Why Should You Become a Travel Agent?

Become a travel agent - two ladies looking at a computer

Have you ever wanted to travel the world? While doing so can be prohibitively expensive, one of the next best things is to become a travel agent. Although travel agents don’t always go globe-trotting themselves (not all the time, at least), they do get to book exotic vacations and trips for their clients and earn an income from it.

Best of all, as an agent, you get to research all of your destinations and resorts so you can get the inside scoop on each one before you travel there yourself. Boardwalk Travel Agency makes it easy to turn your passion for travel into a rewarding side hustle or career. Let’s break down why this path may be right for you.

What Does a Travel Agent Do?

Simply put, a travel agent helps their clients book a trip. While people can book their own accommodations, travel agents are often better equipped to handle the planning and execution. Many people prefer to let a travel agent handle the details.

One important reason why people book travel agents is that they’re free. As an agent, you get paid commissions from the vendor directly, not the customer. For example, if you book a Disney resort vacation, Disney pays for your commission. While this means you have to wait until the client takes the trip, it also means you can earn income from a wide variety of suppliers and vendors.

Top Reasons to Become a Travel Agent With Boardwalk Travel Agency

Boardwalk Travel Agency is consistently ranked as one a best host agency for travel agents. Before diving into all the exciting points, we want to emphasize how emotionally and financially rewarding the travel industry can be. We love what we do, and we think you will too! If you’re serious about building relationships with your clients and providing the best service, you can go very far in this industry.

When it comes to working with Boardwalk Travel Agency as an independent agent, here are some of the top ways we’re better than the competition.

Flexible Work Schedule

Some travel agencies force you to work in an office, either part-time or full-time. With Boardwalk Travel, your office can be anywhere you want, including a tropical beach resort. As long as you have a strong internet connection, a headset for conversing with your clients, and a high-quality laptop, the world is your office.

Additionally, there are no minimum quotas to meet each month. So, you can work as much or as little as you want. You can be a full-time travel agent with numerous clients, or you can just use your connections to help your friends and family book better vacations. It’s your call.

High Commission Rates

Most travel agencies pay low commissions to their agents, some as low as 10 percent. The rest of the money goes toward high overhead costs, such as office spaces, manager salaries, and marketing campaigns. Since Boardwalk Travel is fully remote, we don’t have to worry about any of that. Instead, we pass more of the commission to you. Typically, our agents earn up to 70 percent commissions on each trip.

Having such a high commission rate is perfect because there’s less pressure to book more clients. Instead, you can focus your attention on a handful of customers and build deeper, richer connections with them. Success often depends on word of mouth, so you can build a network of clients organically.

Low Upfront Costs

Another major issue with other travel agencies is that they charge a monthly or annual fee to use their network. Even working as an independent agent, you must pay these fees to do your job. These expenses add up, forcing you to work as often as possible to ensure you’re earning more than you’re spending every month.

Boardwalk Travel only charges a one-time membership fee and you become a member for life. Because we don’t charge recurring fees, you can work at your own pace with no pressure. Even if you skip a few months, we’re always here when you’re ready to get back to work.

Ongoing Support and Training

If you’re wanting to learn how to become a travel agent without experience, the job can seem a bit intimidating at first. Fortunately, you don’t have to jump into the deep end to get started. Instead, you can review our training programs and follow them at your own pace. If you have additional questions or concerns, you can always reach out to our experienced support team.

Another point to consider is that this support is ongoing and part of your membership. So, if you run into a problem months or years later, you can still reach out and get assistance.

Access to Special Discounts and Perks

One of the best parts of being a travel agent is getting access to deals and discounts that aren’t available to the general public. Many vendors provide these deals to agents to help them book more trips. So, it’s a win-win-win situation. Your clients win because they’re saving money. You win because you earn more commissions. The vendor wins because they maintain high occupancy rates and earn more profit.

Best of all, you can use these discounts on your own trips. Also, since the vendor pays the commission, you can get money back on your own vacations!

Tips and Tricks for Being a Successful Travel Agent

While there are a ton of fun reasons to become an agent, you still have to book trips for your clients. Here are some top tips and tricks to help you start on the right foundation.

