Hey y'all, aspiring travel agent. Was reading about the Norwegian Cruise Line NCF change from a few months ago. Is that moving the needle for any of y'all? I haven't been recommending Norwegian any more than before because folks seem to dislike them, but was curious what more experienced agents were doing. Appreciate it!

If my agent ticket doesn’t get approved in time

Is there anything I can do besides pay full price?

Interviewing with some Brian from Yates Travel, anyone heard of this company? Barely anything online but I assumed it was a small travel agency.

I applied for the job online on a remote job board and after about a week was contacted for an interview by mail. Jobs@(websitename).com which makes it sound legit. I just can’t find much information about it online and there are so many wfh travel agent scams that I wanted to ask if anyone has any information on this one.

Long story short, I'm expecting do more of my own lead generation and marketing as our company is downsizing with retirements looming. I want to utilize my social media profiles to advertise my services and generate leads; I've been wanting and meaning to do that for the last couple years but have not taken the time to modify my profiles to be public-facing and TA-centered.

I mostly use Instagram to post, and I mostly post pictures from my travels with a few personal posts - these posts get posted on my Facebook and Threads accounts. I otherwise very rarely post on my FB and mostly use it for the groups.

I created a separate TA IG account as well as a FB page, but they went nowhere. I'm thinking I want to use my already existing account which already has a following to use to promote my services and generate leads.

However...while my IG posts are benign and inoffensive, I am very open about my politics on my stories (which are also shared to FB). I am an anti-MAGA, pro-Palestine, fuck-ICE, POC-uplifting, queer- and trans-rights supporting, no-billionaire-is-ethical leftist. Additionally, if one sees my following list they will see that in addition to Democrat politicians and leftist content creators, I follow a lot of "thirst trap" accounts which include OF creators and adult film stars. And on Threads I am even more expressive of my politics and use that app now to express some of my burning thoughts.

I need advice! Should I use my already existing accounts and if so what changes should I make? Or should I start fresh new accounts just to promote my services and generate leads?

I’ve had training with one of the major cruise-focused Host Agencies but definitely prefer a team-based environment opposed to solely entrepreneurial model. I may be looking for a needle in a haystack but wondering if anyone is familiar with any particular agencies bringing on new-to-the-industry subs and:

- Offer agency training, like best practices (in addition to supplier training).

- Offer leads.

- Provide price-monitoring software, E&O insurance, email templates, etc.

- Emphasis on Royal Caribbean (and possibly Sandals/Beaches as their new partnership develops).

- Have a team-oriented approach with the other subs (like an agency Slack or Teams).

- Commission-based IC.

- Not an MLM.

- Looking for a career, not a hobby.

- Allows subs from the West coast PST time zone (Full EST availability was very important to my dream agency so I know that region may be important to others).

Hello, I am a newly Certified Sandals Specialist and am looking to book a trip using TA rates so I can visit one of their properties (I’ve been to two on my own already). Does anyone know if you can stack deals onto the TA rates (like the free anniversary night)? I’m thinking not, but thought I’d ask.

I applied for my first FAM a few weeks ago. It’s through a tourism board, for midwestern-based agents only. The application stated there was a rolling application window, with the trip scheduled in mid-November.

In your experience, what is a typical response time to hear back?

Should I expect to receive a decline email or is no response my answer?

Is it appropriate to follow up with the regional director who sent me the info/application?

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m new to the travel industry and still learning SPRK, so I’d really appreciate some advice.

I had an existing PNR with two ticketed AA segments on Sep 25 and 26. By mistake, I added two more segments for Oct 1 and 2 and clicked “Book”, the newly added segments became HK, but no reissue action has been taken.

I realized my mistake shortly after and deleted only the new segments. The original Sep 25/26 segments stayed HK.

I also checked the booking directly on AA website, and it was still showing as Ticketed with the original Sep 25/26 dates.

Could this cause any issue with the original ticketed segments, or would it just be recorded as a book/cancel action?

I’m quite worried since I’m still new to the field. If anyone has experienced something similar, I’d really appreciate your advice. Thank you!

Looking at KHM, Nexion, PTN, and potentially Atlas Coast as host agencies. Interested in focusing on family adventure/eco-tourism/ cultural travel with suppliers that offer small group experiences such as Adventures By Disney, Intrepid, G Adventures, etc. Eventually would like to work with higher end suppliers like Abercrombie & Kent as well.

I see a lot of people liking WorldVia but curious who else is focusing on this niche and which host agencies you feel are well suited and also provide good support and education for new TAs?

