Becoming a Travel Agent

[Lu-Lu]

Hi All, This is my first post although I have been reading for several months and hope you can point me in the right direction.

I have been lucky enough to be a stay at home mum for many years and would like to get back into the workforce and have decided to work in an industry that I have a real interest in rather than try and go back to what I use to do in my other life. I would like to train as a Travel Consultant with the goal of buying/owning my own agency and have the flexibility to work my own hours. I have started a Travel and Tourism course online throught the Australian College and am about half way through but feel I could learn so much faster and in more detail in an office/agent environment, not to mention it being more interesting.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to approach getting time in an Agency to train. I approached my local Flight Centre and they directed me to their website and have registered with them but don't hold out much hope. I have been to various job seeker sites but not much luck. I am happy to 'work' for nothing while I am trained and more than happy to do any type of work in an agency as I like a holistic approach to learning and training.

Any suggestions would be grateful, although I suspect once I finish my online course there will be more options for me.
TIA
M

 

[Danger]

Welcome Lu-Lu. AFF member Travel Guru is, I think, a travel agent. I will send him a private message on your behalf (as you do not have enough posts to do it yourself) and ask him to check out this thread.

 

[harvyk]

with the goal of buying/owning my own agency and have the flexibility to work my own hours

Good luck with your goal, but very few business owners have the flexibility to work their own hours, often it is a hard slog and you'll still be up working when everyone else has gone home, especially in the first few years.

Also don't "work for nothing", that is a good way to end up being used (plus the workplace ombudsman is cracking down on places who offer it). Get the appropriate qualifications and work properly, or if you do have an agency willing to do on the job training, still insist on being paid for it...

Good luck...

 

[Pollywaffle]

I approached my local Flight Centre and they directed me to their website and have registered with them but don't hold out much hope.

Only today on Facebook, Flight Centre were promoting links to their recruitment pages. I would not give up hope.

Also, why not try agencies that don't have shopfronts and operate call centres or corporate travel agencies? Our corporate agent is Voyager Travel. They have a careers page. See Voyager Travel :: Corporate, Group and Leisure travel services :: complete travel intelligence

 

[minkw]

Hi LuLu,

If your lookign for a good work/life balance and to work your own hours with great pay/commision I can reccomend

MTA travel
Travel Managers
Travel Counsellors

I tried to put the links in the above but for some reason it would not let me as I must have a higher post count, so best just to google the companies.

All these are home based consulting options, but you do need to have a bit of a network so if you have a lot of friends thats a step in the right direction, generally Travel Managers have the best comission split being 90/10, I have a friend whos earning about $320k pa with them, but naturally has no life.

However if you are new to the industry any of the Flight Centre group of companies (Escape Travel, Student Flight, FCM, Corp Traveler, CI Events etc etc) offer the best training, they also tend to recruit from outside the industry which is good in your case, but the main trait they look for is a passion for sales, as with the travel indusrty (agents) its all about sales and comission, cost of seats KPI's etc.

I work for an outbound wholesaler in Sydney, and we actually have a role at the moment in our support/documentation department, eventhough its not a consulting role, this is a step in the right direction, the salary from what I believe is only about 35k pa mon-fri, however, as all the people who have been in this role end up as a consultant. Message me and I can send you the details to the person in HR/OPS you need to contact,

Cheers, M

 

[Lu-Lu]

Thank you all for your responses. Some great ideas and I am currently waiting on a scheduled call time for a Flight Centre interview. I will check out all the links and ideas and keep plugging away.
Minkw - unfortunately I cannot message you as I don't have enough posts - can you message me and I get back to you? Thank you.

 

[casanovawa]

I have liked STA Travels facebook page and from time to time on there they post about holding information nights for recruiting travel agents in different states, another site or page you might want to become a member of and just see what comes up...

 

[minkw]

Hi LuLu,

Sorry just tried, I can't send you a PM, as I dont have a high enough post count either, dont know the reason why these restrictions are in place as I myself am new to this forum, perhaps and admin can "unlock" me so I can send you a message?

Thanks M

 

[nate89]

Hi LuLu,

Sorry just tried, I can't send you a PM, as I dont have a high enough post count either, dont know the reason why these restrictions are in place as I myself am new to this forum, perhaps and admin can "unlock" me so I can send you a message?

Thanks M

My understanding is it is a security feature of the forum. You have spam bots who sign up on the forum and then proceed to PM all its members, but by having a required post count first before being able to PM it makes it less likely thousands of members are irritated.

