You guys seem to know a lot....... if travel agents aren't paid by customers,

[disney4us2002]

how are they paid? Do they get a commission from packages? From hotels? Etc. Just something I'm curious about.

 

[Dan Murphy]

There are a number of T/A's here on the boards, and sure you will get more detailed from them, but simply, yes.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I wonder that, too. I made AAA discount ressies through the TA for 2 trips to WDW this fall. When a better code rate came up, he said they wouldn't give it to him. I called, and got it-they said they couldn't give the discount to TAs?? Anyway, he made a lot of phone calls for me for these two trips, and it looks like if a code comes up for the other trip, I will be making that ressie myself also. Which means I have to cancel both trips with the TA at AAA. Will he lose a commission on these two trips? I feel bad, but I am a paying member and I also have to go with the lowest price...

 

[mickeyfan1]

TAs usually get the commish after the trip has been completed. AAA gets some awesome rates at WDW, but the postcard rates or email rates are often for the guest only. Basically WDW travel is cutting out all the commish, thus they can not allow a TA to book the rate. You will find that most TAs charge for air tickets now, they don't make enough per ticket to make it worth the trouble, it used to be 10% then there were caps of $50.00 max, now I think it may be nothing. However, packages will usually pay a good commish, as will cruises, so that is where most TAs specialize now. If you cancel your reservation that AAA made, they won't "lose" any money directly, just the time and effort the TA put into maling your arrangements to begin with.

 

[leahannpen]

We do get paid by the companies we book with...atleast in most cases.

We USED to get paid a 10% commission on every single air fare we ever sold. That's no more...we get a big-fat-ZERO! So, most, if not all travel agents now have charge for just plane tickets. We have a $35.00 fee. Most are right in that ballpark. After all, we ARE in business to make money, so we have to earn something. We hated it when we had to start charging, though most clients understood and new we were working hard for their best interests. We did lose some clients.

We do get a minimal commission from cruise lines, though that's getting lower and lower too.

Hotels and cars do pay us, but again, it's less and less, and it's not always received for many different reasons. If they can find a way to get out of it, they will. (Upsell at the counter and things like that.)

What most agencies do is, try to sell companies that they get the best prices from the most, and after a while, if you are in good standing, you will get more commission. Like we sell alot of Funjet from this area, so we get about 14%, which is more than the average 10%.

Does that make sense? I hope so...LOL. It's hard to explain.

If you have any questions, just let me know.

 

[RachelEllen]

My mom's agency will charge a flat fee for booking just tickets, nothing if they are booked as part of a larger vacation. It's a nice system, as it encourges business, but protects them from spending too much time on a service that gets them nothing. She said that it always seems to be the people just booking airline tickets that have the most requests, change the most things, and require the most time. I can't blame her company for not being able to do this for free.

Rachel

 

[jk1]

the postcard rates or email rates are often for the guest only. Basically WDW travel is cutting out all the commish, thus they can not allow a TA to book the rate.

That is not true. The only discounted rates that Disney does not pay commission on is Cast Member rates and Travel Agent rates. Travel agents can book all the other WDW discounted rates and they will get paid commission.

 

[Amberle3]

And to answer the other question - if you cancel the booking then no, the TA won't receive any commission at all.

And you know how sometimes you book a hotel or car with a TA, and then when you get to the car/hotel desk they offer you a different (usually lower) rate or a free upgrade? And of course you take it, because it's a better deal! Well guess what, when they do that they cancel your original booking and count it as a "no show" for the travel agent, and we get ZIP.

I've had that happen a number of times, and it's so maddening. I can't blame the client for it at all, but I do blame the hotel/car chains. Last time with a car rental it wasn't even a published rate that they gave, it was a "special non-commissionable rate".

Trust me it sucks to do hours of work, not bill the client because you're counting on the measly 5-10% commission, and then have that taken away because they offered the client a different rate.

 

[Aimeedyan]

My mom was a travel agent, and loved it, but financially couldn't survive on it because so much travel went to the Internet, and places started to cut out TA commissions by offering great deals online. Before, people didn't have the means to really research something, get opinions, great rates, and quotes... now, with the internet, they do.

Travel Agents, in a lot of ways, are middlemen that share their exp and opinions with you in exchange for getting the kickback on whatever you book. Now, there is little kickback to them, so many agencies have either gone out of business OR have to charge a flat fee now for their services just to make ends meet.

Course TAs receive alot of perks, but if it's your sole income, it's hard to make it now... she said that after 9/11, things got even worse. She used to book mostly Disney only vacations and had quite a list of clients in our area, because she had a lot to offer to people that didn't want to take the time to do Disney vacations, or didn't have a clue where to start... she also would book other things for people. Just homebased. Business became not worth keeping up with memberships and such after awhile... so she followed her dream of working for Disney instead =)

 

[Amberle3]

Course TAs receive alot of perks

This used to be true, not so much any more. And I have to jump in with this info, because I run into so many people who think they'd like to travel agents for the great perks. They're just not there any more.

