how to become a travel agent from home

How To Become A Home-Based Travel Agent

These days, everyone is looking for a way to work from home. People value the flexibility, the relaxed atmosphere, and the work-in-your-PJs simplicity. The problem is finding a work-from-home opportunity that comes from a reputable business, and offers actual potential for financial success.

Can You Work From Home as a Travel Agent?

Fortunately, you can easily become a home-based travel agent today as a Dream Vacations franchise owner. You'll be able to work from anywhere in the world and follow your dream of owning your own business.

How Do I Start a Career as a Travel Agent?

Becoming a travel agent is easier than you may think. Here's how to become a travel agent while working from home in four simple steps:

Request information online.
Join a reputable organization that will help you in a license, training, and credibility.
Build a clientele list.
Start making money—and traveling!

Is Becoming a Travel Agent the Right Choice for You?

Being a travel agent can be a thrilling and beneficial career. If you are someone who loves to travel, working with people, or just someone looking for an exciting career opportunity working from home, becoming a work from home travel agent could be the right choice for you.

Is It Worth Being a Travel Agent?

Did you know you can start a home-based business as a Dream Vacations franchise owner? If you are wondering whether a travel agent career is still relevant with all the technology available these days, the answer is yes!

Sure, anyone can get online and book a flight or a couple-night hotel room, but travel agents can provide unbiased travel expertise you are unlikely to find anywhere else. Plus, the right travel agent will have exclusive offers, promotions, and incentives you wouldn't have access to when booking on your own. We have a saying, the internet is for looking, a travel agent is for booking.

How Do I Become a Virtual Travel Agent?

Learning how to become a travel agent from home is simple with our organization. You can become a Dream Vacations franchise owner with no prior experience or education. We provide full training and support to help every one of our franchise owners have success. No specific degree or training is required beforehand.

Our virtual training and ongoing education are all you need to create a thriving business. But if you do want to pursue a bachelor's degree in travel or tourism, your education will enhance your experience as a franchise owner that much more. In this industry, learning and training happen virtually on specific products or destinations or even hands-on, via traveling yourself to experience the cruise ships, resorts, or destinations you'll be selling.

What Does a Travel Agent Do?

As a travel agency franchise owner with Dream Vacations, you are trained to be an expert, selling cruises, resorts, and tours to your clients. The vacation and hospitality industries are large, and most people with home-based travel agent careers choose an area of expertise within travel and vacations to focus on.

How Do I Become a Successful Travel Agent?

As a franchise owner and part of a travel industry powerhouse, travel agents with Dream Vacations are provided with premier supplier relationships, buying power, and all the marketing programs, booking technology, and tools needed to operate a successful travel and cruise franchise.

This means travel agents are able to offer their clients a travel experience with exclusive benefits, premier pricing, and great service consumers wouldn't be able to acquire on their own.

Is Being a Travel Agent Hard?

There is a lot to learn at first, but once you go through the training process things become a lot easier over time. One of the greatest rewards is bringing joy to people by helping them create lifelong memories via travel. Plus, you have the flexibility to create your own schedule. Another important aspect of becoming a travel agent is creating a vacation experience that is as stress-free as possible. Travel agents are there before, during, and after the sale. Booking online won't give you that type of support.

Life happens, even when you are on vacation. So, when flights are delayed or canceled, calling your travel agent can be a big relief because more often than not, they are able to get you a flight much faster than you would on your own.

As a Dream Vacations franchise owner, your clients will have comfort in knowing you are there for them before, during, and after their vacation.

The Day-to-Day Schedule

So what do travel agents do all day? The day-to-day schedule of home travel agents is very similar to a travel agent working in an office. Here's a glimpse in how a typical day might pan out:

Working with Clients. To start your day, you may have scheduled over-the-phone or in-person meetings with clients. These meetings help you understand the clients' interests so you can book them the perfect vacation. It's also a chance to give your expert advice and make suggestions to suit the client.
Setting Up Travel Plans. Clients can set up their own travel plans on the Dream Vacations website, but franchise owners get a chance to really show their skills by helping the client through this process. The 3-in-1 booking system allows you to manage reservations, customers, and financial reports all in one place.
Marketing. As with any business, a Dream Vacations franchise owner needs to spend time marketing themselves to build a flourishing business. Most owners use a mix of traditional and digital marketing, which might include attending trade shows or local events on social media channels or creating online ads.
Training. Every franchise owner gets a chance for ongoing training. These trainings are conducted online or in-person at conferences and summits all over the country.
Business Management. Lastly, every day in the life of a franchise owner involves various business management tasks. These are the small items on your to-do list that keep the business running, like answering emails, participating in weekly check-ins, or communicating with your dedicated Business Development Manager.