 

[minkw]

Ahh ok no worries,

Lulu, you can email me at min_kw at yahoo dot com dot au and I will forward you the details, sorry again the same reason the system does not let me publish an

Thanks M

 

[Travel Guru]

My advice would be to try and get a position with Flight Centre and spend a couple of years learning the ropes first hand on the job.

Having a Travel and Tourism won't be all that advantageous getting a position with Flight Centre as they like to train in house, but they're more looking for travel experience and sales ability.

I spent 5 years in the beast that is Flight Centre in consulting and managing and can tell you it's not an easy job, it's very sales and target driven and it wears you down after a while, but if its what you really want to do, bide your time and learn (and even more importantly make your mistakes as we all do) on their time.

Once you've done that and you've got some experience behind you I'd recommend what one of the other posters mentioned which is contracting with one of the work from home companies (dont get sucked into working from home for FC, their commission split is terrible), its what I do these days and unlike having a bricks and morter business and having all the stress of staff and licensing it provides me with a brilliant work/life balance and lets me focus all of my time on providing outstanding service to my clients that they rave about.

You'll find that working for someone like Flight Centre you're likely to average 40-50k a year full time, but once you get out on your own and spend a year or two working your butt off to build a good client base then 6 figures is definitely within "easy" reach.

On the topic of work from home companies, I'd caution you not to look strictly at what the commission splits are, yes Travel Managers provides the best at 90/10, but when you factor in all the other costs that aren't levied on someone contracting with say MTA Travel at 70/30, it works out far lower than it would otherwise appear.

I hope that helps, as someone said, don't go working for nothing, FC is definitely the way to go if only to get enough training to move on from there to another brand (eg Harvey World) etc.

TG

 

[markis10]

Hi LuLu,

Sorry just tried, I can't send you a PM, as I dont have a high enough post count either, dont know the reason why these restrictions are in place as I myself am new to this forum, perhaps and admin can "unlock" me so I can send you a message?

Thanks M

You can always ask mods to pass the message on!

 

[Lu-Lu]

Minkw - have emailed you. A big thanks.

 

[Lu-Lu]

Thanks Travelguru - I hear what you're saying, especially the 'make mistakes on their time'. I am very keen and ready to go but also understand I have to do my time to be able to offer the right service and get a full understanding of the industry.

It sounds like you are living my dream at the moment regarding work/life balance and i have to stay focused. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my post - it is appreciated. In fact this whole forum is invaluable.

Thanks again all......

 

[mr_osborne]

My advice would be to try and get a position with Flight Centre and spend a couple of years learning the ropes first hand on the job.

Having a Travel and Tourism won't be all that advantageous getting a position with Flight Centre as they like to train in house, but they're more looking for travel experience and sales ability.

I spent 5 years in the beast that is Flight Centre in consulting and managing and can tell you it's not an easy job, it's very sales and target driven and it wears you down after a while, but if its what you really want to do, bide your time and learn (and even more importantly make your mistakes as we all do) on their time.

Once you've done that and you've got some experience behind you I'd recommend what one of the other posters mentioned which is contracting with one of the work from home companies (dont get sucked into working from home for FC, their commission split is terrible), its what I do these days and unlike having a bricks and morter business and having all the stress of staff and licensing it provides me with a brilliant work/life balance and lets me focus all of my time on providing outstanding service to my clients that they rave about.

You'll find that working for someone like Flight Centre you're likely to average 40-50k a year full time, but once you get out on your own and spend a year or two working your butt off to build a good client base then 6 figures is definitely within "easy" reach.

On the topic of work from home companies, I'd caution you not to look strictly at what the commission splits are, yes Travel Managers provides the best at 90/10, but when you factor in all the other costs that aren't levied on someone contracting with say MTA Travel at 70/30, it works out far lower than it would otherwise appear.

I hope that helps, as someone said, don't go working for nothing, FC is definitely the way to go if only to get enough training to move on from there to another brand (eg Harvey World) etc.

TG

Very Informative , Thanks

 

[Simo]

Hi LuLu,

Sorry just tried, I can't send you a PM, as I dont have a high enough post count either, dont know the reason why these restrictions are in place as I myself am new to this forum, perhaps and admin can "unlock" me so I can send you a message?

Thanks M

You can send a PM via a moderator and they can forward it on for you.

