Career change - Travel Agent

[Shhhhitsmagic]

Any travel agents out there who wouldn't mind giving me some advice?
I'm looking to return to work now that my youngest has started school. My background is in recruitment but i don't want to go back to that due to the long hours, pressure and toxic culture.

I'm thinking about retraining as a travel agent as I love travel and think my sales skills would be transferrable to this role. I have some cabin crew experience from years ago and studied T&T at college a loooong time ago...

I like the idea of being independant and working from home, but feel that joining a high-street agent would be best to learn the role.

Can anyone offer any insight? Do you enjoy the role and any advice you could offer me? Thanks so much in advance!

Whatever you do don't join an MLM which masquerades as a Travel Agent, there seem to be a few about just now.

Indeed. It's the new MLM hustle.

Also, OP, the travel industry is about to be hollowed out by AI. Lots of people are already using it to help plan their trips.

ETA: The most recent business to vacate a High St shop in our market town was a travel agent.

No definitely won't be joining an MLM type company. My instagram feed is full of these people 'recruiting for their team' 🙄It would probably be a high street shop to begin with to get some experience.

@Ellerby That's a good point to consider. To be honest i've wondered for years how travel agents are still in business (I haven't used one in years!) But there still seems to be a market for luxury/specialist holidays.

Would love to hear from anyone who's in the industry if they are seeing business slow down?

Hey!
I recently became an Independent travel agent whilst on maternity and I absolutely love it! I’m not working in a traditional travel agent role, but I’ve already made back my joining fee and a year’s worth of monthly fees from just one booking commission. I also saved over £300 on my first family trip with my daughter! It’s not a fixed salary, but as a side hustle it’s been brilliant for us—flexible, fun, and really worth it. It's also given me a little bit of income whilst on maternity pay which I'm extra grateful for!
I know not everyone agrees with MLM's but it has really given me some freedom whilst on maternity and also a whole network of mums to chat to.
Even if it’s just to give you some initial experience before moving on to a high street travel agent, it’s a great starting point. It’s also given me a bit of freedom and some much-needed ‘me’ time—I’ve always loved planning my own holidays, so I’ve really enjoyed doing it for others too.
I had been looking in to being a travel agent for a while before maternity leave but the high start up costs of most companies had put me off. So this just fell at the perfect time for me! Hope my comment may have been a bit of help for you. Just wanted to give my perspective and experience so far.

I used to work for a small independent tour operator. The owners could get emergency calls 24/7, 365 days a year from anywhere in the world from their clients who had some sort of problem that needed immediate attention. Accommodation problems, cancelled flights, lost passports, in hospital and needing copies of insurance documents, you name it. They once had to deal with a death overseas, and the repatriation of the deceased's body. For a small business it was very difficult and/or expensive to deal with things like that. So if you are thinking of a change of career, it would be far better to be a small cog in a big wheel and start off working for a big travel agent and learn the business inside out before setting out on your own.

It’s not well paid!

Thanks for your comments, i'm reading with interest!
@strawgoh that's really helpful advice, thank you

Echoing not to join one of the MLMs. You make money getting others to join which isn’t being a travel agent!! It did the rounds amongst the school mums and led to a lot of fallings out about who recruited who and of course no one made money.

I think there’s still space for specialist agencies or ones delivering a high quality of service but I can’t see the likes of Tui having physical shops for much longer. A friend works for a well known Caribbean travel agency and does well but she’s built up
a strong reputation.

I think you need to find a very specific niche to make a decent income tbh. The travel agent near me specialises in cruises only and markets itself firmly to older customers. It’s family run and has been successfully going for 40 years.

As already mentioned, AI capabilities are moving at lightening speed in travel booking. It’s already possible to pop in a prompt like “Plan my holiday to x for a family of 4 with 2 children and a budget of £££” and pretty much get a holiday booked with a detailed list of options.

However AI doesn’t offer the nuanced, personalised kind of advice people often want especially when going on long haul, once in a lifetime type trips so that might be a gap.

'Joining fee'

Normal jobs dont make you pay a fee to join.

