travel agent business opportunity could be an excellent chance to have a fulfilling career while working from home.
You can become a Dream Vacations franchisee regardless of your level of experience or education in the travel industry. We provide full training and support so that every one of our travel agents has the best tools available so they can succeed and reach their business goals!
When learning how to become a travel agent as a franchise owner, the travel agent training for beginners from Dream Vacations will help you understand what you need to know to run your business effectively. One of the greatest rewards is helping people create joyful, lifelong memories through travel. Plus, you have the flexibility to create your own schedule.
Becoming a travel agent with Dream Vacations offers the benefit of independently owning and operating their franchises. You earn commissions from your sales of hotel stays, resorts, cruises, travel insurance and more. Your travel agent commission totals are paid weekly through direct deposit.
Franchise owners may also elect to charge a flat fee for the time it takes them to put together an itinerary. However, if you choose not to charge this fee, you can offer your clients a price that is always the same or lower than what they would be able to access if they booked on their own.
Dream Vacations Franchise Owners come from a variety of backgrounds and find unique things to love about the job of a travel agent. Dream Vacations is one of the best franchises for women because of the flexibility of the job; many franchisees love working in an industry that fuels their passion for travel.
Travel agents promote themselves through a combination of traditional and digital marketing to get more clients and increase sales. Dream Vacations offers in-depth training to help franchise owners build their clientele quickly right from the beginning. To find a customer base, travel agents can:
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