i would prefer to receive information that is not costly and in california. thanks.
how do i become a certified airline travel agent?
Sunday, June 21st, 2009 / steinapetra
i would prefer to receive information that is not costly and in california. thanks.
Category: Air Travel
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get out your phone book and start calling all the travel agencies and ask…it’s probably different in every state.
I’m not sure, but considering the state of travel agencies today, you may want to reconsider.
Today’s travel agency is a lot different than it used to be. 40 years ago, everyone bought their plane tickets at an agency or at an airline ticket office. When was the last time you did either? There is no future in that role, so I advise you to change your mind.
Study a certified travel agents course..
There is no set requirement. It will depend mainly on the agency that hires you.
I am a travel agent and started up about 7 years ago. My employer wanted me to take a night travel agent class at a local college. It was very easy and only lasted about 3 months. However these days most employers may want to you already be verified on sabre, or learn in on your own. This may mean having to shell out for another course.
At the same time, you will have to get trained on Sabre or whatever system your agency uses. Normally, someone from within the agency will teach you this. It takes about a month before you start getting comfortable, but the basics can be learned within a week or maybe less.
At some point your agency will put you on their IATA list and you will be an offical agent.
I have to agree that you want to be very careful about this business right now. Established agents can still make very good money. We have an agent in our office who make close to 1 million a year. And we have some that make hardly anything. Breaking into the business right now is not going to be easy.
I’m not sure why you would WANT to be a “certified airline travel agent.”
You do know that the airlines do not pay base commissions on airline tickets, right?
Also, it was unclear to me whether you want to OWN a travel agency or be an employee.
Typically, travel agencies hiring people to do airline tickets are looking for recent graduates of travel schools who have been trained in whichever GDS they use. So if you don’t know which agency you’ll be joining, it’s sort of a crap shoot on picking GDS training.
Tip: Sabre has greater market share than any other GDS, so if you learn Sabre, you’ll have the widest choice of possible employers.
Better, IMHO, is Iceman’s excellent suggestion to find an agency that will either train you or pay you while you take courses.
But I have a bias against airline tickets. My expertise and experience is in the home-based travel agent sphere, where agents concentrate on selling high-ticket, high margin products. That’s where the money is.
I’ll bet that the agent making nearly $1 million that Iceman mentions didn’t do it by selling airline tickets!
Something to think about.