Travel Agents please Read??

[di234]

I am sorry if this is not proper to post. I am thinking of taking a year course to be a travel agent, it is offered at our community college for a very inexpensive price. I have a few questions. Is it hard to get a job as a beginner? Do you get paid commission only or salary and commission? Do you enjoy the job and about how much do you make a year? Thank you for any info.
Diane

 

[grover]

BUMP!
I am also curious to know!

Grover in Winnipeg

 

[Kermit]

If you do a search on the Community Board, I think someone has asked this question before, so you may be able to find your answer.

 

[Humpbacks1962]

I'd personally recommend that you look into another course. Just about any other career seems to be more profitable in this day and age. The Internet is not helping travel agents maintain the type of bussiness they could, decades ago.

If they come up with competitive alternatives, then you can talk about a different situation.

Wanda

 

[safetymom]

I have just graduated from a 2 year course to be a Travel Agent. First I think you would need more education to be hired. At 2 years there is still a lot that needs to be learned on the job. Be sure that you have experience with the computer reservations systems. That will help you get a foot in the door. Your course doesn't sound long enough.

As someone else pointed out, they don't make a lot of money. They have glamorized the travel agency jobs and it just isn't like that starting out.

I am still trying to find a job that pays decent wages. I am older so I do have experience and don't want to work for little more than minimum wage. I am looking into other options in the travel field.

Good luck

 

[PickeringMom]

I work in the travel field - in the Meetings & Incentive Travel industry - from what I understand this is the side of the industry where you can make a decent salary. I guess it is all relative to what one considers a decent salary, but this is what I have heard. I live in Canada and some of the travel programs offered here in colleges have a placement period. We have had a number of placement students in our office and then they usually enter the meeting/incentive industry after their course is through.

In our industry there are . . .

Sales Reps - those who go after the business

Planners (or buyers) - those who call the hotels and ground companies/destination management companies in each destination being quoted and prepare the costing and written proposal

Operations Coordinators - those who actually handle all the fine tuning of the program once it has been sold - they take what the Planners have put together and basically see it through to execution

Just wanted to let you know that there are other options for you to look at if you are interested in the travel field. Good luck!

 

[safetymom]

Thank you for sharing the information. Meeting planning is something I have done on my other jobs. That was the area I was headed. I also have many years of sales experience so this would help.

 

[SillyOldBear]

I have been a travel agent for 4 years now. I absolutely love what I do. I will say that it is hard to get your foot in the door at most agencies though. In this age of the internet it is also hard to compete. I do make a salary with bonuses etc. and the perks are wonderful too. I don't think that travel agencies as we know them will be around too much longer. My suggestion is to work for an agency doing outside sales and work on comission. I would use this as a second income job. This is a good way to start in the business and "get your feet wet" to establish clients. That way you will know if it is for you or not. Good Luck!

 

[preb]

I have an administrative position with a large agency in Michigan. I've worked in various travel positions (meetings and incentives, groups, corporate, leisure, management) for the past 16 years. Starting pay is very low in this area - around 8.00 an hour plus incentives. Experienced agents with a client following can expect to make 15-18.00 and hour. Because of all of the commission cuts lately from the airlines, I would suggest focusing on leisure travel (tours and cruises). Most agencies still make 10-16% on leisure packages with their preferred vendors. Outside sales is an excellent option if you don't need benefits and can handle an unpredictable paycheck. Outside agents usually make 45-50% of the commission earned on each booking if they do all of the work themselves. You would have to build up your own clientelle and could do most of your work from home. As someone said earlier, it's a good second income with lots of travel perks, but I wouldn't want to try to support a family as a travel agent!