The mod would be more than happy to help you out.

 

[juddles]

My advice would be to try and get a position with Flight Centre and spend a couple of years learning the ropes first hand on the job.
....
TG

Travel Guru, I like your post, but perhaps a ¨couple of years¨ with Flight Centre is excessive for someone truly motivated to learn. It appears the OP is a stay-at-home mum. Having had some experience with Flight Centre, I suspect that a couple of years working to their tune would be a nasty strain.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Just remember that if your work for Flight Centres it is expected that you will attend a lot of seminars in the evening after work finishes such as product launches and seminars for airlines, tour wholesalers etc as they want a good attendance factor. Whilst these are informative and a great source of information on products that would suit your clients, it will encroach on family time in the evenings. Not attending these functions may be seen as an act of disloyalty.

AFAIK for the first 3 months at FCI they don't pay you a salary but you may earn some commission from bookings. Perhaps it's a strategy to make you hungry for sales. Many people quit during this time & it makes you wonder with this turnover of staff whether FCI save quite a bit on paying wages.

As TG mentioned already they give you financial targets to meet & if you don't reach your sales targets expect a 'please report to the principal's office' type chat with your area manager who will question your commitment to your job.

I think it would be extremely difficult to juggle family life and a full time career in travel which it would be if it was your business. It may be easier & less stressful to be an employee of a travel agent if they could guarantee you set hours if you need to pick kids up from school day care etc. There will always be that client who has a 2.30pm appointment that will be running late if you've got to leave at 3.00pm to pick the kids up.

You would need a good support network of family and friends to be able to pick kids up & drop them off if you got tied up at work or you run the risk of burning the candle at both ends feeling like you're letting your employer down or letting your family down.

Many of the airlines have part time jobs for parents where they can gurantee you how many hours work you'll do eg a part timer may do 20 hours & work specific times so you can work that in with child care slots plus the work your partner does. Most airlines have an employment link on their website so you can apply on line. Not sure how far you live from the airport & whether this is an option for you.

At least working at an airport once your shift is over that's it, whereas in a travel agency situation there's always ongoing stuff needing attention that will be on your mind so much you will dream about it eg chasing up someones waitlist for them, having someone's tour cancelled by the operator requiring you to redo the whole itinerary again, a client not coming in on time to pay resulting in their airline booking autocancelling & the seats not able to be rebooked at that price.

 

[smit0847]

My brother works for Flight Centre. With my interest in travel I have observed his job with interest.

From an outsiders perspective here are my observations:

- I agree with what a lot of ozbeachbabe has said above - there is an expectation you will attend a night-time training session every 2 - 3 weeks. There is enthusiasm for these from the younger employees as there is usually lots of alcohol involved although for a mother I imagine this would be a frustrating waste of your time. 'Team building nights' involves drinking with your team until you throw up (i am not exaggerating).

- Pay per hour is very low (incl comissions). It may be a set hours job unlike working at an airport but there is so much overtime required. My brother often works until 8pm on Fridays if he has the weekend off. I would guess his hourly pay (incl comissions) to be just less than $20 per hour - he works long hours and doesnt get paid very much. He does enjoy the work and the people he works with though. He doesnt have time to read forums like this at work even though they relate to his job. FC tempt new employees with statements that they can earn 'up to $70,000 per year with their commissions included in their first few years'. Most don't earn anywhere near this.

- The sole benefit of the job is random, free, unexpected travel. He is offered more free and discounted trips than he has the time to take. I don't think you would be allowed to take additional unpaid leave to utilise these trips as there is usually only 4 - 5 staff in each store and they need to roster accordingly. Some of the trips sound fantastic, some sound terrible. Spending a week being shown 5 hotels each day in a 3rd world country is not my idea of a holiday. Trips are usually extremely rushed as you will have to be back at work on Monday morning or if they take a week of leave, back at work within 7 days. Dont expect to get 4 weeks off to jaunt through Europe - it will be more like 5 days to visit Germany and be back at your desk on day 7. You may go overseas Friday night and fly back Sunday afternoon. The ironic part of it is that even if he was given as much unpaid leave as he wanted he could not afford to go away all the time because the salary is so low. If you don't want to travel I would investigate an office admin type job with higher pay and fixed hours.

- make sure your store is in an affluent area. People in poor areas dont spend lots of money on their holidays.

- I think the work would be enjoyable but the pay per hour is not for me - its not a cruisey job.