This may sound unbelievable, but it happens more frequently that you might expect. Today I made a booking to Dubai for a family of 6 over Christmas and earned £9,638 in commission. That’s right! Just shy of £10,000 on a single booking! I had heard stories like this from people I have met in travel but I never believed it was possible until now. Having just started working in travel 5 months ago, I have been doing well, but the most I have earned on a single booking was £1,800 on a Dubai and Maldives Honeymoon that cost £10,000.

I didn’t even think I would get the booking!

Three weeks ago, I got a call from a solicitor who is married my best friend’s cousin. My best friend had told her cousin that I had started a travel business and should try me out for their annual Christmas vacation in Dubai. The family of 6 (2 parents, 3 kids and a mother in law) travel to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel every year flying on British Airways in Premium Economy. The family book their flights and hotel separately online wherever they can find the cheapest deal. 

They were very up-front about their requirements and said to me that they would only book with me if I could match or beat the best price they had found online. They would like to support me because of the recommendation from my friend Julie, but I had to beat £29,200. I set about trying looking for prices and was able to secure the exact itinerary I had been tasked with for £26,480 through a well known Dubai specialist tour operator that sells through travel agents. This worked out at just over 9% commission which is not great as I usually aim for 12% minimum. However, given the size of the transaction, I would still be earning just over £2,000 after the group’s share was deducted. 

I sent the quote to the client and waited. And then there was silence. 

Blast from the past

I don’t like to chase bookings. I provide a very good service and always stive to get my clients the best deals. If they don’t call me back after I have presented them with an itinerary, I don’t pressure them or do the hard sell. 

Having completely forgotten about the £30,000 Dubai Christmas holiday booking by now, I was surprised to get a call from the lawyer today. When he told me that he wanted to book, I should have been excited, but my initial reaction was that there was no way the price I quoted 3 weeks ago would still be available. I thought I would be open and honest and manage the client’s expectations. I told him that with Christmas just around the corner, the prices would most likely have gone up and getting the same deal may no longer be possible. The client responded with an equal measure of transparency by telling me that the prices had gone up and the best deal they could now find was over £36,000.

Taking on the challenge

Not one to shy away from a challenge, I thought I would give it a shot. I had heard from one of the training webinars the group runs that we have access to local suppliers known as Destination Management Companies around the world. So, instead of going back to the tour operator I had originally got the quote from, I decided I would try and package up the itinerary myself.

The dilemma

I couldn’t believe my eyes. After loading the flights, hotels, transfers and other bits and pieces into the system, the net price I was being shown was £19,562. I had to get up, take a deep breath, sit down again and look at what the system was showing me. There had to be some sort of a mistake. I checked, rechecked, had cup of tea and checked again. The price really was correct. 

Now I was faced with a dilemma. Do I take advantage of my desperate clients who were clearly not intending to book with me and only coming to me as a last resort and charge them £36,000 or honour the original price I had quoted of £29,200. 

The temptation was indeed powerful but I resisted! I was not however going to have my time wasted again so this time I called the client back and said I could get him the holiday for £29,200 and was holding the seats but needed the deposit of £750 per person paid by card whilst I was on the phone or the seats would be lost and the price would go up to £36,000. There was no hesitation and within the next 60 seconds I had £4,500 banked. Two hours later the balance had been transferred and the booking was confirmed. 

Working hard and working smart

I have learned that whilst I have to work hard, I can make a lot of money by working smart. In travel prices fluctuate than currencies and the stock market. There are often huge gains to be made by booking lower prices at the time the booking is confirmed. As a travel agent, I can hold a booking with an airline or a hotel without paying any money but guaranteeing the price. I can cancel the booking at any time without penalty within the defined time limits. So if prices go up, I know that I will not have to charge my clients more. If prices go down, I can cancel, rebook and make a lot of extra money!

