Many people often wonder how it would be to have a travel agent career. The perception is that it does not pay very well but that there are a lot of perks. While it is true that the typical travel agent does not break six figures, some travel agents make good money and get to enjoy many benefits as well. Training is relatively inexpensive and less time consuming than going to a regular university or college, though many campuses do offer some travel agent courses now. Gone are the days when airline pilots made a ton of money and travel agents were at the bottom of the totem pole when it came to pay. Since most airline pilots for regional airlines make less than $40,000 per year and many as low as $24,000 per year when first starting out, these jobs are becoming less and less attractive, especially when you add in all of the university costs. Many pilots leave college with tons of school debt and a low paying job awaiting them. In contrast, a travel agent starting out can expect to make a salary of around $36,000 or more, plus a lot more in commissions.
The biggest incentive and attraction for a travel agent career is the lure of free or sharply reduced price travel for agents. In the old days agents used to travel for free, only paying the taxes. The airlines and cruise ships would shower them with free vouchers and free cruises or free buddy passes or sometimes all of the above. Upgrades were very common. All the agent had to do was flash their travel agent card and the ticket agent would upgrade them to first class. If you were on a cruise ship you could always get a better and bigger stateroom closer to the deck and with better views. When you arrived at your destination hotels would cater to you and give you great rooms, food, drinks, and even tickets to shows.
These days are history and a travel agent career has changed a lot. Many network marketing schemes were invented that offered the title of travel agent without actually being one. They sold you a travel agent official card and registration and they gave you a working travel agent website, but the real game was like a pyramid scheme where you had to recruit new members who paid money to get in. The more people you brought in and the more they brought in, the more money you were promised. Most of these schemes would fail of course and the only people that made any money were the ones that got in first. This is a type of scam or ponzi scheme and many are illegal. It diluted the power of the travel agent career privilege by creating too many fake travel agents. Once the airlines, cruise ships, and hotels figured it out it meant the end of many of the perks that were historically associated with being a travel agent.
Still, a travel agent career can be exciting and if the agent is a good or excellent salesperson a travel agent career can be lucrative. Some agents these days have extensive networks of loyal customers who come back to them again and again over the years and refer their friends and family. This can lead to a lot of steady income. Once you make enough money you dont really need all the perks since you can just afford to purchase them.