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Home >> Careers In Travel >> I Want To Become a Travel Agent: Best Practices

I Want To Become a Travel Agent: Best Practices

If you want to become a travel agent, there are two ways to go about this: entry level vs. mid-level. Let’s take a look at these two approaches in more detail…

1. Entry level.

I wanted to become a travel agent, and this was the route I began with. Many people start off with one travel agency (generally one that doesn’t pay much), to learn the ropes before moving on to a more profitable position. You could start with an agency like sta travel (which focuses on budget minded travelers in their early twenties) and then move on to selling cruises, or working with a corporate clientele.  This approach ensures that you are getting paid while you learn. If, however, you have the discipline to train yourself, I suggest option #2…

2. Mid-level.

Let’s face it: college graduates make more money than high school graduates. The same logic applies to travel agencies: higher education, regardless of experience, can often work in your favor, IF you know how to exploit it.

If you want to become a travel agent in a higher paying niche, I recommend that you learn the language. All travel agencies use a system to search for and book flights for their clients called a Global Distribution System, or GDS for short. There are several GDS out there, and you can learn most of them by visiting their website and purchasing their tutorials (there also free ones online if you’re willing to search for them).

The main GDS are Sabre, Worldspan and Apollo.

I have hired travel agents before, and the first thing I look for on a resume is GDS proficiency. You can easily make an additional $20K a year if you take the time to learn a GDS, preferably two… The problem with this is that, unlike option 1, you aren’t getting paid while you learn.

In conclusion, if you want to be a travel agent, you will inevitably follow one of these two paths. Choose whichever you like…they’ll both get you where you want to be.