Click here for more information and how to join The Travel Partner Group

https://join.travelpartnergroup.com/become-a-travel-agent/

The travel industry is vast and often the word travel agent is used to describe a number of different categories within the sector. There are four main categories that have the time travel agent applied to them and they are as follows:

• Travel agent
• Tour operator
• Business Travel Management

This blog article will help you understand the difference between each of the above.

Travel Agent

A Travel Agent essentially works on behalf of someone else. In the United Kingdom selling travel is a heavily regulated activity. Fundamentally, anyone selling a flight inclusive holiday to a member of the public must have an ATOL license. A travel agent does not need an ATOL license because they will sell on behalf of a principal or wholesaler that does have an ATOL license. The contract is between the customer and the principal and the travel agent earns a commission from the principal. Most principals have set up their wholesale businesses to allow travel agents to create itineraries and set their own markups. The principal will then issue a booking confirmation to the consumer in line with the selling price set by the travel agent. The difference between the net price and the sell price is paid to the travel agent as commission. 

Tour operator

A tour operator will either sell directly to the public, sell through travel agents or both. Tour operators that sell to both the public and through travel agents will generally operate what is known in the industry is price parity i.e. they will not sell directly to the public at a price less than the agent is able to sell the same product for. This ensures that the travel agent can still earn a commission without fear of being undercut by the wholesaler they are selling on behalf of. 

A tour operator must have an ATOL license which is regulated by the civil aviation authority. The CAA is a government department which monitors the financial position of its license holders on a monthly basis. The CAA insures that its members have well capitalised balance sheets and maintain a high level of financial liquidity to avoid the risk of insolvency and financial failure. In the event that an ATOL license holder does fail financially, the CAA will refund any customer of the ATOL holder thereby guaranteeing financial protection for consumers. Selling a flight inclusive holiday without an ATOL a license is illegal and can lead to criminal prosecution and even a jail sentence. 

The tour operator will negotiate rates with hotels, airlines, cruise lines, car-rental providers and other travel service providers. Some tour operators will even buy rooms at hotels and seats on flights in advance to guarantee themselves a minimum level of inventory to sell at a fixed purchase cost. When it gets close to departure date if a tour operator has unsold packages it will sell them at a massive discount to avoid the seat going empty or the hotel room remaining unused. A travel agent will still earn commission when selling these last minute distress packages. 

Business Travel Management

Larger companies work exclusively with a single travel management company. These companies negotiate corporate rates with key hotels and airlines that their corporate client uses most frequently. A travel management company will then organise travel for the employees of their client and build them on a monthly basis for the services. Travel management companies do not charge a mark up on the travel products they sell but rather a service fee for their time. They will also get commission from some suppliers like hotels and car rental operators. These companies will also get override incentives from airlines and hotels who will pay them an extra commission based on the amount of revenue they generate.

Specialist

Specialists can comprise tour operators and travel agents. This is the segment of leisure travel that is most profitable. By specialising in a specific segment of travel such as religious tourism, health and wellness, diving holidays or hiking tours you can target a niche segment of the market and charge a significant premium. Firstly, you will be able to negotiate exclusive rates with individual hotels, cruise lines and other product suppliers that you intend to promote and drive business to. In addition, you will use your specialist knowledge to create complex bespoke itineraries that incorporate the value savings that you know about and that are not readily accessible. You could even accompany your own group tours.

I have chosen to be a specialist as I can earn up to 30% margins on the bookings I do. With group tours that I escort, I earn as much as 45%. I have always loved diving and am a certified instructor. When I got in to the travel industry I decided to specialise in diving holidays. My leads come from my extended network of dive acquaintances and recently I have been arranging a number of school groups. For people who need a little bit more hand holding, I escort group tours to the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea and even as far as Australia. I will typically take between 18-25 people with me and typically earn £1,000 per person on these groups.