  • Be Personable – Ultimately, being a travel agent means selling vacation packages and other travel itineraries. The more fun you make these packages sound, the easier it is to close the deal and get paid. As a rule, treat all of your clients like they’re friends, and you’ll be able to book more trips in no time.
  • Have the Right Equipment – Make sure you have a way to talk and work on your computer simultaneously. Speaking of computers, make sure you have access to a reliable computer. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for slow loading times, which makes the entire process more frustrating.
  • Learn the Ropes – To sell a vacation package, you must know about it. The more research you do about your vendors and resorts, the easier it will be to sell them. Also, make sure you can answer common questions your clients may ask. Overall, preparedness helps you close more deals and earn more money.

Join Boardwalk Travel Agency Today!

Are you ready to discover what it takes to become a travel agent? Are you excited about making money from booking trips for yourself and your friends and family? If so, sign up with Boardwalk Travel Agency today and see where this vibrant opportunity can take you next!

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WE'RE HOST AGENCY FOR ALL

my disney experience logo

Prepare for Your Walt Disney World Vacation

Take action now to prepare for your upcoming Walt Disney World® vacation! Link your reservation and tickets to stay informed about important next steps and key planning dates, including important Know Before You Go resources.
Follow these simple steps to get started:

Register or Sign In to Start Your DisneyExperience.com

This will take you to the My Disney Experience website. Sign in using your Disney Account or create one. Then, create your Family and Friends list for your travel party. You'll need this to assign Tickets to them and to make Theme Park reservations.

Link your reservation

Once you're signed in to My Disney Experience, enter your Resort Confirmation number provided by your Travel Professional.

Please note: You'll need to verify the names of everyone on this reservation. If you need to make any modifications, we recommend you contact your Travel Professional before you link your reservation.

Link your Walt Disney World Ticket or Pass

To prepare for making Theme Park reservations, each Guest ages 3+ in your travel party must have a valid ticket linked for each day they wish to visit the Disney Parks.

Please note: If you have a room and ticket package for a select Walt Disney World Resort hotel, your tickets will be included when you link your Disney Resort reservation and you can skip Step 3.

Make your Theme Park Reservation in the Disney Park Pass System

Choose the date and Theme Park that you'd like to visit from the available reservations in the Disney Park Pass system via My Disney Experience. Please note that dates and Theme Park selections are limited and subject to availability. Remember, to enter a Walt Disney World Theme Park, each Guest ages 3+ in your travel party must have both a valid ticket for admission and a Theme Park Reservation for the same Park on the same date, for each day they wish to visit.

Review and Confirm Your Plans

Carefully review and confirm your selected park and date. Once confirmed, your reservation will appear in My Plans on the My Disney Experience website.

DOLLYWOOD

Reservations:

Agents must call to book: 1-800-DOLLYWOOD (1-800-365-5996).

Group Bookings:

865-428-6789 or [email protected]

Schedule:

Mon-Sat 7:30am - 8:00pm ET, Sun 8:00am - 7:00pm ET

Booking Platform:

Phone call with reservation center.

Private Location:

N/A

Transfer:

No

Commission Rate:

10%

Customer Service:

1-800-365-5996

Travel Insurance:

Use Allianz

FAQs:

- Agents must call in for reservations and use Boardwalk’s CLIA number (00039054).
- No commission on tickets, only on the hotel stay.
- Email invoice to [email protected]
- Submit for commission request on our website after you send in the invoice
- Commission only on DreamMore Resort and Spa, and Heartsong Lodge and Resort (10%)
- Commission paid only on Regular, AAA and AARP rates

List of places with resident sales restrictions (we cannot sell to people living in these places):

  • Cuba
  • North Korea
  • Iran
  • Syria
  • Crimea (region of Ukraine)
  • Russia
  • Belarus
  • Donetsk (region of Ukraine)
  • Luhansk (region of Ukraine)
  • Kherson (region of Ukraine)
  • Zaporizhzhia (region of Ukraine)

Boardwalk Travel agents should always offer travel insurance to each client. It will protect their travel and limit the risk of losing a customer because they were never offered a travel protection plan. Let the client be the one to reject, but every agent should offer it to every client.

7 Reasons to Buy Travel Insurance

Travel insurance isn’t just for expensive vacations. Travel insurance isn’t just for trips overseas. And travel insurance isn’t just for long journeys.

