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A Home Based Travel Agent books travel for customers and is paid a commission by suppliers on the booking. For bookings that suppliers do not pay a commission on, a Home Based Travel Agent can charge the client a service fee for his or her time. For example, if you were to book a hotel for a client, the hotel would then send a check to the agency after the client checked out. Most hotels pay 10% of the price of the hotel before taxes and fees. A $100 per night hotel reservation would mean $10 a night for the Home Based Travel Agent who made the booking. This hotel would cost the same whether the customer uses a travel agent or books through the hotel directly. In many cases the Home Based Travel Agent can get a better price. It costs the customer nothing to use the travel agent unless the Home Based Travel Agent charges service fees.
Can anyone do this? In order to work with suppliers, you must have an account set up with them. Most require an agency to hold an IATAN, CLIA or ARC number. IATAN stands for International Airlines Travel Agent Network. CLIA stands for Cruise Lines International Association. ARC stands for Airline Reporting Corporation. Each of these memberships requires different things including sales, money in the bank, experience or training in the industry, and membership fees. Many will require Errors and Omissions insurance of $1,000,000 or more.
For the average Home Based Travel Agent, membership is not a possibility with some organizations so the agent will team up with an agency and work as an independent agent or outside agent. There are also advantages of working with an agency because most Home Based Travel Agents cannot make enough in sales with a particular supplier to obtain higher commission levels and bonuses. Working with an agency with many agents can increase the commission percentages the
Home Based Travel Agent gets because of the joint sales of all the agents at the agency. Support is also a very important aspect of being a successful agent. Agents who do not work with others tend to feel more isolated and have to learn to do it on their own. Since no Home Based Travel Agent can have the experience of being everywhere in the world or staying at every hotel or resort, having others that you can get advice from is really helpful.
You can earn commission on many travel reservations. |
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Hotels
Rental Cars
Tour Packages
Cruises
Some airline tickets
International airline tickets |
Travel insurance
Ground transportation including limos
Attraction tickets
Train tickets
Plus many other things |
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Dugan's Travels has been in business since 1997. We have had outside agents since 1999. We currently have over 700 outside agents working with our agency either full time or part time, and are featured on many websites and books. |
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| Interest/Skills |
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People skills
Interested in the travel industry
Good at research
Flexible
Computer literate |
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| Selling Methods |
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Online, telephone, in person
There is no one way to make bookings. Each supplier is different. Many times you will book online. But there will be times where you need to call a supplier to make a booking. Many suppliers pay higher commissions if you book online, but there will be times that a supplier either does not offer online booking or you just need to speak to a human being. We don't have a website where you can book everything because there is no such thing. Any agency that tells you there is a computer system that allows you to make bookings with all suppliers, is not offering all the options for booking. |
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| Start-Up Costs |
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Dugan's Travels makes becoming a Home Based Travel Agent easy and affordable!
$130 payment at your sign up. Your renewals each year are $50.00. The renewal will be due by your anniversary date of signing up.
Monthly fee is $10 fee if you do not make $3000 or more sales in a month. It is due on the 15th of each month for the month before. So February 15th, a fee of $10 will be due if you do not book $3000 or more in sales January 1-31st. It is actual bookings. So if you book a Disney World vacation for $3500.00, you have met the quota.
We keep your costs low. We don't charge per ticket transactions or add to your fees. The only other expenses our agents pay is postage. We encourage our agents to request documents be mailed directly to them or the client to avoid postage costs. If the documents must be sent to Dugan's Travels, we will send them as cheaply as possible.
$130 sign up is Non- Refundable. |
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| Training and Sales Support |
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Dugan's Travels offers a great training program that allows you to train to be a Home Based Travel Agent when you have the time. We give you two months to do your training before your quota begins. For example, if you start in December, you have until February to train and then you will need to meet your quota. Most people get their training done in a few weeks. Some even get it done sooner.
Your Home Based Travel Agent training consists of reading the handbook, which is approximately 100 pages. Next you will complete a new agent orientation that includes different lessons on using websites of suppliers, booking different areas of travel such as rental cars, hotels, tour packages, or other travel arrangements. All your training is done 100% online so you can do it whenever it is convenient for you. If the lessons require homework, you will send it to the agent via email.