Travel partner group is not the first business to provide infrastructure for travel agents to set up and run their own business. In fact the pioneer of this business model is a company called Travel Counsellors. Yes- we are happy to tell you about the competition because what we offer is very different. In fact, we need to get this off our chest right now. The following companies all provide people that want to join the travel industry with the infrastructure to be able to set up their new business:

Directory of Home-Working Travel Agencies

You may be wondering why I would want to share a list of every homeworking travel agency group in the UK. Afterall, if I am recommending people to start a travel business with travel partner group, I should not technically want you to know who the competition is. Fortunately, I am not the travel partner group. I just operate my business under their license and therefore can write what I want. 

When I presented this article to Travel Partner Group they did not object to the contents because they believe that the product, service, technology and terms of remuneration that they offer is so far above all of the competition they are happy for people to check out what each of the other travel agency homeworking groups offer. Below is a list of companies in the UK to allow you to start your own travel business or operate as a travel agent homeworker.

• Hays Travel (haystravel.co.uk/careersexplorertravel.co.uk)
• Co-Op The Personal Travel Agents (www.jointhepersonaltravelagents.co.uk)
• Brilliant Travel (brillianttravel.co.uk)
• Holidaysplease (www.travelhomeworking.org)
• Travel Counsellors (people.travelcounsellors.com)
• Independent Travel Experts (thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk/independent-travel-experts)
• Personal Holiday Advisors (personalholidayadvisors.com)
• Personal Travel Consultants (www.personaltravelconsultants.com)
• Travel Specialists by Advantage (www.travel-specialists.co.uk)
• Simplexity Travel (simplexitytravel.com)
• Not Just Travel (notjusttravel.com)
• Travel-pa (join.travel-pa.com)
• GoCruise & Travel Franchise (https://www.joingocruiseandtravel.co.uk/)
• Inspire Homeworking (https://www.homeworkingbyinspire.co.uk/)
• Blue Bay Travel (https://bluebaytravel.co.uk/careers/homeworking)
• Designer Travel (http://recruitment.designertravel.co.uk/)
• Brilliant Travel (https://www.brillianttravel.co.uk/home-based-agents)
• Travology (https://www.travologytravel.co.uk/travel-homeworking)
• The holiday village (https://www.theholidayvillage.com/careers.phtml)
• Elite Travel (https://www.elitetravelgroup.co.uk/homeworkers)
• Arrive Relax Travel (https://www.arriverelaxtravel.com/homeworking-travel-agents/)
• Vertical Group (http://www.verticaltravelgroup.co.uk/homeworker-recruitment.php)

I am sure that a number of the travel homeworking groups listed above will be upset by what I have written in this blog article. To avoid causing any offence, I encourage you to check out everyone of the franchise travel operators on the list above before coming to travel partner group. That way you will only because someone I am proud to call one of my colleagues if you have examined and then rejected all the other travel umbrella organisations.

Reasons why you shouldn’t join another homeworking travel agency group

There are many reasons why you shouldn’t join other travel agency groups but below are just some of the key reasons:

Snobbery: Most homeworker travel agent groups in the UK believe that you should only start a homeworking travel business if you have experience working as a travel agent previously. These groups turn their noses up at anyone who is new to the industry. There are a few exceptions who do look to bring new entrants into the travel sector but I could count these on one hand. So even if you are accepted into one of these travel homework in groups you will always be a second-class citizen.

Fees: I have never understood why travel homeworking companies charge so much money to their members. Joining often costs many thousands of pounds in addition to monthly fees that are in the hundreds of pounds. A travel agency homeworking group should make money only if the agents make money. The level of fees charged to join and on an ongoing basis should reflect the value proposition and not treated as a cash injection for the homeworking travel group. 

Commissions: Homeworker travel agent groups like to keep a lot of your hard earned money. Some keep as much as 50% with the average across the board being in the region of 60%. I chose travel partner group because they allow me to keep up to 80% of the commission I generate. Even with the 20% that they keep, they invest the majority of that in helping you drive more business and securing conversions when you do get the enquiries.

