Becoming a travel agent

[fairfarmhand]

I was thinking of working toward becoming a travel agent? Do people still use agents? Is this a viable part time job? Where do I start? Anyone do this?

 

 

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[73349]

My grandmother retired over a decade ago partly because there was less and less work as people starting mostly booking their own. I think she'd been doing it since the '70s. AAA still employs a few people, and I think a few people work as specialists (just Disney, for instance).

 

Does anybody you know use a travel agent? I wouldn't unless traveling to some really far corner of the Earth and I didn't speak the language or it wasn't reasonable to expect information from the internet. But if you have a specialty area in mind, maybe a region you're much more familiar with than other Americans, or speak another language very well, it might work--especially for retired travelers who might not want to do things online.

[Rachel]

My neighbor is sort of a travel agent, I'm not sure exactly what her title is. She is a fairly recent college graduate with a degree in international business. She works for a new travel agency in our area, but they focus on corporate travel which is a lot different.

[Lanny]

One of my cousins in So CA has been selling Cruises for many years. She is still still doing that from their home via phone for her clients. If you don't have some special expertise and a list of clients I would probably think it would be very tough to make any money. If you live near an airport with scheduled airline service better to try to get a job with an airline. I have done both. More travel opportunities for airline employees unless you are high up in a successful travel agency. Good luck!

 

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[Lanny]

Follow on. We use an OTA Online Travel Agency and I book our flights and buy our tickets from them.

 

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[Lanny]

If you live in a city where an airline has a Reservations Office that would be great. They will train you to do that work. Beware of scams suggesting travel benefits and high pay.

 

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[Arcadia]

One of my cousins in So CA has been selling Cruises for many years. She is still still doing that from their home via phone for her clients.

My former neighbor does the customer service and phone bookings for mainly Alaska cruises. The money is sporadic but she gets agent discount for family vacations and get to work from home. Her earnings are for fun money so she doesn't need a stable income.

 

ETA:

Hotels have travel booth for day tours that are manned by hotel staff. Those are usually part time. We saw those at Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton.

Edited July 7, 2017 by Arcadia

[Arctic Bunny]

In my neck of the woods, joining up as a travel agent has become like an MLM. Anybody who throws out a "any recommendations for a hotel in _____?" or similar Facebook post gets bombarded with offers from SAH moms who have signed up to be travel agents. Having said that, my mother is the only person I know who uses a travel agent, and I have no idea whether these people are making money or not, but I can't imagine it!

[Lanny]

My former neighbor does the customer service and phone bookings for mainly Alaska cruises. The money is sporadic but she gets agent discount for family vacations and get to work from home. Her earnings are for fun money so she doesn't need a stable income.

 

ETA:

Hotels have travel booth for day tours that are manned by hotel staff. Those are usually part time. We saw those at Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton.

 

Yes. My cousin in CA only does Cruises. They have been on many many cruises over the years.  Another specialty is Disney vacations.  If someone has genuine expertise in a Niche market, there is a possibility. Travel for the super rich, to Africa, to China, to Antarctica, etc. 

 

 If I were going to arrange a Cruise for our family, I would contact my Cousin, because I know there's a better chance of getting on the "right" ship, getting a better cabin, getting freebies, upgrades, etc., than if I were to book that myself, not knowing anything about cruises.

 

Stuff that I know about (airlines, hotels, car rentals) I do myself and IMO just about everyone should do that on an OTA (Online Travel Agency).  One reason I suggest that is that every additional person who is involved is one more path to a major error in the reservation.  

 

I doubt that the people in the hotels who arrange local sightseeing tours are considered to be Travel Agents by ASTA and I doubt that they qualify for any travel discounts, with the possible exception of within the hotel chain they work for.

[MEmama]

I agree it sounds like a rapidly dying industry. Perhaps if you know lots of tech-fearful seniors you could tap into that crowd. But even then....even my in laws manage to travel without an agency, and that's saying a lot.

 

If you are really set on the idea, I'd think you would need to be very specialized.