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Originally Posted by himynameisjan
Not in this or any other lifetime.
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Good answer!
We have a major MLM operation in the USA, and they're so notorious that major tour operators have stopped allowing them to book with them. NOT a good idea to get involved with!
farmgirl....
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This hooks you up with all the discounted pricing, which after checking their website out is similar to that of selloffvacations here. It pays for your insurance, training and licence. The way I read it, pretty much what we do is get the customers,they do the booking etc.
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What does this mean?
Discounted pricing? YOU get the client but THEY book the trip? None of that makes much sense to me. When pricing a trip, if you do the research to the best of your ability, then you will be offering your client the best possible price you can find. And that's all you can do. Sometimes another agent or agency will beat your price - can't win 'um all, part of the job. Sometimes your reputation will sell itself, sometimes people will book with you even if you do have slightly higher prices. But if not, you move along and chalk it up to that big 'ol world out there - can't please everyone. Some agents add fees, but in this competitive world, I've never found that to be possible, not for me anyway. To each his own. You'll find that more at brick and mortar agencies. Some agencies discount too, so you have to compete against that. I don't discount, at the end of the day, we all go to work for a reason - to support our families and I feel that I work very hard to make every nickle I see. And THEY are booking the trip? What's that about? I can tell you that I'd never hand over a client to an agency for them to book. I would never trust a client to anyone other than myself. That's part of what makes you successful - your personalized attention and knowledge. And if it was easy to GET clients, they wouldn't need YOU to do it! That's the hard part! They're not walking through your door if your home based. Eventually you figure out how to market yourself. I have found word of mouth is extremely important, and 90% of my business is referrals from past clients.
A host agency is when you use someone else's "number" to book your trip. It's an agency IATA number, CLIA number, etc. They provide insurance and you pay yearly for it (it's not expensive), your personal IATAN card and/or CLIA card comes through them - you pay these fees directly to the issuer. You can join consortium's, such as Vacation.com. The host agency keeps a portion of your commission, that's something you have to work out with them as there are various splits - usually depending on experience and volume. Host agencies differ - some provide a lot of education and support, and if you need that, you'll have to find that kind of host. Some just leave you alone and let you do your own thing - that's my host agency. I require no support or education, which is good because I know more than "they" do!
They just take in the commission checks, keep their cut and send me the rest.
Don't know what else to tell you, and the current fuel crisis is being compared to the 9/11 slump so maybe not a great time to get into this business. But again, if you don't mind starting slow, making only a little money for quite some time and working your way up, it can be done.