If you want to learn more about what travel agents do, check out reviews from experienced franchise owners.

What Is the Purpose of a Travel Agent?

What is the purpose of a travel agent? Travel agents help people book travel and tourism-related services, like cruises, resorts, tours, airfare, car rentals, train tickets, and more. As experts in the industry, travel agents make the travel-planning process quicker and much less stressful for the average traveler. They help to create the perfect travel experience to meet the needs of the client.

The typical travel agent job requires a certification process at a minimum. Many jobs require a college degree in a related field, like travel and tourism.

How Long Does It Take to Become a Travel Agent?

After purchasing a franchise from Dream Vacations, it takes only a few days to complete the initial training and become a certified travel agent. After that, agents start working to build their clientele. The length of this process varies depending on the person and their marketing approach. Dream Vacations offers incredible tools and resources to help new franchise owners as they focus on gaining new clients and selling.

How Much Does It Cost to Become a Certified Travel Agent?

Becoming a certified travel agent with Dream Vacations and learning how to become a travel agent is a high-value franchise opportunity with minimal investment required. The franchise offers three levels of investment. Each level has different fees, incentives, and discounts, including:

Level 1 | New to the Industry | $10,500: For as little as $3,500 down you can begin your journey as a travel franchise owner. Ask to find out if you qualify for up to 30% off the franchise fee.
Level 2 | Intermediate | $3,195
Level 3 | Experienced | $495

Veterans can qualify for our special Veteran's Enlistment Package, with unique benefits and incentives. Contact Dream Vacations to find out which level of discounts and incentives you qualify for.

How Do Travel Agents Make Money?

Travel agents working at a business earn money via commission based on the travel supplier partners and other companies they work with to create travel plans for their clients.

Travel agents who own their own franchise through Dream Vacations are paid by commission only. Because travel agency franchises are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, we aren't able to disclose specific earnings. However, you can reach out to someone who is already a travel agent to learn more about their experience and how much money they make on average before pursuing a franchise opportunity.

How Much Do Work-From-Home Travel Agents Make?

As with any franchise, the more you put into your business, the more money you can make. By investing in yourself and getting proper training, you can earn exponentially more money through sales commissions. When you're your own boss, the sky is truly the limit!

How Does a Travel Agent Get Paid?

Those who become a travel agent with one of the best home-based travel agent companies, Dream Vacations get the benefit of being independently owned and operated franchise owners. You earn commissions from your sales of hotels, resorts, cruises, travel insurance, and more. Your commissions are paid weekly and deposited via direct deposit.

Travel agents can also charge a fee for the time it takes them to put together an itinerary. Planning the perfect vacation, especially adventurous ones like a safari, can take hours of phone calls, emailing, and research. These fees ensure that the travel agent gets paid for their efforts, even if the client cancels.

Benefits of Being a Travel Agent

Becoming a travel agent from home is a dream job for many people, and for good reason. Travel agents get the benefit of working from home and setting their own schedules, and they get to enjoy the incredible perks of travel and flight benefits that come along with the industry.

Dream Vacations franchise owners come from a variety of backgrounds and find unique things to love about the job. Some franchise owners are stay-at-home mothers who love the flexibility of the job, while others love working in an industry that fuels their passion for travel.

How Do Home-Based Travel Agents Promote Themselves?

Travel agents promote themselves by using a combination of traditional and digital marketing to get more clients and increase sales. Dream Vacations offers in-depth training to help travel agents build their clientele quickly right from the beginning. Franchise owners can do the following to find a customer base:

Start with people in your personal network.
Ask friends and family for contacts.
Connect with individuals on a personal level.
Use word-of-mouth marketing.
Promote your business on social media
Leverage a Vacation contest giveaway to build your client list
Join new clubs and organizations to expand your circle.

