Travel agents..waste of time

casevlloyds

duchy wrote: »

There are some excellent self employed travel councellers out there-I know some I used to work with and they are usually experienced travel agents who got sick of the restrictive practices of agents nowdays and are generally better informed and far more motivated as they are self employed.

Absolutely agree 100%. I used to work at a big high street travel agency. The shop staff was 7 including me and in the 6 years I was there I had a total of 17 different colleagues. That shows the high turnover in the job I suppose but I think also explains why alot (not all) travel agents in high street branches are young girls who havn't a clue what theyre talking about. The wage was bearly in double figures and the "commission" amounted to aroun £100-150 a month if you were a top seller in a busy store.

You are right in that the training is on how to close a sale rather than destination and product training so the agents might actually have a clue about the destination they are talking about. The main point of the training was how to identify "lookers" from "bookers" and how to get rid of "counter cloggers" - their words not mine!!

Sadly I think when people think of a "travel agent" this is their experience and thats why people don't tend to hold them in high regard.

I did exactly what you mentioned. Got sick and tired of having to phone every client I'd spoken to a minimum of 3 times to ask why they hadn't booked yet and also of having to fill out a form and get a rollocking if I sold a holiday which wasn't "in-house"

I have now been working from home as a self employed agent under the Co-op Travel banner for 4 years and really enjoy it. I have the freedom and time to research what my clients want and find them the best deal rather than being told what I have to sell them!