We have an agents-only website. It will help you with handling bookings, a chatroom to chat with other agents, an account list, newsletters, and so much more. It is constantly being updated with things our agents can use.
We are offer a buddy system where new agents can work with an experienced Home Based Travel Agent and split the commission 50/50. So if you would have made $100 on a booking you did on your own (your 75% of the total commission) you would then get $50.00 instead, and the other agent would get $50.00. You are not required at all to do this, but it is a way to have help and learn. You will need to work together on the booking as a team.
Our handbook is free. We don't charge extra for our handbook like so many hosts. Our Home Based Travel Agent training program is free also. To make it clearer, here are the exact things you will be looking at if joining the agency. |
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| Bonuses or Incentives |
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We offer each Home Based Travel Agent 75% commission. Most agencies offer 50-70%. This includes any bonus commissions. We also pay 75% on all service fees charged to your clients if you choose to charge service fees. You are not required to do so. Agents who stay with us for 3 years move up to 80% commission.
After you make $5000 in commission you will qualify for a travel agent ID card and that will allow you to take discounted trips such as cruises and receive many discounts at hotels, rental car companies, etc. You do get a CLIA card when you join the agency that will be accepted by some suppliers as identification for discounted trips. However, many times being paid your commission on the trip is better than doing a discounted trip. Suppliers have different requirements for travel agent rates and seminars. Some will require your IATAN card while others will accept your CLIA card. Only a Home Based Travel Agent who completes the training will be allowed to apply for a CLIA card. And CLIA also has some education requirements to obtain your card. |
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| Requirements |
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As a Home Based Travel Agent, you will need to be able to read emails regularly. If you are someone who checks their email once in a blue moon, your inbox will be filled up with emails from the agency. You need to be able to check emails for this to work, as we give out a lot of information in emails.
You need to be able to put some time into your business. We get a lot of people who want to be a Home Based Travel Agent, but don't want to put any time into it. They tell me they are too busy with other things to read the information I provide or to learn things.
You need to be willing to do research. Many times you will need to look on the internet or call suppliers to get information. A good Home Based Travel Agent is willing to venture off on their own and try to find answers.
You have to have the desire to learn and work at your business. You can't expect to learn things unless you try. Agents that have not done well are the ones who won't take the leap into trying new things.
You need to keep in touch with us. If things change for you or something comes up, we need to know. Contact us if you decide being a Home Based Travel Agent isn't right for you. You will still need to pay for any fees due to us, but we can terminate your contract.
You will go through a new agent orientation in order to start making bookings. You must go through it first before making bookings. Those with experience can contact me if they have something to book right away. There is an agent who will also make your bookings for you and you can split the commission if you need to book something before you complete your training.
As a new Home Based Travel Agent, you must make at least one booking in the first 6 months. If you cannot, you need to speak to us so that we can decide if we should continue the relationship. If after 6 months you have not made one booking, you will be removed from the chatlist and considered inactive.
You need to get along with others and be courteous to other agents. If you attack others and are difficult to work with, your contract will be terminated. It seems silly to have this but we have had some bad experiences with people in the past. |
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| Earnings |
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Your earnings as a Home Based Travel Agent will depend on what you book. Agents who do cruises, packages and groups tend to make more than the agent doing airline tickets, hotels, and cars. It doesn't depend so much on the time you have for your business as much as what you are actually booking. Someone booking 5 cruises a month at $2000 before taxes each, could earn $1125.00 a month in commissions. A $2000 cruise before taxes (that is what is commissionable) at 15% commission, would end up getting $225 after the agencies 25% is deducted. We have agents making as little as $20 a month to agents who are making $2000 or more a month. It just really depends. But the main point is that it is up to you, the Home Based Travel Agent, and the possibilities are endless.
Here is an example of earnings.
Carnival Cruise Line booking for a cruise with a base fare of $2000 (base fare means before taxes and non commissionable items).
Dugan's Travels will earn 16% of that. So $320.00. You earn 75% of all commissions you bring in. You would get $240.00 for that booking. It does not cost the client anymore money to use you. They would have paid $2000 or more going through the cruise line directly.
Many suppliers deal exclusively with agents. They will not deal with the public. So to get those suppliers' prices, the client must go through a travel agency.
You will make 75% off any commission or fee that you charge your clients. |
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