Is anyone an independent travel consultant with Expedia Cruise Centers?

Any time you have to pay for a job, it's a scam.

Is this really a scam tho. If I took a college course or other program to earn a travel certificate, the cost would be a couple of thousand. Vs this method, only a few hundred and being able to get to work quicker.... I already realize there isn't much money to be earned as a travel agent, the perks for discounted vacations would be the benefit...

Have you ever booked a cruise through them? It has been my experience that they offer very little value added service. Prices are usually the same as those from the cruise lines directly. I don't know why someone would use them.

Who uses an agent anymore?
People are looking for the lowest price, and online booking is soooo easy even for the most computer illiterate.
The questions I'd ask before committing to putting down any money on this "paid opportunity" would be:

Why would people book a vacation through you, vs doing it directly through Expedia (at a lower cost).

If they know about Expedia, they can easily book it themselves. So again, what's your selling vantage?

Who's your demographic as an agent?
And do you actually have access to them?
How long would it take you to earn back your "start up fee"?
Hiw much do you think you could reasonable sell, annually?

Expedia is vet rarely the most economical option, so
That alone would be enough ....?
Probably not.

I think it would be very difficult to do anything this sales based part time. Sales is all about follow
Up and gaining new sale leads. I believe it's 100% sales based.

Have you guys taken their course tho? I'm just wondering what was your experience with the course? As I said earlier, I realize there is very little money to be made, they were very upfront about that. I have other selfish reasons aside from loving to travel and earning a bit of money on the side.

frozenmelon wrote: ↑ Any time you have to pay for a job, it's a scam.

I feel the same,
Employers usually paid to train their employees, not ask to get pay to offer you a job.

It baffles me how little value people put on their time just for a discount on vacations. I would rather spend time with the family..... Develop skills to further my career or just waiter a couple shifts at a restaurant if I'm really that short on cash.
I doubt this gig pays much better than our already inflated minimum wage. Correct me if I'm wrong tho....

MrsPotato wrote: ↑ Who uses an agent anymore?
People are looking for the lowest price, and online booking is soooo easy even for the most computer illiterate.
The questions I'd ask before committing to putting down any money on this "paid opportunity" would be:

Why would people book a vacation through you, vs doing it directly through Expedia (at a lower cost).

If they know about Expedia, they can easily book it themselves. So again, what's your selling vantage?

Who's your demographic as an agent?
And do you actually have access to them?
How long would it take you to earn back your "start up fee"?
Hiw much do you think you could reasonable sell, annually?

Expedia is vet rarely the most economical option, so
That alone would be enough ....?
Probably not.

I think it would be very difficult to do anything this sales based part time. Sales is all about follow
Up and gaining new sale leads. I believe it's 100% sales based.

Many people uses agents, there are many different use cases:
-Complex Trip
-Packaged Tours
-Luxury trips (niche market)

Using an Agent is not always more expensive. An Agent that generates a lot of revenue for an airline will have access to discounted fares, or even allocations, so that the end result, the price of the fare + the commission he gets could still be cheaper than what you find online. In other cases, the agents sells you the same ticket as what you would get online, and the airline/hotels could reward them with bonuses (cash or free trips) etc..

Rule of thumb is to shop around.

xblackrainbow wrote: ↑ I doubt this gig pays much better than our already inflated minimum wage. Correct me if I'm wrong tho....

It's essentially a Sales job and you can establish your own business.

There's a lawyer who quit his job and became a travel agent and is either making the same (or more) as he was a lawyer: FlyerTalk

Based on the OP, it looks like OP is not looking to get rich, but rather to travel on a discount. Even then, his discount will vary based on how much they sell. They are not the first person to try to figure out how to game the system.

Like I said, I would do this more as a hobby than something to live on. I'm not expecting to make any money, but would enjoy the perks of being a registered agent. I actually know someone who does really well as an independent at home consultant. She is really good at what she does. I would never expect to commit myself the way she does (unless when I retire and I have a lot of time on my hands).

there wouldn't be any financial loss really seeing as a college course or six month course else where would cost at least a couple of thousand dollars.

I'm actually surprised there are a lot of people who leave their trip booking to an agent, they can't bother with the hassle of dealing with hotels, airlines, etc.

