How do I become a paid Disney Itinerary Planner?

[PlaneJoy1]

I worked as an agent for a Disney travel agency. The first thing to note is that the majority of agents who work for a Disney exclusive agency are independent contractors. In order to book Disney, you need to work for a legitimate agency that has an IATA number, so there's not really a way around this. The agency "sponsors" you so that you can obtain a login for Disney bookings and complete the Disney College of Knowledge, and your bookings are completed under the IATA number of that agency, which is essentially their registration number. You can only obtain an IATA number under some strict credentials, so its not something an individual can easily obtain themselves. When I made a Disney booking, all documents were sent to the agency main office and they facilitated mailing the documents to the clients on my behalf. Because I was an independent contractor, they deducted a flat $20 per month from my monthly commission check (if I got one) to cover the cost of mailing documents to clients.

I have a question for you @nkereina since you have worked at a large agency. When discounts are released, do you call about applying discounts to your own bookings or does the agency try to do all the bookings in one large "batch"? (not sure how to word that - but basically all booking inside their agency as a group)

I ask because when I used my previous agent, I usually received a response in 24 hours if the discount applied or not and how much I would save. I didn't have to reach out - it was just done. With my new agent - it l texted on Jan 6th inquiring (same day as release I think). Her response made it sound like the agency was handling all bookings and she didn't get anything back to me until Jan 11th. The "good news" is she secured a theme park room vs. the standard we booked for a discounted rate. My thinking was the standard room discount was no longer available because my booking was handled too late. Sure - I saved money and would have a better view, but I would have been even happier saving more morning and keeping the standard view.

I guess I thought each agent would handle their own, but maybe some agencies handle all bookings so the agents don't get bogged down.

Thank you for any insight!

 

[nkereina]

When discounts are released, do you call about applying discounts to your own bookings or does the agency try to do all the bookings in one large "batch"? (not sure how to word that - but basically all booking inside their agency as a group)

It would really depend on the agency. Depending on how involved the parent agency is, they may take on any applicable bookings under their name and phone them all in at the same time. But if the parent agency is pretty hands off and leaves the agents to their own devices, then it may be up to each agent to do it themselves. The agency I worked for would have done them all in one shot because it can be time consuming and difficult for each agent to call in with their own applicable bookings, and it has the potential to leave clients angry if the discount fills up before it can be applied to their booking. In your case, it may have had the opposite effect. The parent agency likely also has reporting they can pull to see which clients fall within the discount parameters, which also makes it easy to get all of them applied in one shot when they can get an Disney rep on the phone.

 

[MamaLema]

First you need to make sure there’s a market for this.
I personally wouldn’t use one because everybody wants to do different things at Disney and the must do’s I often read about are usually things I have no interest in doing.

 

[Doreenct71]

The other positive of working for an agency that is not strictly Disney, is that you will gain the experience necessary to further your own career no matter what way you decide to go with. Good luck

 

[nkereina]

First you need to make sure there’s a market for this.
I personally wouldn’t use one because everybody wants to do different things at Disney and the must do’s I often read about are usually things I have no interest in doing.

There's definitely a market for it. Authorized Disney Vacation Planners are relatively easy to find. With all the pre-planning involved in a Disney trip, there's a lot of people out there who don't have the time or knowledge to do it themselves, so they rely on these agents to handle it for them. Those of us here on DisBoards that enjoy planning and the Tetris involved in a Disney itinerary are in the minority.

 

[DisneyHardin]

There's definitely a market for it. Authorized Disney Vacation Planners are relatively easy to find. With all the pre-planning involved in a Disney trip, there's a lot of people out there who don't have the time or knowledge to do it themselves, so they rely on these agents to handle it for them. Those of us here on DisBoards that enjoy planning and the Tetris involved in a Disney itinerary are in the minority.

The OP stated that she didn't want to be a "travel agent", she just wanted to be an itinerary planner. I'm not sure there is much of a market for someone who doesn't do the booking for you to plan your itinerary for the day.

 

[_19disnA]

^^ I agree, most of the discussion has been about travel agents. I doubt someone wants to use a travel agent and then pay someone else to be an 'itinerary planner'. If you are also not a disney expert, not sure you would have the knowledge to do that effectively.

 

[nkereina]

The OP stated that she didn't want to be a "travel agent", she just wanted to be an itinerary planner. I'm not sure there is much of a market for someone who doesn't do the booking for you to plan your itinerary for the day.

^^ I agree, most of the discussion has been about travel agents. I doubt someone wants to use a travel agent and then pay someone else to be an 'itinerary planner'. If you are also not a disney expert, not sure you would have the knowledge to do that effectively.

I guess I'm hung up on semantics because an itinerary planner isn't a "thing". There are authorized vacation planners who work for a travel agency, but they aren't technically travel agents themselves. This is what I was. I didn't have the credentials to obtain my own IATA number; however, by being sponsored by a parent agency, I was given authority to book and plan trips. Then there are actual travel agents who have their own IATA or CLIA numbers on an individual basis who can book almost anything.

But, if all OP wants to do is plan a person's trip without doing the legwork of booking it, then I agree there's not a market for it.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I guess I'm hung up on semantics because an itinerary planner isn't a "thing". There are authorized vacation planners who work for a travel agency, but they aren't technically travel agents themselves. This is what I was. I didn't have the credentials to obtain my own IATA number; however, by being sponsored by a parent agency, I was given authority to book and plan trips. Then there are actual travel agents who have their own IATA or CLIA numbers on an individual basis who can book almost anything.

But, if all OP wants to do is plan a person's trip without doing the legwork of booking it, then I agree there's not a market for it.

The OP states in post #7 that she doesn't think she has what it takes to be a Travel Agent.

 

[nkereina]

The OP states in post #7 that she doesn't think she has what it takes to be a Travel Agent.

Right, but being a travel agent and being a Disney vacation planner are two separate, but legitimate jobs. An "itinerary planner" - where one plans the person's days but doesn't complete the booking - does not exist. If OP wants to be a Disney vacation planner, those are real jobs but would require completing the actual booking through the Disney travel agent web site. OP wouldn't be considered a true travel agent because they wouldn't have credential numbers and wouldn't be authorized to book anything other than a Disney product.

 

[TurnDownForWalt]

Oh cool. Sounds like yall got it figured out. Thanks for the suggestions.