Why not open your own "agency"?

[GDale]

Question for this very wise community: Given all the experience and knowledge a lot of us on this forum have in terms of flights and travel, have you ever considered opening up your own "travel agency", potentially even just to organise flights for yourself/friends/family?

Why I'm thinking this:

• Travel agency deregulation means you don't need any special accreditation per se to start one up in Australia
• Whilst IATA accreditation is hard to get, there are now pathways through intermediaries and travel tech companies that will allow you to book and issue tickets without that accreditation
• Even if you can't ticket at prices that'll beat what Skyscanner and friends can find, surely the ability to change/cancel your own tickets is a massive advantage? No intermediary that charges fees just to process a change, no incompetent agents who have no idea what they're doing, no wait times

The only cons I could think of:

• If you can't maintain the volume and get booted out by whichever intermediary you attach yourself to
• Doing silly things to reservations that result in debit memos being issued - so you'd really only want to establish the business for yourself, or have a trusted group of associates who will do things they truly understand
• Related to the second point, the usual risks of going into business with anyone else is that you may pay for their mistakes.

But still, if you can set up some good boundaries, surely it's an attractive proposition?

 

[Quickstatus]

The grass is always greener on the other side,…

No fees, just for private purposes?. What about AFTA accreditation requirements , annual fees, and mandatory liability insurance including professional liability.
Do we really think it’s just some training and a computer with internet access?

 

[SYD]

The grass is always greener on the other side,…

No fees, just for private purposes?. What about AFTA accreditation requirements , annual fees, and mandatory liability insurance including professional liability.
Do we really think it’s just some training and a computer with internet access?

There was another thread(s) on the topic a while back with similar responses.

 

[GDale]

The grass is always greener on the other side,…

No fees, just for private purposes?. What about AFTA accreditation requirements , annual fees, and mandatory liability insurance including professional liability.

Yep there would definitely be some fees, but they don't seem awfully high - a couple of hundred bucks for ASIC company registration is the main one it seems. AFTA is no longer a requirement for setting up an agency, particularly if you don't intend to sell to the general public anyway, so no fees there, and there's no requirement for any insurance (again, particularly if you're just ticketing for a closed group). So if you were to really go bare bones, it doesn't seem like it's that much of a burden?

Do we really think it’s just some training and a computer with internet access?

At the most fundamental level, isn't that the case? Particularly with advancements in travel software technology and sophisticated intermediaries, in a lot of cases you won't need to do things command line style like you would a decade or two back - a lot of the agent software now seems to have very well built user interfaces, not too dissimilar in style to general consumer sites (but of course does have plenty of things you don't want to be tinkering with if you don't understand it either). If it's basic functions like booking a ticket or making a change, the demos I've seen lead me to think it really is quite easy (again, I fully acknowledge that is what these demos are designed to make you think, and reality may be different) - and I think if I had access to such a thing, I personally would be pretty committed to exploring more of the interface/software over time to see if I can perform the more complex functions too.

A good example of what I'm talking about is Duffel - The best API to sell flights online – Duffel - very sleek for what is meant to be B2B software. You may not get agency commissions by going through them, but the real win would be the autonomy to control your own tickets I would've thought.

There was another thread(s) on the topic a while back with similar responses.

Ah apologies if the debate's already been had! I did do a search but couldn't find anything relevant.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

No mention of discounts to travel agents for hotels ect… a nice perk of being a travel agent

 

[drron]

Our neice has been in travel for 40 years and has a lot of experience. Headed Qantas travel for a while,the GM of ME bank travel and head of teaching travel at NSW TAFE for a while.
Her advice -Don't do it.

 

[burmans]

Our neice has been in travel for 40 years and has a lot of experience. Headed Qantas travel for a while,the GM of ME bank travel and head of teaching travel at NSW TAFE for a while.
Her advice -Don't do it.

Yeah but to be fair, closed shop, of course those with the in don’t want others to benefit. A bit like doctors not wanting pharmacists to dispense basic medicines and kill their golden goose.

I personally think this has been discounted here far too quickly, there certainly are people who do this in other jurisdictions successfully but maybe us Ozzie’s are a bit quick to play the it’s all too hard card, entrepreneurship doesn’t really come easy to us.

 

[The black sheep]

You get a great ticket for a friend - you explain that this is because it comes with restrictions - two days before they travel they want to change names and dates.... Enough said

 

[henrus]

My family joke about it all the time. Just becuase I tell you the best use of points doesn't mean I'm going to become a travel agent

The biggest problem long term is the lack of commission. Looking at VA, they now pay agents nothing for booking any domestic, trans tasman and discount international fares. It means to survive agents have to resort to scummy activities such as overpriced travel insurance or ripping people off by charging much more then it actually costs for flights.