Training and support: TPG don’t just welcome new entrants to the travel industry they actively thrive on this. It doesn’t matter how little your experience of the travel industry is, they give you the training and the ongoing support to ensure that you have all the knowledge and tools to succeed. I realised that with many of the other travel homeworking businesses, your success is irrelevant because they are earning so much money from the ongoing monthly fees they charge you. Even if you are only doing very few bookings a month, because they keep such a high share of your commission, you will always be profitable for them.

Technology: Just because travel agents aren’t as big as the online giants doesn’t mean that they don’t need the most cutting edge technology. We have invested in our technology to provide you with the level of sophistication enjoyed by some of the biggest online players in the market. This means that you can leverage the power of technology combined with a personalised service to really take market share away from online travel players. When I asked other travel homeworking organisations as to what technology they offered, the vast majority only had a very basic booking management tool. Most bookings would have to be done on the phone with a tour operator. Travel partner group have a system that brings in product and pricing with availability from hundreds of suppliers that allows me to create bespoke itineraries for my clients without having to call anyone. 

The distribution network is the cornerstone of the travel industry and there are multiple layers in the network- all of which earn money by distributing the product and services of the travel industry suppliers.

There are a number of distribution channels that suppliers in the travel industry use. These include:

• Affiliate Networks
• Meta Search Engines
• Online Travel Agents
• Retail Travel Agents
• Tour Operators
• Corporate Travel Management Operators
• Suppliers Direct Sell Website
• Suppliers Call Centre

Even the GDS system which travel agents use to book flights earn about £5 for every segment booked!

Who pays commission?

Anyone offering a product or selling a service in travel will either:

1. Pay commission
2. Offer a highly discounted net rate which you can mark up

The type of product and service suppliers that pay commission include, but are not limited to:

• Bed Banks (Hotel Only Suppliers)
• Tour Operators
• Excursion providers
• Airlines
• Car Hire Operators
• Cruise Lines
• Theme Parks
• Theatres and Shows
• Hotels
• Ground Transfer Providers

Who Earns the Commission

When you find a flight, hotel, holiday, car or any other travel product  on Google Flights, Kayak, Skyscanner, Travel Super Market or other Meta search site and then click through to the supplier’s website to book, the meta search engine will earn a commission from the booking or a payment for the click depending on their commercial arrangement.

When you book through a travel agent, the travel agent earns a commission. When you book through an OTA or Tour Operator, you will be paying a marked up rate on a discounted net price that they have negotiated with the supplier.

When you see a link to a travel supplier on a blog or information site, the site owner will earn a commission when the user they have directed to the travel provider makes a booking.

Even the hotel in destination that promotes local tours and excursions, or sells tickets to local attractions, theme parks or events earns a commission.

Companies like Expedia operate the Travel Agents Affiliate Programme where travel agents can earn up to 11% on any Expedia product for sale on the Expedia website.

You can earn that commission!

As a travel agent, you earn the commission if you are booking for clients, friends or family. If you are travelling yourself and have been unable to secure an industry discount, you would still save money by treating the commission as a discount on the rate you are paying for your personal travel

Negotiate for even more

As a travel agent, it is not unusual to negotiate on a rate. For example, you may have a client that wants to stay at a particular hotel and has seen rates online. You have access to the same rates and can earn a commission, but you want to make sure you offer a little bit extra to secure the booking. As a travel agent, you would email the director of sales or head of guest services at the hotel and would tell them you are trying to confirm a client at their hotel over one of their competitors but need to secure a value added benefit to confirm the booking. This could be a room upgrade, a guaranteed early check in or late check out or even access to the executive lounge. More often than not, a hotel will offer a benefit to secure a booking.

How much commission can I earn

Commission rates vary from supplier to supplier, but you can generally expect to earn a minimum of 10%. Some suppliers are more generous and pay as much as 25% although this will generally be for complex multi destination bookings. We have negotiated with many suppliers to enable our travel agents to earn between 12%-15% instead of their standard rate of 10%.