Every now and then you'll come across a good deal, but they're few and far between. With most hotels now if they have a TA rate it's usually about the same as the AAA rate. One hotel I was looking at had a TA rate that was HIGHER than the other rates!

Most of the airlines don't seem to have TA rates any more. The big ones still do - they give us a whopping 75% off the full fare. That's the full-price fare, meaning not the cheapie fares. I just looked up fares to LAX from here, and came up with this: Round-trip airfare only (no taxes) cheapie seats $584 CAD. Full fare seats $2660 - 75% = $665. So yes, we can get our 75% off and pay MORE than the sale fares.

For Disneyland, as an agent, I can order a 3-day pass for $5 off the regular advance price. I can also purchase a 4-day pass for $149 - however the regular Disney website has a 5 day for $129, so I'd get to pay $20 more for 1 day less. And those are just agent rates, passes for friends and family are the regular prices.

Yes there are still some half-decent perks out there, but for me - honestly - by far the best "perk" is having my clients call me when they come back from vacation and tell me what a fabulous time they had.

I just don't want anyone reading this thread to think there are tons of freebies for travel agents, because there just aren't.

(I have to mention this - my DFi goes to conferences a few times a year and occasionally I go with him. At these things there's usually a tradeshow type of thing set up where various vendors have information available. The travel industry has these too. The ones my DFi goes to have incredibly cool things as freebies for people to pick up and take home. I'm talking those pens with lights in them for writing in the dark and other cool things. Travel agents get... regular bic pens. And the occasional candy. Maybe a paper ruler. It's just not fair.)

 

[disney4us2002]

So to follow-up with this then, if a ta gets say 10% commission of the cost of my Disney hotel, for example, why would they want to work hard to get my rate reduced? Of course, repeat business, but every time my price goes down so does the commission, right?

 

[Amberle3]

Sorry this is so long but....

Well, for several reason actually. All these points are valid for GOOD TAs, there are BAD ones that only care about the commission.

First of all, repeat business and referrals mean more to us than the bit of additional commission. If we do a good job for you, and you're happy and satisfied, then you'll book with us again. You'll recommend us to other people, and they'll book with us. Example: I booked 1 couple on a honeymoon spring 2003. Then in the fall I had coworkers of theirs book a family vacation. And just now I booked the wedding for a relative of the original couple's (almost 30 people). I could have just looked at the commission I was getting on the original booking and tried to "upsell" them into a more expensive vacation, but looked more at what they wanted and what they'd be happy with. As a consequence, I got the additional business from/through them.

Secondly, the difference in commission isn't usually all that great. Okay so the rate we had for a room was say $169. Wow, the rates gone down to $145! Great! For a week you save $168, that's wonderful! That's a difference in commission of $16.80 for the TA. Is it worth $16.80 to make sure that you're a happier camper? Of course it is.

And frankly, to be honest, for the most part now I assume that unless I'm booking a package deal (ie all-inclusive caribbean resort) or a cruise, I assume I'm not really going to see a penny of the commission. I just went through my outstanding commissions on the weekend and found that 12% of my commissions from last year still haven't been paid (and likely won't be) and this year so far I'm at 58% still outstanding. Yes, 58%. Much of that should be cleared up in the next 2 months or so, but it's still a ghastly number.

And even when commissions are paid, there are many places along the way that take a chunk out. I had one car rental where I ended up with a cheque for less than $2 in commission thanks to processing fees by the payment companies.

This is not a business where most folks are making a ton of money. The vast majority of us are doing this because we truly enjoy the business. I truly, honestly, would make more money working at McDonald's. It's just not about the money.

I own a very small travel agency. I take on enough clients to be able to personally look after each and every one of them. My hat goes off to the very fine folks at DU who obviously put a lot of time, effort, and heart into their business. Yes, they may make a fair amount because of the volume of business they do, but considering the various cutbacks faced, and the extras they do for their clients, I'm willing to bet they're not living in the lap of luxury. And considering what they went through in May when the DCL West Coast cruises were announced - from the flood of bookings, to the decision by DCL to not honour one discount or another despite having agreed to and DU stepping up to the plate and covering the discounts DCL refused to - I think they definitely earn every single penny.

 

[shortbun]

Originally posted by disney4us2002
So to follow-up with this then, if a ta gets say 10% commission of the cost of my Disney hotel, for example, why would they want to work hard to get my rate reduced? Of course, repeat business, but every time my price goes down so does the commission, right?

You are absolutely correct and that's why most agents that
want to survive charge for reservations, changes and cancellations now. Any agent that is not doing this will be out
of business withing 5 years, I project. Go to the fee based
agents if you want good service, expect to pay for it but don't you pay all the other other professionals in your life? doctors,
accountants, lawyers,plumbers, etc. are paid for the time they
put in as well as the forms they file and research they do.
Learn to do it yourself or pay a professional.