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The Facts
There is so much information on the Internet regarding working from home as a travel agent. There are websites advertising "travel agency in a box" for $499. There are many programs that say you will become a travel agent, but in actuality you will refer people to a 1-800 where someone else will do the work and you will have no say or input in the trip. When the person has a problem, you will have no way to help. You also learn nothing about the business. If unhappy with the agency you are working with and want to leave to work with another agency, you walk away without training or experience.
There are many agencies willing to take on independent agents but are not prepared to handle the needs of an independent agent. There are agencies that want the business from independent agents, but are not willing to pay a decent commission or help the agents learn about the industry. Even agents with years experience as travel agents need help to learn to become a homebased agent. There are many issues that a traditional agent does not deal with that a homebased agent does on a daily basis. One major problem with agencies offering independent agent opportunities is they have never dealt with what a homebased agent goes through. They have not seen the world through a homebased agent's eyes.
Jennifer Dugan who has been an outside agent for over 12 years owns Dugan's Travels. She was with several host agencies and saw what she needed as an independent agent and took some of the good things other agencies offered but wanted to offer as much as possible to agents. We actually train agents and help you will your day-to-day operations. We don't sign you up and then tell you are on your own.
We are very unique in what we offer because our agency is made up of a group of people who help one another. When you need help, you have so many people who are willing to help. You are not alone with Dugan's Travels. Your business matters to us because we look at things as a group. If you sell a cruise that helps the agency because that is more sales and increases our sales level to get higher commission and pull in the industry. Here are some things you get with working with our agency.
Our support system includes an email chatlist. You send one message to an email address and that message goes to all the agents with Dugan's Travels. If you need help with a Hawaii trip, you send one message for help and get help from all different agents. Plus all the old messages are stored on a website and you can search for answers on the website.
We believe you should not be told how to run your business. We are very flexible in how you can work with us. You can work as much as you want. We don't require a certain amount in sales. We do have a small fee if you don't make $3000 or more in sales. But this is just to encourage agents to produce some sales in a month. The small quota of $3000 can be met by just doing one or two bookings. Most agents meet it by booking a cruise or tour package.
* Dugan's Travels offering a great training program that allows you to work on your training when you can. We give you two months to do your training before your quota begins. For example, if you start in December, you have until February to train and then you will need to meet your quota. Most people get their training done in a few weeks. Some even get it done sooner. Your training consists of reading the handbook, which is approximately 100 pages. Next you will complete a new agent orientation that includes different lessons on using websites of suppliers, booking different areas of travel such as rental cars, hotels, tour packages, or other travel arrangements. All your training is done 100% online so you can do it whenever it is convenient for you. If the lessons require homework, you will send it to the agent via email.
*While most host agency actually charge inexperienced people to join their host agency extra, we welcome those without experience. You will not be charged extra and hit with extra fees if you do not have travel agent experience.
*We have an agents' only website. It will help you with handling bookings, a chatroom to chat with other agents, account list, newsletters, and so much more. It is constantly being updated with things our agents can use.
*We believe in using the Internet to our advantage. We have access to websites to book with suppliers and let you send in all your document and commission claims via email. There are so many websites available for agents to make bookings and get extra commission. So you can work whenever you want to.
*We offer 75% commission. Most agencies offer 50-70%. This includes any bonus commissions. We also pay 75% on all service fees charged to your clients if you choose to charge service fees. You are not required to do so. Agents who stay with us for 3 years move up to 80% commission.
*We offer a 100% commission set up also. It costs $5130.00 for new agents or $5000 if you have already joined the agency. It is a one-time fee. You will no longer have to pay a monthly fee and you will receive FULL commission on all your bookings. If you have E&O thru the agency, you will still need to pay your yearly $50 renewal for it.
*We keep your costs low. We don't charge per ticket transactions or add to your fees. The only other expenses our agents pay is postage. We encourage our agents to request documents be mailed directly to them or the client to avoid postage costs. If the documents must be sent to Dugan's Travels, we will send them as cheaply as possible.
*We are offer a buddy system where new agents can work with an experienced agent and split the commission 50/50. So if you would have made $100 on a booking you did on your own (your 75% of the total commission) you would then get $50 instead and the other agent would get $50.00. You are not required at all to do this, but is a way to have help and learn. You will need to work together on the booking as a team.
*Our handbook is free. We don't charge extra for our handbook like so many hosts. Our training program is free also. To make it clearer, here are the exact things you will be looking at if joining the agency.
*Monthly fee is $10 fee if you do not make $3000 or more sales in a month. It is due on the 15th of each month for the month before. So February 15th, a fee of $10 will be due if you do not book $3000 or more in sales January 1-31st. It is actual bookings. So if you book a Disney World vacation for $3500.00, you have met the quota.
*$130 payment at your sign up. Your renewals each year are $50.00. The renewal will be due by your anniversary date of signing up.
*Postage can be deducted from your commission or send it in via check or Paypal. We can also charge your credit card if needed.
*You can also use our online booking sites on your website free of charge. We do not have the ability to track what is booked on your website so you need to get your clients to notify you when they make a booking. This is important regardless so if there are any problems you can be notified. If you are wanting to speak to Jennifer directly, you will have to schedule an appt. She is the only one running the agency in order to keep costs down and offer this type of commission structure. As you can imagine the phone calls are hard to keep up with between customers, suppliers, and agents. If you do want to speak to her, you will need to get an appt and it will be no longer than 15 minutes. You will also need to call the agency so it is on your dime and not the agency's. You can also set up a time to meet in a chatroom to keep your cost down on contacting her.
Once we receive your insurance and contract, we will send you the username and password to www.dugansagents.com You can fax in your contract and pay online for your insurance. Or you can also send it via the mail with a check or money order.