It’s essential to buy travel insurance for every trip, because you never know what might happen when you’re far from home! Every year, 55 million Americans purchase Allianz Travel Insurance to protect them against the most common travel mishaps.

Not sure if you need to insure your trip? Here are the top seven reasons to buy travel insurance.

1. Because you don’t want to lose all your money if you have to cancel your trip.

Even the best-planned trips sometimes have to be canceled. But many travel providers—such as tour operators, cruise lines and airlines—offer minimal or no refunds for last-minute cancellations. If this happens, can you afford to lose all the money you’ve spent on your trip?

One of the best reasons to buy travel insurance is having the protection of trip cancellation benefits. These can reimburse you for prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs when you must cancel for a covered reason. When you get your money back, you can book your vacation for another, brighter day.

What if you need to cancel for a reason that’s not covered? If you think that’s a possibility, consider buying the Cancel Anytime upgrade. Available on our most popular plans, OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier, Cancel Anytime can reimburse 80% of your lost non-refundable trip costs if you cancel your trip for almost any unforeseeable reason your plan does not already cover. That way, you can travel with confidence.

2. Because accidents can—and do—happen while traveling.

Healthy travelers often think they don’t need emergency medical insurance. The truth is, no one’s immune from illness and injury. We receive thousands of calls each year from American Allianz Travel Insurance customers who are experiencing a medical crisis during their trip, such as trauma, broken bones, heart attacks, and strokes. When you have travel insurance, you can contact 24-hour assistance for help in an emergency. Our team of experts can get you the help you need and may even be able to arrange payment in advance for covered emergency medical care.

3. Because your health insurance probably won’t work overseas.

If you get seriously sick or hurt in another country, don’t expect your health insurance card to help. “Many foreign medical facilities and providers require cash payment up front and do not accept U.S. insurance plans. Medicare does not provide coverage outside of the United States,” the U.S. Department of State warns.1 When you have travel insurance with emergency medical and dental benefits, it can pay for losses due to covered medical and dental emergencies that occur during your trip.

4. Because medical evacuations can be really expensive.

If you get seriously sick or badly hurt while traveling overseas, and you need to be taken via helicopter to the nearest high-quality hospital, the cost can be enormous. In some parts of the world, a medical evacuation can potentially cost six figures—and that doesn’t even include the expense of getting you home again.

Travel insurance with emergency medical transportation benefits can pay for you to be transported to the nearest appropriate facility if you suffer a covered illness or injury during your trip and our medical assistance team determines that the local medical facilities are unable to provide appropriate treatment. It can also pay for specialized transportation to bring you home, once your condition is stable.

5. Because travel delays are inevitable.

Airlines’ on-time stats rise and fall from year to year, but on average, around 18% of domestic flights are delayed.3 That’s not even counting the flights that are canceled! That’s why you need travel insurance with travel delay benefits, which can reimburse you for additional accommodation, meals or travel expenses and lost prepaid expenses due to a covered departure delay. You’ll be much happier if you have insurance that can reimburse you for your airport lunch or unexpected extra night in the hotel.

Here’s some even better news: You can get paid $100 per insured person, per day for a covered travel or baggage delay if you have SmartBenefits® (included with the OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier plans). You don’t need to provide any receipts—just proof of the delay!

6. Because a missing bag can ruin your trip.

In a recent survey, more than half of travelers said an airline had lost their luggage in the past. Just 34% of them ever got their missing bags back, and 72% said they’d lost an irreplaceable item.

When your suitcase goes AWOL, travel insurance can save the day. Baggage delay benefits can reimburse you for the reasonable additional purchase of essential items during your trip if your baggage is delayed or misdirected by a common carrier for 24 hours or more. Baggage loss/damage benefits can reimburse you for the actual price, actual cash value, repair or replacement of your lost/damaged items—whichever is less—based on the limits in your insurance policy’s letter of confirmation. Just remember: The best place for truly irreplaceable items is in your carry-on luggage, or at home.

7. Because sometimes, even expert travelers need a little help. 

One of the best reasons to buy travel insurance is the peace of mind you get from knowing help’s just a phone call away. When you face a crisis while traveling—a medical emergency, a lost passport, a stolen wallet, a natural disaster, etc.—you can always contact 24-hour assistance. Our U.S.-based team of travel experts will do everything in their power to take care of you and help make things right.