Travel Agents

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. A travel agent books travel for customers and is paid by suppliers a commission on the booking. 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.

IATAN stands for International Airlines Travel Agent Network. 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. 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. The future of travel agencies is always questioned. Many airlines have cut commissions for travel agents. Cruises used to be booked by only the rich and now people in every income book cruises. You can earn commission on many travel reservations.

·         Hotels

·         Rental Cars

·         Cruises

·         Some airline tickets

·         International airline tickets

·         Travel insurance

·         Train tickets

People all need travel arrangements at some point in time. People visit family and relatives. 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. In many cases a travel agent can get a better price than the general public through the suppliers who work only with travel agents. 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. There are many courses free to travel agents from suppliers. CLIA also offers courses. There are a few organizations dedicated to independent travel agents. NACTA stands for National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents. You can also search online for home-based travel agent programs.

If you become a travel agent you can get all of these things. If you become a travel agent you will find that you have a full time job where you are clearly able to get all of the benefits that are awarded to people with full time jobs. If you become a travel agent you can find that you will simply enjoy your job because you are going to be helping people to make great travel arrangements and get the most out of life. You will find that if you become a travel agent you are going to work in a great atmosphere with other happy people as well. There are almost unlimited benefits to being a travel agent. It is also very easy to become a travel agent. You can apply for a job with a local travel agency and you'll find that it is very simply get yourself certified so that you can become a licensed travel agent.

The options are just unlimited: work in your home town, travel to other places, work from your home or even offer travel services on the internet. Whatever you do, make sure not to underestimate the power of being a travel agent.