 

[burmans]

You get a great ticket for a friend - you explain that this is because it comes with restrictions - two days before they travel they want to change names and dates.... Enough said

True, but this is where I suggest you need to be more careful with the friends you do this for.

 

[The black sheep]

Ha! All friends that need help do not understand the realities - that is why they are seeking elp in the first place

 

[burmans]

Can't comment on your friends but I do have a few friends who do actually understand the realities of FF bookings, but due to the time commitment involved think it's all too hard for them. These I help out.

Then there are some (well ok, most) who as you say don't understand, these I won't touch. Pretty easy to tell the difference in my experience, the first actually show an interest, the second their eyes glaze over after 15 seconds.

 

[Ade]

Ha! All friends that need help do not understand the realities - that is why they are seeking elp in the first place

Hmmm.. Yes and No ... See, I think people want the comfort of J, but want to pay discount Y. They think that (and largely based on what they see) anyone with points can & will always fly in the lap of luxury, which is not the case always. Also, some of my friends want the quickest, cheapest fare to get to their destination, however, what they may not fully understand is that the cheapest fare may not (and in most cases, will not) be the flexible fare. So it becomes challenging when they want to change the dates etc and they get upset when I explain that they are not able to, unless they are willing to pay a penalty and the difference in fare...

It is not so much that they don't understand the realities and hence seek help - they, for the lack of a better word, *assume* that you, as a seasoned traveller, is somehow able to whip a magic spell and change things the way they like with no extra cost .. this is where it becomes difficult .. And then after a few times things like this happen, they then go "you don't like to help me ... etc etc" which is not the case ...

 

[Ade]

Pretty easy to tell the difference in my experience, the first actually show an interest, the second their eyes glaze over after 15 seconds.

This is so true ... they sound very very interested initially and they *literally* doze off as we speak. My flatmate does this ... she will be very interested in how I travel, FF status, points, upgrades etc .. and halfway thru the convo, she will doze off... you can her eyes getting smaller and smaller !!!

 

[Quickstatus]

and there's no requirement for any insurance (again, particularly if you're just ticketing for a closed group).

Hmm,
A closed group of family and friends - "trusted group of associates "won't litigate or chase compo if flights delayed/cancelled? , yeah nah

Also can the occasional TA provide a good a service as a proper experienced TA?. Possibly but yeah nah

 

[RB]

My family joke about it all the time. Just becuase I tell you the best use of points doesn't mean I'm going to become a travel agent

The biggest problem long term is the lack of commission. Looking at VA, they now pay agents nothing for booking any domestic, trans tasman and discount international fares. It means to survive agents have to resort to scummy activities such as overpriced travel insurance or ripping people off by charging much more then it actually costs for flights.

View attachment 314773

Do you mean "Fee for Service"?

 

[henrus]

Do you mean "Fee for Service"?

Nope I'm talking about flight centre types who charge crazy cancellation fees on top of the airline but also the stories of someone walking into a travel agent and needing an urgent ticket due to a sick family member of the other side of the world, the staff then play games to see who can "mark up" the flights the most.

Flight Centre accused of 'ripping off' customers, underpaying staff in 'cult' workplace

Current and former workers at Flight Centre accuse the travel giant of "ripping off" customers, underpaying staff and promoting an alcohol-fuelled "cult-like" workplace.

www.abc.net.au

I'm all for an agent who'd charge a very clear fee and state from the beginning how much that fee is and when it applies but sadly most don't. In the last 10 years I've had to use an agent twice when the airline couldn't come anywhere near matching what the agent could book (one of those flights I booked 3 months ago for travel in a couple of months time).

 

[Brissy1]

This principle of the consumer becoming their own retailer sometimes works well.

A relative (lets call him dad) became an insurance broker; only wanted 1 client... himself.

Anyone with a SMSF is doing this thing.

Although in this suggested exercise I doubt the reward warrants the effort, but give it a go and let us know.

 

[ADFlyMore]

The only cons I could think of:

• Doing silly things to reservations that result in debit memos being issued - so you'd really only want to establish the business for yourself, or have a trusted group of associates who will do things they truly understand

ADM's can be significant, if you don't know about true international fares/ticketing. Not worth the hassle if it was just you. Too much risk

 

[drron]

And there are TAs out there that offer a really good service for cruises and hotels. Services such as Virtuoso,Stars - a Marriott booking platform that gets you more than base line loyalty benefits. Hyatt,Rosewood,Peninsula and Hilton are others that are offered but you need to have demonstrated you deserve to belong to the groups of TAs that can access those systems. Probably a reasonably high fee too I am not sure.
Starting from scratch you are unlikely to be able to offer this.
Our TA does operate as a fee for service with flight purchases. Pre Covid it was $50 per sector but they would halve their commission for that so often it was worth it for International sectors especially as they could access deals the ordinary traveller couldn't.
I will still get a quote from them if purchasing J or F lights for International travel because of this access.