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How Much Are Travel Agents – OK, it’s time to talk about travel agent airline commissions and ticket errors/debit notes (which we already covered here). But if a picture is worth 1000 words, an infographic is probably closer to 20,000 – so I’ll keep it short 🙂
Let me start with a spoiler alert: airline ticketing has a lower profit margin for travel agencies than almost any other segment of travel booking. While some airlines offer travel agent commissions upwards of 3-12% (I mostly use that number, fyi), other airlines offer zero commission. It depends on which airline/route/class of service you book (and many other things). At the end of the day, the average total travel agent airline commission across all air travel booked in 2015 is 1.36%. Pretty stingy, but dem’s da rules. (You can read more about travel industry commissions here.)
How Much Are Travel Agents
If you anticipate the old Airline Debit Memos (ADMs), travel agents will find that less airline commissions will be credited to their bank accounts. In 2016, the average debit note spend for agencies was $1 for every $577 booked.
Is It Cheaper To Hire A Travel Agent Or Book On Your Own? We Looked Into It
Not bad, except that the average airline commission for travel agents is $7.85 per flight booked, $577, so that measly dollar suddenly seems like a lot more. Fees for ticket errors average 12.7% of the total commission. We’re talking about a rough estimate here – like the range of air commissions, ADM fines also cover a drastic range depending on the error (we’re talking typos and fraudulent bookings).
Of course, booking flights for agencies (especially corporate travel management companies) can still be a solid income stream. After all, your customers have to get to their vacation destinations, right?! But these are just a few risk/reward questions to consider—especially if you’re new to the industry. It’s not just about money, but the time and resources required to learn and use Global Distribution Service (GDS) can be significant.
The silver lining here is the service fee that most leisure agents charge for air tickets. The average service fee charged by agents is $38. This varies depending on how the customer makes the reservation (online, phone, etc.) and whether it is domestic or international. And in the end it’s up to you to decide 🙂
If you are a junior agent, it is unlikely that you will have direct access to the GDS system. But don’t despair, travel agent airline commissions are not out of the question for you! There are other ways to book air without risking a fine.
Myths About Travel Agents — Mitchell Travel Group Runner Destination Events
Mary Stein has been a writer and editor for Host Agency Reviews since 2016. She enjoys supporting travel advisors on their entrepreneurial journey and is inspired by their passion, perseverance and creativity. Mary is also a mum, dog lover, fiction writer, hiker and a huge British Bake Off fan.
If you want to view the site without cookies or want to know more, read our Privacy Policy. It’s that time of year again – time to find out the results of the HAR Travel Agent Income Report! The HAR team has spent the past two weeks gathering data, creating infographics, and generally swimming in numbers. And we’ve loved every bit of it.
The hosted segment of the industry is widely recognized as a fast-growing channel, both in terms of sales and volume. Despite being the new darlings of the industry, it’s incredibly difficult to find data on a hosted channel. Our annual travel agent income report aims to shed some light on this notoriously hard-to-find group of agents.
So whether you’re a hosted agent looking to do a personal benchmark, a new consultant making future income projections, or a supplier looking to get accurate data on hosted agents, we’ve got something for everyone! Enjoy.
Host Travel Agencies And The Opportunities They Offer Travel Professionals
This list is just a brief glimpse of all the data we collect. For example, we also keep the secret of the most popular travel agent theme song of 2019 and other “fine” details such as the average income of a travel agent based on experience, time spent and region. Read on because our data will enchant you.
You are about to dive into a sea of data. But don’t worry, we won’t send you without an oxygen source. These results represent hosted agents with 3+ years of experience. Below, our infographic provides a visual snapshot of the databases we’re about to explore:
If you are looking for more information on the survey methodology, read this. If you are looking for more data on the demographics and earnings of younger agents, stay tuned as these articles are coming soon.
Well, you already know that because you looked at the infographic. (Way to insert a spoiler
Revealing 6 Benefits Of Booking A Tour Through A Travel Agent
From the article, Maria!) The average income remained unchanged compared to last year. In 2019, the median income for all enrolled agents was $33,732
That’s a pretty big deal. Why? Earnings among registered agents increased by 10% compared to last year! Phew, that’s a lot. For a! Not only that, but established agents who reported selling travel full-time earned 39% more ($61,427) than the average.
What is the income for new agents? Where does the income come from? What is their experience level? How is income distributed regionally? We have more answers! Let’s dig deeper.
We are not ignoring you, new agents. In fact, we’re so curious about the new agent segment that we’ll be dedicating an entire article to you soon! But here’s a little teaser:
How To Become A Travel Agent
In 2019, agents with less than one year of experience reported earning an average of $3,250, while agents with two years of experience earned an average of $12,492. If you’re a little sick of reading this, remember that travel agent incomes are on the rise. significantly with experience. (See above!)
Newer agents were 23% less likely than experienced agents to report that selling travel was their main source of income.
Newer agents were 23% less likely than experienced agents to report that selling travel was their main source of income. While we don’t have solid data on why travel sales are likely to be the primary income stream for new agents, our anecdotal evidence suggests that new agents are likely transitioning from a new career and/or working multiple jobs to become a travel agent . income becomes more stable.
Want to learn more about the new agent segment? Be sure to sign up for our newsletter as we are going to highlight more of these newbies in the next article! Now back to our regular programming.
How Much Does A Travel Agent Cost? Plus: Pros & Cons
With an average of $44,312, registered agents earn 31% more than the average income of travel agents as a whole (new and experienced agents combined).
If you’re confused as to why agents with 9-11 years of experience earn a lower average income, you’re not alone. I’m not going to lie. We do not have a clear idea why the average income of travel agents in this industry is decreasing. One possible explanation is that there was a large concentration of income earners with 6-8 years of experience, which increased the average for this category. (If you have any other hypotheses, hit me up!)
The bottom line is that agents who stick to running their own agency will (usually) earn more as they gain more experience. Sometimes it is a
More agents reported selling travel full-time: 61% of enrolled agents reported selling full-time in 2019, compared to just 51% in 2018 and 47% in 2017. (10% YOY increase and 14% YOY increase. .)
How To Become A Travel Agent From Home At Dream Vacations
This trend is consistent with 60% of enrolled agents reporting that travel sales are their primary source of income, up 13% from last year’s report and up 23% from 2017.
These trends reflect the strong travel economy in 2018, reflecting the belief that becoming an independent travel consultant is a viable career option.
Travel agents who worked full-time earned significantly more: agents who worked more than 30 hours a week reported earning $61,427 annually. Part-time agents reported earning a fraction of that amount, $17,185, less than a third of what their full-time counterparts earned.
As expected, the more hours you work, the more money you will earn. We also learned that workaholics are rewarded with more: Experienced, enrolled agents who worked more than 60 hours a week earned an average of $97,571, a 52% increase over those who worked 50-59 hours a week. But I’m going to go ahead and be a work/life balance cheerleader and say that I don’t recommend working that much (unless you’re spending the majority of your 60+ hours per week on awesome FAMs… #squadgoals).
How Much Commission Do Travel Agents Make On A Flight?
The percentage of revenue derived from each revenue source was similar to previous years, with commissions accounting for the lion’s share of total revenue. Here’s the average income from these four revenue streams:
Fees are a whole different beast when it comes to data. If you want more in-depth data on fees, stay tuned – our annual Travel Agent Fees Report will be released in early 2020. (You can take a look at last year’s Travel Agent Fee Report to help you navigate this.)
In our survey, HAR also asked respondents about earnings from online booking programs. Those who reported having an online booking engine were given the option to enter their annual income from that particular revenue stream. This one
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