How much do TAs REALLY make?

[ivanova]

It seems to be a great hobby job - i.e. someone else supports you and you TA to get a lot of travel perks and do something you love to do - help people plan vacations.

There aren't a "lot" of travel perks nowadays, and what perks there are usually come with strings attached

 

[Amlee]

IMO, I find it tacky that the TA made any kind of comment to you regarding the fact that you basically were not worth their time due to the lower commission for that cruise. How are they to know if you would end up loving the cruise & want to book a 14 day repo next year. They have shot themselves in the foot.

EXACTLY!! Or if your scouting out a group tour for next year. The old saying "Everyone know 10 people who knows 10 people and can kill a buisness" come to mind here!


Years ago when I went to book my first cruise, I walked into a local agency that wouldn't even bother to give me a price quote. She looked me up and down and told me when I got the deposit to come back and talk to her. She then turned and left the room. I was steaming! What the little huffer didn't know this that I had the cash money in hand for a cruise. I found another agent who was willing to work with me in another town. I then returned to her for a cruise with my mother. Now my mother has much higher standards than I do about traveling. The agent didn't do some of the things that my mother requested and that didn't settle well with her. You have your good agents and your bad agents.

the good ones stay open, the bad ones don't!

 

[Amlee]

There aren't a "lot" of travel perks nowadays, and what perks there are usually come with strings attached

Isn't that the truth!!


I've come to realize, you can't be an agent and be in it for the money. You have to be in it to make peoples dreams come true.

 

[ivanova]

I've come to realize, you can't be an agent and be in it for the money. You have to been in it to make peoples dreams come true.

This brings to mind several quotes I've read over the years:

"Do what you love, not what pays the best."

I don't believe in the adage "Do what you love, the money will follow." Because not everything is a money maker ... and in some areas where you can make money (i.e. as a TA) won't make you the next Bill Gates.

"Unhappiness is produced when you look for validation from others, or when you make money the reason. I believe only one person can grade your paper, and that person should be you. You have to be willing to take a stand on things. Not because they are popular, but because they are things you believe in. That means, do what you love, not what others think you should do. I've never met a truly successful person who was in it for the money. Most successful people love what they are doing." (Stephen J Cannell)

Bill Gates wasn't sitting there thinking "hey, if I write a software program it can make me the richest man on earth."

 

[smoof]

I don't care what they make or don't make. If he didn't want to go down in price he didn't need to make a comment. Because of the Internet, being a travel agent is a dying business. You booked a 3 or 4 night cruise with him, and he didn't make much from it...too bad. If he gives you good service, you will go back to him for other vacations, which may make him more money.

 

[PrincessMom2002]

The whole reason I ever became interested in travel was because of a trip I booked when I was 18. My boyfriend at the time was 16. We decided we wanted to go to Jamaica. I can't believe our parents ever let us do it! But anyway, as 18 and 16, we walked into this agency and sat down with this agent. It was my first experience with an agency. I didn't even know there was such a thing as travel agencies. She was WONDERFUL! She didn't look at us as 2 poor teenagers who most likely wouldn't book. She took lots of time with us. We booked with her and paid it off over an 8 month period. She was one of the best agents I ever met, and she was the whole reason I ever became an agent myself. I'm sure if she had been rude and short with us then we'd have not booked with her and who knows, maybe I never would have become an agent. I modeled my own behavior to my clients after her.

 

[ivanova]

Because of the Internet, being a travel agent is a dying business.

Not really, but the dynamics have definitely changed over the last 20-30 years. TAs not willing to change with the times will go out of busines...