How You Can Earn More Commission With a Host Travel Agency

Starting a home based business as a travel agent means that you won’t be getting a paycheck at the end of each week from your employer. Instead, your earnings will typically come in the form of commission as well as service fees.

A commission is a percentage of the total cost of the booking that gets set aside for the travel agent who booked the trip. For example, if you book someone on a cruise that costs $1,000, and your commission from the cruise line comes in at 10 percent, then your earnings from booking that cruise will be approximately $100.

By working with a host travel agency, you may be able to increase your earnings as well as your total income for a number of reasons.

Commission and Travel Agent Host  Agencies

The host agency with whom you partner will be able to provide you with detailed information to help you understand how earning commission works within their organization.

There will likely be different options from which you can choose, so you should be sure to understand the commission structure before making a commitment and signing a contract.

The wonderful thing is that rather than getting small paychecks from a variety of travel vendors, agents partnered with a travel agent host agency normally receive a weekly or biweekly paycheck containing all of their collected commissions.

This means no bookkeeping hassles for you; instead you can focus on other aspects of growing your successful home based travel agency.

Agents Affiliated With Major Host Agencies Are Often Eligible for Higher Commissions

In exchange for the resources and benefits of working with a host agency, travel agents can expect to take home anywhere from 70 to 90 percent of their total earned commissions.

Your host agency can help you understand exactly how this works as you get started with them. But just so you know, you will be able to increase your earnings much more easily as part of a large host agency than trying to do it on your own without all the help and support a host agency can provide.

One reason travel agents can earn higher commissions with their host agency is because major vendors work in bulk with agencies. If 100 seats are sold for a cruise, which might be what you could accomplish over a year, the commission might remain at 10 percent.

However, the more you sell, the higher your commission will be, and while an individual might not be able to sell a huge number of seats within a year, all the agents combined at a host agency could, netting every individual travel agent a higher commission for each booking they make.

Special Extra Commissions From Vendors Through Host Agencies

Another way that an affiliation with a host agency can boost your commission is by forming strong bonds with vendors.

For example, your travel host agency might have a connection with a resort chain that offers vacation packages around the world. Along with the standard commission offered by this particular resort, agents who are affiliated with the travel agent host agency could enjoy additional bonus commissions every time they book a customer on one of the available vacation packages.

Something very important to remember is that a large host agency has a lot of clout with vendors and therefore is able to negotiate exclusive deals with them on behalf of their agents. Good for you, good for the agency, and good for the vendors!

Higher commissions and exclusive promotions are mutually beneficial as the vendors gain sales from preferred partnerships with travel agents working with a travel agent host agency.

Partnering with a host agency gives you resources such as continuing education, lead generation and technological assistance, but it can also boost your bottom line through increased commissions.

If you’re ready to make your home travel agency more successful, contact us today and let us help you get started on the right path!