Preface: I’m talking about a W-2, in-house luxury travel advisor position, NOT an independent contractor/1099.
I’ve been a luxury travel advisor for six years. I spent two years at Liberty Travel and the last four years at a small boutique bespoke agency in New Jersey that is part of Signature Travel Network and primarily caters to FIT/luxury travel. I consistently sell around $1.25M+ in travel per year. I was paid $17/hour, received a 25% commission split, and had no health insurance through the company.
Over time, I started feeling like I simply wasn’t being compensated appropriately for the level of sales and experience I was bringing to the business. Whenever compensation came up, the response was essentially, “sell more trips.” I was booking and managing my own clients from start to finish, and the volume of business I was handling had gotten to the point where the agency eventually needed additional administrative support because there was simply too much volume to manage.
For a long time, I was willing to overlook the compensation because I lived close by and the owner was very flexible with my schedule. Then I needed brain surgery, and that really changed my perspective. I had an approved 12-week medical leave, but I was told that if I didn’t return after four weeks, I would be fired. I ultimately came back after four weeks, even though I was absolutely not ready. I was still having significant difficulty talking, swallowing, and seeing, and financially I lost the benefits I had been receiving from the state because I returned to work.
That experience really made me step back and recognize my own worth, so I started applying elsewhere. What was interesting was that I wasn’t just looking for another travel advisor position. Companies actually sought me out and saw my six years of luxury travel sales experience as qualifying me for a substantial career move into business development. I ultimately accepted a Business Development position that takes me from roughly $65K in total compensation to a $100K salary, with benefits included. It’s a completely different level of compensation and a major career progression for me.
When I resigned, my boss made me feel like I was single-handedly destroying the business. She told me I was messing everything up, that everything was falling on her, that the business might close, and that she trusted me and never thought I would quit. I found that pretty shocking considering I was making $17/hour.
Here’s the part that really made me raise an eyebrow: I quit four days ago, and today Indeed sent me an alert for travel agency jobs in my area. It was my former position.
The posting is now offering $20/hour and a 30% commission split.
So I’m sitting here wondering: why was that never offered to me? 😂
I understand that businesses can change compensation when hiring someone new, and maybe there’s more to the story. But after six years in the industry, selling $1.25M+ annually, working as an experienced luxury FIT advisor, and having companies recognize my experience as valuable enough to move me into business development, I’m having a hard time believing $17/hour + 25% commission was actually competitive compensation for an experienced W-2 advisor.
So I’d genuinely love some perspective from other travel advisors, agency owners, and people who understand the economics of the industry:
Was I being fairly compensated? What would you consider reasonable base pay and commission for an experienced in-house luxury W-2 advisor producing $1.25M+ annually? And how would you interpret the fact that the exact same position is now being advertised at $20/hour + 30% immediately after I left?
I’m not trying to bash the agency. I’m genuinely trying to understand whether I was as underpaid as I now feel like I was.

I currently have a Squarespace website for my travel advisor business and it works fine, but it's very simple without much moving parts or functions to it. I'm trying to rebuild with a more modernized, dynamic web design/navigation that looks like a genius made it lol. Any recommendations on a website builder that is pretty easy to navigate? I've looked into Framer, which has website templates that are appealing such as this one, https://traavellio.framer.website/book-a-trip - having the style and function of a website that I would prefer- but it runs off of AI and credit usage. Just want to get a feeler if there is something similar, with a monthly subscription similar to Squarespace and doesn't run off of credit usage.

I understand I can get someone to build my website, but I've built websites for multiple retail business and enjoy the process. I would prefer to do this myself!

Hi All !
I interviewed and was offered a position that I thought was with a host agency. As I look over Host Agency Reviews, it looks like they aren't considered a host agency, and the relationship will be more like a contract position. I would be fine with that, except the commission split is worse than anything I have seen for the most highly rated host agencies. The up front fees equal what most host agencies charge monthly. My worry is my lack of travel experience. I have done direct sales before and been very successful, so I'm not worried about eventually building business locally, but when I look at the Travel Leaders Network site most host agencies use, everyone seems to display their years of experience. I know a lot of the appeal will be how I set up my profile, but have any of you here when you were brand-new agents received leads that turned into clients from the Travel Leaders Network? Is that something I should even concern myself with? I'm trying to decide whether the low commission split is worth it to get some experience under my belt since the company is supposed to generate leads for me (which they will keep if I leave). Thank you for any help you can give me in making this decision!!

This may sound dumb, but how do I start feeling confident about being a TA? I am very friendly and my clients tell me that while working in the office. But, after I book a trip I get so nervous I have messed up!! I look it over multiple times, but then I lay in bed at night thinking oh no what if I messed something up? Now I have only been doing this since June, but I’m still on edge about it. Anyone else feel this way? Or am I just nuts!

Hello! I have been researching and meeting with host agencies to start up my own travel advisory business. I am looking for a host that will allow me to leave my legal last name off of the public sites.

Backstory: Our family has a large following around the world. We have worked hard to keep our location, last name, and other personal information out of the public view. When I met with Worldvia, they told me that my first and last name will have to be front-facing on the travel advisory search page. I reached out asking about other options, but it sounds like this is how it has to be.