I also found out (correct me if I'm wrong), there are low margins for airfare. the ones who benefit from low airfare are people who work in the airlines. the perks are in cruise packages or resort packages.

McKinsey wrote: ↑ It's essentially a Sales job and you can establish your own business.

There's a lawyer who quit his job and became a travel agent and is either making the same (or more) as he was a lawyer: FlyerTalk

Based on the OP, it looks like OP is not looking to get rich, but rather to travel on a discount. Even then, his discount will vary based on how much they sell. They are not the first person to try to figure out how to game the system.

Thank you for that link to Flyer Talk!

Yes you are correct, it's pretty obvious this is a sales based 'hobby'. And it's what you make it. My career is in marketing and customer service.

I always go through an agent when booking cruises. They are always lower priced because as an incentive they through in more onboard credits or even buy down the price with the commission.

If you doubt it I will give you an example of a cruise I am looking to book in the next day or so

Raggie wrote: ↑ I'm actually surprised there are a lot of people who leave their trip booking to an agent, they can't bother with the hassle of dealing with hotels, airlines, etc.

I also found out (correct me if I'm wrong), there are low margins for airfare. the ones who benefit from low airfare are people who work in the airlines. the perks are in cruise packages or resort packages.

As a frequent (and savvy) traveler, I still won't discount travel agents, and will check with them. When something goes wrong, it is nice to have a direct point of contact to help out, just like having a "concierge", and every agent is different so you will hear different perspective from different folks. Once a "trip" is sold, the Agent may not have any further financial incentives, but good ones will invest times (hours spent on the phone with airlines/hotels/cruises) to help out their customers, in the hopes that they become repeat customers and spread the good word. That being said, millennials tend to book themselves online as they are more savvy at finding deals and are comfortable shopping online...until they fail to read the fare rules and complain on the change fees and airlines are gouging them left and right...when in fact flying is cheaper than it was 10-20 and 30 years ago.

And another benefit of going thru an agent is you are protected by TICO in case anything goes wrong.

My agent is an Expedia consultant and although i can easily book cruises online myself, it just adds a layer of value as they are more connected as to what's going on. They can alert you to deals and monitor for price changes. I saved hundreds on my last cruise as she found a better deal than one I found online. Don't know how much they make on each booking so it is probably a lot of work until you establish a good client base that books repeated cruises. It like being a stock broker, I guess, except there is no commission. You have to give your clents value and they'll stick with you.

vkizzle wrote: ↑ I used them twice on Celebrity Cruise lines and their prices was better than booking directly.
Whatever promo the cruise line offered, they would provide also, plus extras.

Yes, I remember seeing a few years ago that they had a block of cabins on X for the Southern Caribbean and were offering good rates then.

We used them to book a cruise with HAL. We called them and told them what to book and when. The agent failed to apply a special bonus that we had and we had to call back and get that fixed. Then HAL offered a special promo of lower prices and hotel and free transfers. I had to call the agent to request that it be added and her response was, "where did you see it as I don't see it." It was on HAL's website.

So, we used them and did not receive any perks or bonuses. Not even a cheap bottle of wine. We still had to monitor the sailing for any promos and had to contact them to have the promos applied.

If you are still interested in X deals, you may want to check out this agent in Florida: http://ftmyerstravel.vacationport.net/O ... 6&sid=2584

skeet50 wrote: ↑ If you are still interested in X deals, you may want to check out this agent in Florida: http://ftmyerstravel.vacationport.net/O ... 6&sid=2584

Why would someone living in Ontario use an agent based in the states. We would not be protected by TICO and communication would be a bit more difficult.

Just to chime in here regarding expedia cruise ship centres, I booked once through the cruise line directly and we met folks on the cruise that had booked through travel agents. We found out that we paid more and got way less. Travel agents may not necessarily always have better prices than booking through the cruise line directly but they can throw in a litany of freebies and extra's that the website may not offer you.

The second and third and fourth time we went on a cruise we booked through expedia cruise ship centres. On top of the regular sales prices which were no different than on the website, the agent threw in a $200 stateroom onboard credit which we used for excursions and specialty dining, drink packages (soda) for both of us, and a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries when we got to the room. The drink packages alone saved us $120.

I'm a millennial and didn't understand why people used TA's until I finally used one. I won't book all my travel with a TA but with cruises I wouldn't book anywhere else.