Travel agent for yourself

[qf17]

Bit of a crazy thought. But has anyone tried learning how to use Amadeus or another travel agent booking platform to book their own paid travel and bypassing a TA? Every time I use a travel agent or change the date etc it’s at least $150. How difficult would it be to book one’s own travel? Has anyone tried it? Experiences? I keep thinking expertflyer + Amadeus would be a pretty golden combo.

 

[GDSman]

I’m not sure you could get a GDS contract without being an agent. The contracts are complex multi-year deals with all sorts of fees and rebates…that said I’ve been out of GDS for a while but I hadn’t heard it had changed.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Bit of a crazy thought. But has anyone tried learning how to use Amadeus or another travel agent booking platform to book their own paid travel and bypassing a TA? Every time I use a travel agent or change the date etc it’s at least $150. How difficult would it be to book one’s own travel? Has anyone tried it? Experiences? I keep thinking expertflyer + Amadeus would be a pretty golden combo.

What GDSman said + why not book direct with the airlines and make your own changes? You’d still have to pay change fees but you’d be cutting out the agency fees.

 

[Forg]

What GDSman said + why not book direct with the airlines and make your own changes? You’d still have to pay change fees but you’d be cutting out the agency fees.

How does it work when the agent can get cheaper fares than you can as a pleb straight from the airline?

I assume that some sort of agreements are required, which just having access to booking software wouldn’t get you?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

How does it work when the agent can get cheaper fares than you can as a pleb straight from the airline?

I assume that some sort of agreements are required, which just having access to booking software wouldn’t get you?

That’s true, agents can forego commission to reduce fares… and I guess there are some special deals? I dunno how trip.com gets these ‘$100 off’ coupons for china for example?

But I’m not sure a single operator booking single tickets would get those? I dunno… maybe a guest ion for madrooster!

 

[Cynicor]

So I did this, and now work as a travel agent (on the side) to cover the fees to the agency so I don’t make a loss.
I did it primarily to access hotel rates with a slight discount for the commission, which means I now can offer other people STARS, Prive, Hilton for Luxury etc.

Important points- there’s 0 or near 0 commission in airfares mostly, so booking via the airline is typically just as good. I get better oversight on fare classes and certain constructions that you can’t easily book online (circle/rtw mainly) but it’s actually a huge hassle and mostly a side gig to the hotels.

We don’t get cheaper airfares 99% of the time. Even when I quote someone and they say it’s cheaper, I’m not sure why a lot of the time- I suspect they just haven’t searched properly.
The savings would be minimal for an individual just doing personal and friends and family, almost certainly not enough to outweigh access costs.

Next- why access costs? Because you can’t get gds access or ticketing ability without a lot of hassle and paperwork, and typically a history of bookings etc (which is oddly circular). No small agency will want to take on someone who needs full training and has nothing to offer so you’d need to intern with FC or similar. And then you either take on a paid job or you pay as a contractor a set fee for access.

Bottom line- it’s all a hassle for 99.999% of people booking flights who will get nothing from it. The fees that agents charge cover the time that is not otherwise reimbursed- so if you book for others to try to make some money back in all its cost you, will you then charge them when they take a heap of your time or have issues? And you can’t send them to the airline direct now as you are the agent!!

Ask me anything you want though!