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Posts Tagged ‘home-based travel agent’

Credit Checks and Home-Based Agents

Monday, September 12th, 2011

I received this question from a potential home-based agent:

I emailed a potential host agency and they just emailed me back. They said that I had to be “bondable” and submit to a credit check.

I don’t own anything and I have bad credit. Does this preclude me from doing this at all? Is that the industry standard or just their rule?

Well, first of all, blindly emailing host agencies before you really understand the business is not the best strategy. Host agencies have their own agendas and their own interests which are not identical with yours. Once you have the Home-Based Travel Agent Success Course, this will not be a problem; you will have a firm understanding of the wide array of different types of host agencies and how they differ as well as more than 300 host agencies to start investigating.

But is having bad credit really something that will get you “blacklisted” in the travel agent community?

(more…)

Tags: home-based travel agent, host agency
Posted in Questions Answered | No Comments »

Mr. President, Travel Agents Are NOT Obsolete

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

President Obama recently caused a kerfuffle when he said during a campaign stop, “when was the last time somebody went to a bank teller instead of using the ATM, or used a travel agent instead of just going online? A lot of jobs that used to be out there requiring people now have become automated.”

Of course the President (and most Senators, Governors and Representatives) never use either bank tellers or travel agents. They have staff members to do that. My guess is that many of those staff members do use travel agents, for the simple reason that DC staffers have more important things to do than surf the ‘Net trying to shave five bucks off an airfare.
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Tags: home-based travel agent
Posted in The Travel Industry | 1 Comment »

Travel Agent Training That’s Always Up To Date

Saturday, June 26th, 2010

How up to date is the Home-Based Travel Agent Success Course?

One of the great advantages of providing the course in an electronic format is that I don’t have to wait months for the next edition to appear. If something changes in the industry, I can update the text and make it available immediately.

This is especially important for the Host Agency Directory. This is one segment of the travel distribution system that is in constant flux. So this module gets updated several times a year.

Of course, the printed version is a “moment in time,” but it is printed in very short print runs. That’s more costly, but it lets me update every month or two instead of every year or two as was the case when I was using printed textbooks.

Another major benefit of this course is that, once you are a student, you have lifetime access to the electronic version of the course including all future updates. And, of course, if you choose to get the print version you still get the electronic version, now and forever.

This is especially important, once again, for the Host Agency Directory. Since it is quite likely that you will deal with several host agencies over the course of your career, you can always download the latest version of the Directory when you are shopping for a new host.

Plus you can revisit the course whenever you wish, secure in the knowledge that the information you are reading reflects the current realities of this exciting profession.

So, the answer to the question, “How up to date is the Home-Based Travel Agent Success Course?” is . . . very!

And that will be true tomorrow and next month and next year.

Tags: home-based travel agent, host agency, travel agent course, travel agent training
Posted in About The Course | No Comments »

Home-Based Travel Agent: Is the Term Obsolete?

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

The term “home-based travel agent” has been around for nearly 20 years now. But some people in the industry say it’s time to toss it onto the dustbin of history. But does that really make sense? Or is this a tempest in a teapot?

When the phrase “home-based travel agent” first came into wide usage, in the early 1990s, it was use to refer to people who sold travel but who were not employees of accredited travel agencies.

Instead, they were outside sales reps for accredited travel agencies and they operated as independent contractors not employees, an important distinction. And, yes, almost all of them worked from home offices.

Today, many people using the same tactics are operating out of commercial premises. In fact, since it has become possible for so-called “home-based” agents to get their own IATA numbers (or the functional equivalent), many of these agents are now full-fledged agencies with their own string of sub-agents working as independent contractors. (more…)

Tags: home-based travel agent, independent contractor, travel agencies
Posted in The Travel Industry | 3 Comments »

Travel Agent Courses: 5 Mistakes To Avoid

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

Are you thinking of becoming a home-based travel agent? And are you considering a travel agent course to help you learn how to do it?

If so, this could be the most important article you’ll ever read because it can save you thousands of dollars and prevent you from making some costly mistakes at the beginning of your career.

Mistake #1: Don’t think you don’t need any travel agent training.

Yes, yes, you can learn the business in the “school of hard knocks. That’s what I did and it cost me several thousand dollars in dumb mistakes before I figured it all out.

Of course, when I got started, way back when, there weren’t a lot of options out there. That’s not true today.

There are a growing number of options available to you, which is both good and bad. Good because you have choice, bad because you run the risk of becoming confused and making some of the following mistakes. (more…)

Tags: gds training, home-based travel agent, travel agent course, travel agent training
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Home-Based Travel Agent Success Course is ‘Kindle-ready’

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

If you own a Kindle Wireless Reading Device, you can place the electronic files of your Home-Based Travel Agent Success Course on Amazon’s handy portable device.

All seven modules of the course are provided in PDF format and it is a simple matter to transfer them from your computer to your Kindle using the USB cord that comes with the Kindle. (Hint: It’s the power cord, just remove the plug element.)

For complete instructions on how to transfer the flies, click here.

This is a great alternative (or supplement) to storing the course modules just on your computer. And you may find it an attractive alternative to printing the course out. After all, the course contains over 850 pages of information! That’s a lot to lug around. (more…)

Tags: home-based travel agent, kindle
Posted in Announcements | No Comments »