So book 2 adults and 2 children on a £3,000 family holiday to Dubai for 7 nights and you will earn a minimum of £300 and as much as £450 if the booking is with one of our preferred suppliers. Do 5 of these a month, and you walk away with £2,250!

Hotels operate a vast range of rates for the rooms in their hotels. They will have the standard rates, rates for the loyalty club members, corporate rates, leisure rates, advanced purchase rates and much more. Hotels even go as far as operating different rate for different nationalities.

We have explained the different rate options below and also when you would need to pay for the hotel reservation based on the different rate types.

Tour Operator Rates

Tour operator rates, which we provide you access with, are net rates (non commissionable). Most tour operator rates will offer a number of benefits over the rates featured on a hotel’s own direct sales channel such as their website and call centre. They key advantages are:

• Generally at least 20% – 25% less than the rates on the hotel’s direct sales channel
• Value added benefits which can include
  • Free Breakfast
  • Free Half Board and sometimes even Full Board and All Inclusive
  • Welcome gifts such as free drinks, fruit basket
  • Complimentary spa treatments
  • Complimentary meals
  • Free nights
  • Complimentary space available room upgrades
  • Honeymoon benefits and discounts
  • Free airport transfers
  • Discounts at hotel outlets on other services

Tour operator rates cannot be sold as a stand-alone product and must be packaged together with flights, cruise, car hire or tour. A tour operator rate will generally not need to be paid for until about 4 weeks before departure, UNLESS the rate is a non refundable rate, in which case it must be paid at the time of booking. You make money on these rates by adding a profit margin.

These rates will NOT qualify for points under the hotels loyalty programme.

Travel Agent Rates

These rates are generally identical to the rates offered on the hotel website. The key difference is that the rate will be commissionable. The typical rate of commission is between 10-12%. Most travel agent rates require the customer to pay on arrival at the hotel. The room is guaranteed by the customer’s credit card and generally can be cancelled up to 48 hours prior to arrival. Failure to cancel will generally result in a penalty of 1 night. Once the guest has paid the hotel for their stay, you will be entitled to claim your commission.  

These rates WILL qualify for points under the hotels loyalty programme.

Corporate Rates

Corporate rates are live and can be booked using the hotel’s travel agent booking platform or on the GDS. Your corporate client will have a Corporate code which you will use to access their rates. The corporate rate is commissionable in the same way as the travel agent rate. You secure the reservation with the client’s credit card and the client will pay upon check out. You will be entitled to claim your commission once the client has completed their stay.

Corporate rates will allow clients access to:

• Discounted Rates
• Value Added benefits
• Upgrades
• Bonus Miles

These rates WILL qualify for points under the hotels loyalty programme.

Educational Rates

Educational rates are offered by hotels to encourage agents to come and experience their product. The rationale behind this is that the agent will be able to promote the hotel more effectively and therefore more likely to sell it. Educational rates can be as much as 80% less than the standard hotel rates and therefore represent exceptionally good value. The only downside of this rate type is that you can only book one room for personal stay and therefore won’t help travel if you are travelling with your family.

Educational rates are also generally more limited in availability and also restrict stays to a maximum number of days – typically in the region of 3-5 days. To qualify for the educational rate, you will generally need to complete an online training programme with the hotel group. In addition you will need to present an IATA ID card at check in to qualify for this rate.

The educational rate requires you to guarantee the room with your credit card and pay for the room on the day of checkout.

Industry Discounted Rates

This is a straightforward discounted rate which travel agents can book for themselves for their personal travel and doesn’t come with the restrictions of the educational rate. The rates are often 50% less than the standard rates. You can generally book multiple rooms for longer stays. There is also generally more availability on industry discount rates than on educational rates. You will need to present an IATA ID card at check in to qualify for this rate.

The industry discount rate requires you to guarantee the room with your credit card and pay for the room on the day of checkout.

The Caveat

We have provide a general overview of the typical rules that apply to the different rate types. When it comes to booking a hotel room, you will see the exact rule that apply to the rate prior to confirming. These may differ to the general rules we have stated above.