Travel agents are paid by suppliers such as hotels, rental car companies, tour operators, cruise lines, and some airlines to make reservations. It does not cost the client anything more to use a travel agent. In fact, travel agent often can get even better prices than a customer. There are several suppliers who do not work with the public and only with travel agents.
Cruise lines can pay anywhere from 10% to 18% in commission to a travel agent. Standard commission from hotels is 10%.
So say you know someone who is booking a trip to Walt Disney World. He or she can book it with you and you can earn a commission off the sale. They would pay the same price as if they called Walt Disney Travel company themselves. Hotels, rental cars, packages, cruises, etc.. all offer a way to make a commission. You can also charge service fees to your clients if you would like to. Many agencies are now doing this.
You can also use our links to many online sites to earn a small amount. We are affiliated with most big travel websites.
You can also send clients to our online booking systems. However there is not a way for us to track who sends who to these websites. They only track the agency's sales as a whole, not broken down for each agent. But you can encourage your clients to use the websites and then notify you if they make a booking.
Here is an example of earnings.
Carnival Cruise Line booking for a cruise with a base fare of $2000 (base fare means before taxes and non commissionable items)
Dugan's Travels will earn 16% of that. So $320.00. You earn 75% of all commissions you bring in. You would get $240.00 for that booking. It does not cost the client anymore money to use you. They would have paid $2000 or more going through the cruise line directly.
Many suppliers deal exclusively with agents. They will not deal with the public. So to get those suppliers' prices, the client must go through a travel agency.
You will make 75% off any commission or fee that you charge your clients.
What commission levels are we at with suppliers?
Often we are asked what commission levels we are at with suppliers. We can assure you that we are at the top levels with many suppliers. However the commission percentage level does depend on what you book. For example, we might receive 15% commission with a supplier except for Las Vegas packages. They may only pay 10% on Las Vegas packages to any agency period.
When you join you get access to all our supplier information including commissions and log in information to their websites. You can always see exactly what the commission will be when you make a booking. If any question, you can call a supplier and find out what the commission would be.
Through Vacation.com we do get higher commission levels with suppliers. Every year suppliers determine our commission levels based on sales for the prior year.
How much will you make?
