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!

@Haanx criticism of the MLM business model and pointing out the real pitfalls that exist isn’t “hate”. In fact it’s a kindness to mentioned the risks of becoming involved with MLM even if it’s not what you want to hear. I know you’re doing it during maternity leave for reasons other than income but for anyone thinking of joining an MLM in the hope of making a living wage that they depend upon then the arguments against MLM on threads like these might just get them to reconsider before the damage is done.

I'm sorry, I didn't see that option.

However, I still don't recommend OP goes down the MLM route. MLM is really only about who else you can recruit to your downline.

No, I will not "speak with kindness" or any other shite you want to put on a a coaster
MLM's are toxic and any talk of them needs to be shut down immediately and with force.
Your posts are straight out of the MLM playbook

Are there really any high street travel shops still around?

Also OP if you're wondering how they stay in business and you haven't used one yourself in years why would you want to retrain in this area?

Have you thought about jobs arranging business travel? I was a PA for a bit and I think a lot of the TA (Amex) would WFH, they would guide the PAs through visas as well and had a huge amount of business from my company so maybe look into if those sorts of companies are hiring?

Criticism of MLMs is not hate...

The trouble is that OP is starting with zero experience in the Travel Agent business. Jobs like that are very high pressure, and there's less business travel these days as well, what with Zoom etc.

It's actually scary how no matter what MLM they're shilling for they always use the same script. We call them The Huns at work because their recruitment messages always seem to start with "hi Hun!" and a string of emojis. It's like a cult.

@Haanx you've been well and truly had by whatever charlatan sucked you into this, and you shouldn't be encouraging other women into such a stupid endeavour. Especially women who are looking for an actual job. People criticising you are not hating, they're rightly warning people against essentially burning their money.

But be kiiiiiiind. Your all haterz!

Sorry for the silence, i've been knee deep in pumpkins and skeletons this week!

Just to answer a few points... I definitely don't want to join an MLM, it has to be paid employment. I've spent 5 years faffing around with side hustles and I'm finally in a position to return to work now my youngest is at school 😀

I would love to do business travel (my recruitment role was very fast paced and pressured) but every job i've seen is looking for experience, which I don't have.

My thoughts were to join a trainee scheme, like the Hays 'new to travel' scheme to get some experience, and then move into a more specialist luxury travel role where I can earn more money. I realise i'll be on minimum wage for a while until I change role.

Someone asked why do I want to work as a travel agent when I haven't used one myself in years. I'm pretty sure I have ADHD and my brain literally cannot focus on a role that I find boring. It has to be something that I am passionate about - and this is travel! But I do realise this might be a non-starter in today's market, which is why I started this thread to hear some more opinions.

I would love to hear from any experienced travel agents whether this sounds like a realistic plan? And what the earning potential could be in a specialist role?

Thank you for everyone's help!

I got out of travel over 20 years ago now when the internet started taking over.
Commission from airlines was reduced to £10 per flight (it’s probably less now).
I do t know how anyone could make a living now doing that with booking.com etc all meaning people can just book themselves.
i would say you’re best off just getting a job with a company people can book themselves. I booked P&O and the lady was at home (her dog started barking) and cruises would have staff working from home too

Someone just sent this to me. https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/37143652/mlm-scheme-scam-money-lost-thousands/