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Becoming an Associate Travel Agent is (probably) the Smartest Thing I've EVER DoneJan 05 '05 (Updated Feb 23 '12) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line I'm an Associate Travel Agent now. This is how I take dream vacations for very little prices.
I love to travel. As you can see by the reviews that I have written, I travel a lot. I will travel anywhere at least once. I love trying out different airlines, hotels, resorts, cruises... You name it. If it has to do with traveling, I'm game. Of course, traveling can get rather costly. Even if you have frequent flyer miles, the cost of plane tickets do add up. I was trying to get a good deal for my sister for her Spring Break, and the airfare is astronomical -- especially for college students. So, traveling is clearly an expensive hobby to have. Or, at least, it was. A good friend of mine is an Associate Travel Agent. We were talking a couple of weeks ago about travel, and I mentioned to him that I needed to book through him to get a good deal on my honeymoon. I also told him about my sister's Spring Break and mentioned that Craig and I are headed to Cape Cod for a week starting this Saturday. Brian (my friend) mentioned to me that he thought I should become an Associate Travel Agent, too, because of all of the travel benefits-- much less all of the commissions that I would get. I told him that I didn't have the money right now to get my IATAN card and Travel Agent's License at the moment. After all, that costs nearly $3000. I just don't have that money to invest at the moment. Then, Brian told me how I could become an Associate Travel Agent and get my IATA (not IATAN, mind you) card for a lot less than that. When he told me how much it was, I couldn't say no. I signed up to do it, studied for the test, took it and passed, filled out the application for my IATA card, sent in my photo and now I'm waiting for my IATA card to arrive. It was that easy. TRAVEL AGENT VS. ASSOCIATE TRAVEL AGENT To be honest, there really isn't that much of a difference between a Travel Agent and an Associate Travel Agent. An ATA works only part-time, which is why they get the IATA card instead of the IATAN card. You get almost all of the same benefits-- as far as I understand, you just don't get the MAJOR discounts for yourself from airlines directly. (Although some, like Air Tran, honors the IATA card like the IATAN card.) You make your commissions just like Travel Agents do. I don't know about working for a Travel Agency. What I do know, however, is that you can work from home. You can register with all sorts of travel sites with your IATA number so that you can book travel with them and earn commissions. This is exactly what I plan to do: Set up a website and work from my home making commissions. TRAVEL BENEFITS The biggest bonus out of everything for being an Associate Travel Agent are the FAM Trips, short for Familiarization Trips. This is where resorts, cruiselines, tour companies, etc. give people in the travel industry the opportunity to experience the travel they have to offer "at a fraction of the price." For example, I really want to go to Sandals somewhere for our honeymoon. After reading all sorts of reviews on the different Sandals on Epinions, I'm just more determined to go there. However, it is WAY expensive. I just priced Sandals Royal Bahamian. For a deluxe room, which is the lowest room category, is $232.29 per person per night, which makes it $464.58 per room. Sandals, however, offers an insane discount for Associate Travel Agents: $200 per night. That's for BOTH people. So, instead of a vacation costing $3252, it will cost just $1400. And it's for the highest class room available for when I go on my trip. Yeah, that was my reaction, too. Plus, there are AMAZING discounts on cruises, tours, hotels, basically dream vacations for next-to-nothing that I can take because I'm an ATA. Furthermore, I get FREE upgrades on airlines, cruises and at hotels. All I have to do is show them my IATA card and ask if they have any upgrades available for Associate Travel Agents. A lot of hotels even have discounts available for IATA members. You just call ahead to the hotel and ask them if they have an IATA rate. Most hotels will give you at least 50% off in the nicest room they have available. This can be last-minute, too! (Which would be PERFECT for a certain someone who goes away on spontaneous roadtrips all the time. COMMISSIONS When I book travel for anyone else, I get paid for doing it. I'm sure a lot of you reading this make your travel arrangements on Orbitz or other online travel search engines. I'm sure that friends and family come to you for help booking. Well, as an ATA, I get a commission for helping people with their travel arrangements. I'm getting paid for something that I would normally do anyway. I sent out an email to my friends in my email address book to let them know that I am an Associate Travel Agent. The response was unbelievable! So many people emailed me to see if I could get them good rates and such. Long story short, I made $280 in commission my first weekend doing this. And that was through the discount sites! I can also sign up with hotels, resorts, airlines, websites, etc. with my IATA number to become an agent for them. That means that I get even more options and an even better commission. Also, I am going to start my own website and affiliate with some of these places so that I can get a commission just by people clicking on the links to their sites through my site. Sweet. FURTHERMORE... Since I'm going to be doing so much traveling, that means that I can write more reviews of places on Epinions. Writing more reviews earns me more income share. Granted, it might not be a whole heck of a lot, but it's still something. Plus, I intend on visiting a lot of places that aren't reviewed or even listed on Epinions, so that will earn me some entries into the contests that Epinions has every month. And, who knows? I just might earn a hat (or two!) in the Travel category. One could only hope... SHARING THE WEALTH I can't believe how easy it was to become an Associate Travel Agent. I just had to pay a small fee, study the ATA guide given to me, and take an incredibly easy test to get my IATA card. I passed the test on the first try, filled out the application, sent in my photo and am now waiting for the card to arrive. I can't wait. I've already booked travel for a bunch of people through the website that I got through the company I signed up through. OH! That's another thing. Rather than worrying about signing up to be an affiliate with all of those travel sites, the parent company gives me a website, which they also maintain, for $19.95 a month. So, people can go to my website and book their own travel right now and I will make my commission! This is perfect for me, since I hate maintaining a website. Could you imagine how difficult it would be to keep updating a website with all travel deals and such? Good grief! Can you tell that I'm excited? I really am. I'm going away to Cape Cod from 1/8 - 1/13, and I'm thrilled. I already got a REALLY discounted price on Hilltop Suites and Inns for Friday night in CT. It's usually $129, and I am staying there for $56. PLUS, they said that they would bump us up to the jacuzzi suite if it is available FOR FREE!!! I am really looking forward to it. I highly recommend that you look into becoming an Associate Travel Agent if you do (or want to do) a lot of traveling. AN UPDATE - 3/9/07 Well, There has been SO much interest in getting these cards that I decided to open my OWN travel agency. you can check it out at http://www.candycaintravel.com.  |
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