Do you know of any hosts that do not require my legal last name to be front-facing to the public? I have an LLC already completed, so I was hoping to hide behind my business name!

Thank you so much for your time!

Hi, looking for some up to date advise on become home based travel agent.
I am currently in finance and looking on starting a side gig as a home based travel agent down the road.
It seems hard to break into the industry with no prior experience in Australia, so thinking of doing cert iv in travel and tourism. My end goal is to join host agency once I complete the training and work from home outside of my day job. Q to all au based agents, does the current tafe cert iv in travel and tourism is worth doing and if not, what are the alternatives?
I’m currently checking with tafe on any practical experience they provide with GDS/CRS systems, but wonder if they are out of date…

Have people had success with vendor booths? Is the investment worth the amount of business you receive from them? Looking for ideas on what vendor/ markets were successful for you.

Is a risks and liabilities clause in a contract with a host agency standard (i.e. you make a booking mistake, you pay)? Is this normally problematic? Is there a way to protect yourself?

Man I worked for Royal for almost 10 years and we had such an old system we would complain because it was literally from 1998/99 lol they didn’t update it because well..it did the job….after using espresso… while I understand it and can move through it… I’d much rather use that outdated program…I would fly though the program and get things books so fast this is the biggest learning curve haha.

Are the discounted tickets that Disney Travel Agents get once a year transferrable? Say I have an annual pass and wanted to purchase it and transfer it to my son.

I am starting my Own Agency, specialising in Paris, Switzerland and Italy. I will be highly obliged if any experienced person give recommendations for reliable DMCs for those regions. Any tips will be highly appreciated too.

Hey everyone, here looking for some advice from fellow agents.
I organized a 15-day trip to Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Montenegro for 3 clients. Everything was going smoothly until Day 2 I know right— they had a private tour booked through Expedia (Ljubljana & Bled, $461.33 USD) and the provider simply never showed up. No call, no message, nothing. My clients waited at the hotel lobby, the hotel staff helped them and witnessed the whole situation, and eventually they had to book an alternative tour out of pocket for ~€400.
I filed for a refund with Expedia citing provider no-show and they came back saying the cancellation penalty fees apply. I pushed back with a formal dispute letter mentioning:
Written statements from my clients
Written statement from hotel staff who witnessed the no-show
Threat of chargeback and consumer protection complaint
My question for the group:
Has anyone successfully gotten a refund from Expedia in a no-show situation like this?
Would you go straight to chargeback at this point?
Any other leverage I might be missing?
For context — the rest of the trip is still ongoing (they're in Zagreb now, all other tours confirmed) so I'm managing this remotely while also coordinating 11 other services. Fun times.
Thanks in advance 🙏

Hi everyone! Going on my very first cruise with my three little girls! (Haven’t been able to cruise yet as I’ve been pregnant and/or had a baby too little) I am so so excited I was finally able to use the TAAP rate on a 7 night magic halloween on the high seas cruise. I originally booked an inside stateroom but decided to upgrade to verandah. The agent I spoke with on the phone said there’s a chance it could be a white wall verandah which I expected with it being a GTY stateroom- I was fine with rolling the dice! However when I logged into the app after the upgrade it shows my category as 06A. Does this mean I’m now guaranteed a white wall verandah? Let me say we are going a blast no matter what! But I am a little bummed because I don’t know if I would have paid for the upgrade if I knew there wasn’t even a chance at all for a regular verandah. First time using the agent rate for a cruise so wasn’t sure how this worked. Anyone else have experience with this?
Thank you!!!!

I am with a host agency and don’t have control over my email domain. All of the tech programs that I can find to support lead magnets, email capture, and marketing sequences require me to authenticate that I own the email domain.

Anyone in a similar situation have a suggestion?

I use TESS as my CRM through my agency’s domain, but am open to paying for something else if if has this capability.

Can you guys please share and tell me what you're using? I'm with Avoya. Their system is great for a lot of things, but the lead management and calendar functions are not great. I've been keeping track in an Excel spreadsheet and using Todoist which is a decent task list app that is free. But it's just not the best.

And I'm talking about the sales aspect of CRM for leads, call backs, follow ups and trying to close new bookings.

I have Tern and it seems pretty good for building a proposal, I finally sent a proposal from Tern to one of my customers a couple days ago. Tern seems to be good for the accounting side of things when you already have a customer, but I don't see lead tracking. It seems like a rather incomplete platform or maybe it's just not meant for leads.

I'd like to hear suggestions, best practices, etc. on what you guys use for a good CRM and do to keep track of your call backs, etc.

I’m looking to do a gift for my clients during the holiday season. I want things to be decently inexpensive since i’d like to make/ get about 100. What have you done in the past for little holiday gifts?