Every other travel agency I looked at such as Hays, Not Just Travel all had a very large start up fee when I was looking.
They aren't exactly going to train you for free.
I know lots of jobs where there have been/are initial costs. Especially when working for yourself.

But a real job does train you free. They even give you money to be trained. Aka 'pay'.

I mean, do what you want its your money. But this is not the same as being employed , which the OP was interested in.

I mean, either you're being disingenuous here, in an attempt to big up your MLM and recruit a new sucker person, or you're just flat-out lying. Are you seriously trying to compare taking on a franchise, which does cost money, with being employed?

From the Hays careers section:

Are you paid for the training?

Yes, your salary begins from the date training starts.

https://www.haystravel.co.uk/careers/new-to-travel/

God MLMs are toxic.

If you get a job in a bricks and mortar travel agency THEY pay YOU, not the other way around. And you get holiday pay, maternity pay, sick pay, they contribute to your pension etc etc etc.

Stop trying to convince the OP that joining a glorified pyramid scheme like you have done is a good idea.

I knew straight away from your first sentence you joined an MLM....

Yes absolutely this, avoid them like the plague OP

I have worked for myself for a long time and I have never paid to work, people pay me to work.
Maybe you will be the very rare person an MLM works out for (unlikely) but please stop promoting what is a VERY flawed business model which is a pyramid scheme pretending to be a Travel Agent to avoid the fact that pyramid schemes are illegal now.
And yes, starting posts with "Hey" is straight out of the MLM playbook

Ex travel industry person here! I echo PPs; the high street travel agent is dying a death, unless they are very specialist. There are also only very slim margins to be made; tour operators can sell most of their inventory direct now, and what they do pay in commission is tiny.
The travel MLMs are a complete con; you pay to join, you pay to train, you pay to have a website, you pay a monthly fee. You might be lucky and get a big enough booking to cover most of this, but what happens when a client finds a cheaper option elsewhere and then cancels? This happens all the time because the MLMs do not get preferential rates and are not remotely competitive.

Don't be ridiculous. Training staff is EXACTLY what a genuine employer does. You are part of an MLM and trying to recruit others into it. Back off.

OP travel agency is no longer a career route. The internet has killed it.

oh wow I wasn't expecting so much hate! I was only saying how it has helped me in a time when I needed some extra income due to being on maternity. As I mentioned, not everyone agrees with the company I'm in (which is fine, we're all allowed opinions!) but it doesn't mean I can't voice my opinion on how it has helped me. I'm not even trying to recruit, just wanted to show how it has helped me whilst on maternity as the OP did say she wanted to work from home.
People don't need to be so mean. I'm not here for hate, just wanted to give my opinion to OP 🙂
Just a reminder to speak with kindness—everyone’s carrying things we might not see.

I just wanted to say it is the work from home travel consultant I was referring to for Hays (see below) and not working directly in their travel agencies. It is £8000+ VAT to start up and only commission based. No hate, just wanted to show I'm not lying about what I said 🙂

www.haystravel.co.uk/careers/homeworking/new-to-travel-academy/

@Haanx make sure you keep a good eye on what it’s really costing you, not just what Inteletravel/PlanNet is charging you for everything but what it’s costing you day to day in expenses including your time. There are very few who manage to make a profit, even fewer who manage to make a living.

A few years ago when one of the top UK “travel agents” quit she did a series of videos on social media to own up to the fact that once she’d totted up all her time she was earning 70p an hour.

As for meeting other mums, I am sure they’re all lovely and I don’t blame you for wanting and enjoying these connections but it’s these very connections MLM exploits and manipulates, all the while extracting money from its real customers: the would-be travel agents who are paying to play. Yes, some do make some money from the travel side but there is a silent majority who lose money over time.

Hey, thank you for being so nice with your reply!
Yeah definitely! I completely understand with the costs and time etc. It isn't an 'easy' or quick job but I just enjoy looking at and planning holidays 😂so its been nice having something to do. Touch wood I'm doing well so far and I'm enjoying it as it is giving me a bit of freedom and me time!