I have felt a pull and a deep love for travel all of my life. I have wanted to be a travel advisor since I began working at a pharmacy super center when I was 18.
It wasn’t easy. I didn’t know where to start. So I put it out of my mind.. and out of my life.
Every few years, I would still daydream of my dream job – traveling the world relentlessly all while remotely helping design dream vacations for people. OK – I’m not kidding anyone, this is STILL the dream. I am not there YET. I am still walking through all the steps to learn and master my craft.
That is why this blog is so important and so REAL. I am almost three months in on building my dream career.
You, however, are still at the starting point. If you are reading this, more than likely, you have decided to make the plunge and begin your very own dream career in travel.
You have probably decided to go the Host Agency route, probably even narrowed the choices down a bit, but have not yet committed to one or another.
I highly recommend for you to check out FindaHostTravelAgency.com.
I am not getting paid for featuring their website, nor am I in anyway associated with it. I just believe it is a great resource for anyone serious about becoming a Travel Advisor.
I know I have mentioned before about the common place of people recruiting Travel Advisors to join their teams on social media before. Those companies do sometimes get a bad reputation, but like everything, what may be ideal for one person, may not work for another.
All I can do is share my experience to try and help you on your quest for the perfect Host Agency.
Initially, I did not sign up with the host I am currently with. I joined one of the Host Agencies that are in abundance on social media.
I am not naming names because, frankly, the agency didn’t seem all that bad.. it was just not a good fit for me.
Pros of the previous agency I was connected to:
- Being part of a “team” – Yes, I was “recruited” to join the pipeline of a team. Everyone was so so nice and if I stayed long enough to need any booking help, I have no doubt someone from that team would have dropped everything to help me.
- The advantage of “team” meetings. Granted most of the meeting videos I watched was “look how much money I made from my pipeline” and had absolutely nothing to do with selling travel, but they were fun.
- No waiting to qualify for “FAM” (familiarization) trips.
- No limit on booking trips for myself.
- The referral program – I actually really liked the idea of being able to build my own team and to make money off of their referral “hires” and travel reservations.
- They stood by their guarantee and refunded my full start up expenses when I decided not to continue with them within the first 30 days.
Cons of the previous agency I was connected to:
- Even though I could have my “own” company everything had to be marketed under their name. This was a HUGE one for me, being someone who had always dreamed of owning my own business. THIS is the one thing that completely severed the deal for me and you’re not told this upfront because most people simply just don’t know.
- Out of Date Training. Training is very important to me. I like things to be clear, concise, and I want to know how I can utilize modern resources to advance my business, my efficiency, and the quality of vacations I can offer my guest.
- The “referral” program seemed way more important to the company as a whole than the “Travel Agent” program. The referral program had a modern mobile app, exceptional way to keep up with your team and “referral” earnings. I’m pretty sure the “travel agent” program video’s were at least 20 years old and even the places they dubbed over to try and update the videos were outdated.
- It was expensive. Around $200 to get started, then around $60 a month to take advantage of both the referral and agent programs.
- Outdated online presence with sites only available as a subset format similar to: Theircompany.agentname.com.
The Host Agency I am currently with is amazing! I get ample amount of support, I have the option of hiring sub-agents, even my spouse can qualify as a sub-agent.
I currently get the base commission of 80%, which is way more than a lot of host agencies. The commissions can go all the way up to 95% based on sales brackets which is unheard of with most Host Agencies.
Direct employees of the Host Agency – the ones that support us advisors – truly care. They are not in this just for a paycheck. They love what they get to do and love helping us succeed.
Even, other fellow advisors will huddle around to help someone. It is incredible the amount of care advisors have for each other through social media groups, live, and online trainings, etc. Best part is that everything is focused around bettering each other as Travel Advisors and business owners!
Most importantly for me, they are my silent partner. I can do the things I do because they spent years building up a good name for themselves and they trust me enough to allow my company to continue building that good name as well as allowing me to use all their resources and benefits.
Also, a professional, easy to navigate website that has the option to map your own domain name is already included. Advisor’s can customize the website as much as they like or as little.
And a huge bonus… Drum roll please… Someone can literally start their own professional, high caliber travel business for less than $30 a month.
Bottom line: Check out FindaHostTravelAgency.com online or on YouTube for unbiased Host Agency reviews.
If you want to pick my brain, I would love to talk to you and share my experiences with you. You can schedule an appointment with me through this link or email me at leslie@HappyWanderTravel.com.
– Leslie
