How To Become a Work From Home Travel Agent (+ enjoy all the perks!)

Become a Work From Home Travel Agent - pic of family on the beach Do you wish to travel and explore the world and you often check out the best possible travel deals available? If you love to travel and talk about different destinations, making some money off of this passion by finding out how to become a work from home travel agent is an excellent idea.

But what does it take to become a travel agent from home? Where do you sign up? Where do you get the necessary training? Is it worth your time? And what are the prerequisites exactly?

We’ll be looking to answer these and more questions in a bit to uncover how to work from home as a travel agent.

Before getting into it, you may want to also consider other awesome work at home jobs such as working as a virtual assistant from home, proofreading jobs at home, or trying the best paid online focus groups for some fast money.

How To Become a Work From Home Travel Agent – Your Options

If you decide to go down this career path, you’ll be faced with one of two roads to take. The first entails working on your own and the other involves working via a host agency. You probably have no idea which one is better so let’s see what each option is all about.

1) The independent travel agent

Starting from scratch encompasses a little bit of work. Aside from coming up with a good name upon which to establish your brand, you’ll also need to set up a website or blog which will be your tool of the trade. It’ll be the bridge between services and people and to make it popular, it must, first and foremost, be helpful. Helpful in the way that it highlights little-known pointers on exotic destinations such as where to eat, when and where to visit, what to see/do etc.

If you elect to go it alone, know that advertising and bringing in new clients all rest squarely on your shoulders. Establishing good working rapport with various travel companies like cruise lines will also be one of your responsibilities. Keep in mind that you will also have to meet some licensing requirements and will need insurance.

2) Host agency employment

You might have noticed that the independent travel agent has a lot more on his/her plate and if you’d like to get around this, then a host agency is the way to go. Host agency jobs are often categorized as independent contractor positions – a fancy phrase for self-employment- and they come with a host of benefits.

The first being that you’re trained by experienced personnel who know exactly what you need to get started and keep going. You’ll have a tried-and-tested support team behind you to hold your hand as you work with clients highlighting the do’s and don’ts of success.

Don’t know where to start looking for a good host agency?

Consider the following:

• Nexion
• Dugan’s Travels
• Gifted Travel Network
• Avoya Travel

The Prerequisite Tools

To get started as a virtual travel agent at home, there are only a few things that you will need to set up at home:

• Internet access and the computer to go with it
• A home printer
• A phone line
• A computer headset for multitasking

In a nutshell, you just need to set up a home work station or office and you’re good to go as far as supplies are concerned.

Do You Need Training?

Before you embark on your travel agent journey, some training is not not necessarily a requirement but strongly recommended. As mentioned previously, you can get this training from reputable travel agencies if you are working with a host agency. It is worth noting that the kind of training may differ from one agent to another with each offering you a specific course to polish up your skills in what that company has in store for you.

Alternatively, you could also get the necessary training on your own. You can choose to learn online which has tons of information and courses (both free and paid) – or do it the old fashion way by going back to college.

Do you need a License?

Yes and no. Across America, most of the US states have no such bylaws in place. In other states, you’ll need to register first to get the green light. These states include:

• Florida
• Iowa
• California
• Delaware
• Hawaii
• Washington

If you live in any of these places, consult government outlets to find out more as the law still differs depending on state although you’ll generally need to register.

Your Job Description as a Travel Agent

Duties of a work-from-home travel agent include but are not limited to:

1) Booking, planning and researching travel events

Booking vacations will be among your primary roles and to do so you’ll need to know how to deep dive online to uncover important information. Clients’ needs will be different, so working each case will be unique with the only constant being that you have to find excellent offers on activities, hotels, etc.

2) Event coordination

Event coordination often comes with the job. For example, for a client with a destination wedding in mind, you may also need to provide extra assistance such as booking the venue and seamlessly syncing other aspects of the event aside from arranging travel plans.

Working for an agency, however, will lighten the load greatly as they’ll have deals ready for you and will take care of the ‘nitty-gritty’ part of the package.

At the end of the day, the most important duty is to provide excellent customer service. You must have the diligence and the willing heart to go the extra mile to look up travel options and ensure clients settle for nothing less than exactly what they want.

How Much Do Work From Home Travel Agents Make?

A case of saving the best for last, let’s delve into the good part with a question that’s certainly you’ve been asking yourself. How much money can you expect? Well, look forward to roughly $37,000 a year, which, going by the findings of the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, is the annual median wage.

If you do choose to work for yourself as an independent agency, there is always the potential to earn much more, or less, and the hours of work could be a dependent factor in how much money you make.

Other Perks

Besides getting paid, here are the benefits if you work from home as a travel agent:

• First to know about great deals: If you love to travel, then being on the front line of offers is a phenomenal perk. You can book trips before they’re sold out as well as get access to new travel opportunities.
• Deep discounts: Travel agents will find out about all the heavily discounted packages so that they can spread the word.
• Familiarization trips for free or big discount: Getaway venues like cruises and hotels believe experience is the best the teacher, therefore, they will offer you free trips so you could experience it first-hand and then spread the word to others.
• Tax deductions for travel: Travel trip expenses can count as work expenses so you may save a significant sum of money.

As you can see, after looking for how to become a work from home travel agent, it’s a pretty good job. In fact, it’s one of the most legit ways to earn money without leaving the comfort of your home. It’s not for everyone though, but if you love to travel and you enjoy interacting and helping people, it’s undoubtedly a good fit.

You Might Also Like:

How To Become a Work From Home Travel Agent

How To Become a Work From Home Travel Agent