any travel agents out there?

[Wildsea]

I am looking for a career change and thinking of applying for a role as a travel agent. This salary is less than I was looking at, but was assured that my commission would bring it up to the level I was looking at. So what is the average commission you get. I realise that it depends on the agency and type of holiday, ie cruise flights only etc.

A ball park figure would be much appreciated.

[Puggit]

v15ben might be able to help - he's quit the business to go travelling, but I'm sure he'll respond to the thread when he sees it!

[uuf361]

It depends what you do now.

I'm in the industry - people rarely go into it for the money.....

[v15ben]

I certainly wouldn't do it for the money

It is good fun though with decent perks (cheap trips / fam trips i.e. free holidays) and if you are a good seller then the commission can be reasonable. The industry is also very competitive at the moment with most customers able to find very cheap deals and not afraid to play agents off against each other reducing your commission to naff all.

To put it in perspective though an ex-colleague of mine was the top seller in the UK and was probably on about £25k a year (half of that in commission) so not a massive wage for quality salesman IMO.

I enjoyed my time in the industry, but decided I'd much rather be travelling than earning sod all for sending everyone else to enjoy the world

[Superstylin']

What company?

[Wildsea]

Thanks all, I am working in res for an operator at the moment, for a poor wage, an we do not get commision. I just wondered if it would be possible to stick to roughly the same pay, but with a more varied role. It is with Bath travel, they are quite a well known and large agency which should boost the commission level they get from operators.

[YoungMoney]

I wouldn't worry about exactly what commission Bath Travel get, all you need to worry about is how much of that you earn.

If it wasn't for the money, I wouldn't work in the industry. Okay, everything is a bit price driven at the moment, BUT, there's still money to be made.

A ex-colleague of mine, who has turned into one of my closest friends, managed to make £8900 in January. We work on commission only though, no basic, no sale = no money!

What kind of package will Bath Travel offer you?

[Wildsea]

YoungMoney said:

What kind of package will Bath Travel offer you?

Not sure at the moment, they are offering 12k basic. I have only got the basic decription which does not mention what commission I will get paid. eta if operators offer incentives for bookings, would I get the whole amount or just a percentage, or does this vary agency to agency?

Edited by Wildsea on Friday 9th April 09:43

[YoungMoney]

From what I know, commission based will either give you a % of the profit made per booking, a Gross Profit Margin target or a mixture of both.

So if the holiday cost £1000 total, OP commission is 15% so nett would be £850, GPM is £150 and say they pay you 10% commission rate, you'll make £15.

Or that £150 will go towards a GPM target.

A package I've been offered goes like this:
£30k Basic.
£15k Bonus.
3% Commission.

On the basis:
Conversion is 1 : 3
GPM per month is £45,000.

[uuf361]

Wildsea said:

YoungMoney said:

What kind of package will Bath Travel offer you?

Not sure at the moment, they are offering 12k basic. I have only got the basic decription which does not mention what commission I will get paid. eta if operators offer incentives for bookings, would I get the whole amount or just a percentage, or does this vary agency to agency?

Edited by Wildsea on Friday 9th April 09:43

That package looks pretty standard to me.

[v15ben]

I was on the same basic at STA.
If you can get into a contract with a decent commission structure then you should be able to earn a few quid