Attract high-end customers by joining organizations where high-end clientele hang out, then build personal connections, and watch your network expand.

How Do Home-Based Travel Agents Get Clients?

Home-based travel agents get clients as they work hard to promote themselves in the community and in their personal networks. Some clients come from expected places, like friends and family, while other clients pop up unexpectedly through word of mouth or online advertisements.

There are many ways to get clients as a home-based travel agent, including travel fairs, local ads, social media groups, and more. The most successful travel agents are those who constantly brainstorm new ways to bring in clients and utilize their current clients to build their network. Thanks to the power of the internet, there's never been a better time to grow a customer base.

Julie Schallman

How Do I Become an Independent Travel Agent from Home?

Here's how to become a travel agent from home in three simple steps:

Apply online at Dream Vacations Franchise.
Pay the one-time initial franchise fee to become a franchise owner.
Complete the initial training certification course.

Benefits of Working from Home

Working from home provides a wealth of benefits for any franchise owner. Work from home travel agents get to set their own schedules and travel with excellent discounts. They also get potential tax benefits from operating a home-based business and save on commuting costs.

Do You Need a License to Be a Travel Agent?

Home-based online travel agents might need a license to run their business. States vary on whether or not a license is needed. Different states have different requirements for getting a license. Currently, there are six states (California, Florida, Iowa, Washington, Hawaii, and Nevada) that have strict laws regarding sellers of travel, but even if you only plan to sell to in a state that does not require a license, you should make sure to get one.

Additionally, many states also require a license to sell travel insurance if you create a DBA (doing business as) name. Via our franchise, upon successfully completing the initial franchise class, you are a certified travel agent, and we help you with the process of registering to sell travel insurance, if applicable, and you are able to start selling travel.

Dream Vacations is one of the best home-based travel agent companies offering a training certification course that allows anyone to get started with their business right away. Check your state specifications for license requirements.

What Is Considered a Home-Based Business?

A home-based business is any business where the main office is in the owner's home. Most home-based businesses have specific tax deductions and may require certain licenses and permits, depending on the type of business. Those who rent their home are still eligible to start a home-based business.

Do You Need Qualification to Be a Travel Agent?

Work from home travel agents must obtain a travel agent certification before starting their business. Dream Vacations franchise owners need only a computer, internet, and phone to run their business and become a travel agent without experience. All operating systems are web-based, so your entire business can be run with just an internet connection, anywhere in the world.

How Much Does It Cost to Start a Home-Based Business?

The cost of starting a home-based business varies depending on the industry. Dream Vacations and CruiseOne franchise owners can learn how to become a travel agent from home and start their business with minimal investment by choosing one of three levels:

Level 1 | New to the Industry | $109,8500: For as little as $3,500 down you can begin your journey as a travel franchise owner. Ask to find out if you qualify for up to 30% off the franchise fee.
Level 2 | Intermediate | $3,195
Level 3 | Experienced | $495

After the franchise is purchased, travel agents just need a computer with an internet connection and a phone to successfully launch their business and start earning money right away.

Janette Hankins

What Is the Best Travel Agency to Work For?

Joining the Dream Vacations team as a work-from-home travel agent has several advantages over starting an at-home business all by yourself. First and foremost, it requires no travel experience. Dream Vacations provides an initial training that gives you all the knowledge and tools necessary to begin working from home as a travel agent.

That's just the beginning, though. Regional training and immersive summits, held multiple times throughout the year around the U.S., will help you improve your business—franchise owners experience an average of 35% sales increase as a result of attending these events.

With over 11500 online training modules to help you grow and expand your understanding of the industry, there's plenty to learn on your own, too. Perhaps most notably, joining the Dream Vacations team means becoming a part of the Franchisee Business Center community and gaining access to our world-class support staff to help you with questions and concerns.

Getting Started

If you're wondering what travel agents do and are looking to learn how to become a travel agent from home You're in the right place. We can help jump-start your home-based travel agent career by starting you with a franchise opportunity that offers you the freedom to travel the globe, a world-class support network, a recognized and respected brand, and bountiful income.

So what are you waiting for? Become a work from home travel agent and get started with Dream Vacations Franchise today.