Travel Agent Chatter | Friday 15

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats about the difference between travel consortias, travel agent discounts, and why someone should use a travel agent. Helpful Resources: ( List of the travel consortia. If you love your consortium, go ahead and leave a review to help others understand the value of your consortium! ) ( Great explainer of what a travel consortium/co-op is. ) https://hostagencyrev...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats with Jenn Lee, VP of Industry Engagement & Support for TPI, about starting an agency without travel experience, how long to plan for a site inspection, and recommended PCI-compliant CC storage. RESOURCES: - How Travel Agents Can Make the Most of a Cruise Ship Inspection: https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/how-travel-agents-can-make-the-most-of-a-cruise-s...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats about going from hosted to a true number and all you need to know and best host for wheelchair travel. Helpful Resources: https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/travel-agent-license ( All about seller of travel licensing/registrations. ) (Breakdown and infographic of the different accreditation options for travel agencies, includes more details on the TRUE accre...

This quarter we sit down with a mom of seven who left a career in education to start a travel agency focused on educational travel just four years ago. She’s moved from being with a traditional host to a host-franchise hybrid and we dig into why. (Not sure what a host-franchise hybrid is? We cover that too.) If you’ve ever wondered the difference between an agency that belongs to a travel franchis...

Welcome to Friday 15! In episode 68 Steph chats with April Swales, Marketing Director for Uniglobe Travel Center about working full-time while starting an agency, is $10k normal cost to start travel agency, and best host + trainings for groups Helpful Resources: ( Real numbers on the average cost to start a travel agency ) ( A great resources for different educational and training options for trav...

Welcome to Friday 15! In episode 64 Steph chats with Lori Speers, Owner & Founder of Levarte Travel about working with more than one host, how much to earn in the 1st year to break even, cost of host educational programs, and are credit checks with hosts normal. Helpful Resources: ( Love HAR's data? It comes from our survey and we need your help! Please take the survey today so we can continue...

ASTA's board of directors election is coming up! Join us as we hear from the candidates unscripted, unedited, and super fun. :) ➡️MORE INFO + REGISTER FOR VIDEO RECORDING: https://hostagencyreviews.com/candidatechat 🎤 12pm CT - Peter N. Lobasso and I bring the noise and lay out Board of Directors 101 for those of us non-board-y types. :) 🎤 Marc Casto, President Leisure Americas, Flight Centre Tr...

Welcome to our 67th Friday 15! Today Steph chats promoting suppliers (do you need permission?), How commissions work with a host agency, and affiliate marketing on site/email. Helpful Resources: **** HAR is hosting a Candidate Chat for ASTA's Board of Directors election --- Thurs, July 7th @12pm CT. It'll be so fun! Check out last year's Candidate Chat to get a feel for it: https://www.youtube.com...

Welcome to Friday 15! In episode 66 April chats about educational programs, what are travel agent rates, and how to get travel agent rates. Helpful Resources: https://hostagencyreviews.com/page/survey https://hostagencyreviews.com/7-day-set-up https://www.facebook.com/groups/1470400299678907 https://asta.digitalchalk.com/learn/RoadmapToBecomingATravelAdvisor *Use code HAR149 for Roadmap Deal* http...

Welcome to Friday 15! In episode 64 Steph chats with Lori Speers, Owner & Founder of Levarte Travel about working with more than one host, how much to earn in the 1st year to break even, cost of host educational programs, and are credit checks with hosts normal. Helpful Resources: ( Love HAR's data? It comes from our survey and we need your help! Please take the survey today so we can continue...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats with Keith Waldon, Founder and Director of Departure Lounge, about the best travel conferences, why to join a virtuoso host for luxury travel, and what to know about merchant accounts. We do this every week! If you have travel industry questions, HAR likely has an answer :) Submit your burning question here Har. News/Friday15 and join us this Friday (and eve...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats Jackie Friedman, President of Nexion Travel Group, about being a travel advisor with a fulltime job, best ways to market your business, non-US citizen abroad w/ US clients finding host, and what to do after you finish our 7-day setup. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode:  https://hostagencyreviews.com/7-day-set-up sales@nexion.com jackie....

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats with Lori Speere, Owner and CEO, from Levarte Travel about hosts for LGBTQ+ niche, going from sole proprietor to LLC, IATAN or CLIA to book group cruise, and tips for booking cruise groups. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode: https://iglta.org https://hostagencyreviews.com/7-day-set-up https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/travel-preferred-s...

This episone first aired on May 6, 2022. Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats with Lori Speere, Owner and CEO, from Levarté Travel about hosts for LGBTQ+ niche, going from sole proprietor to LLC, IATAN or CLIA to book group cruise, and tips for booking cruise groups. 00:00 | Welcome to Friday 15! 02:15 | Which hosts are good for an LGBTQ+ travel niche? 06:25 | How do I transition from a sole pr...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats Mark Mead from ASTA about what ASTA is doing to help with hotel resort fees, what the real difference is between ARC & IATA, and booking your employer's travel: ethics. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode: * Take the annual HAR survey * https://onemileatatime.com/news/marriott-hotel-sustainability-fee/ https://my.asta.org/ASTAVTA/Home/...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats about trainings offered for corporate advisors, booking school groups and if you should join a host, and a UK agency with same name as me. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode: https://www.gbta.org/professional-development/global-travel-professional-certification-gtp ( use promo code HAR149 for 50% off ) https://www.gbta.org/professional-de...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats with Stephanie Kwong from DBC Law about the difference between trade/service mark/copyright, how the trademark process works, trademark costs & time, and the 3 biggest trademark mistakes. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode: https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/tips-for-choosing-travel-agency-names https://www.wipo.int/trademarks/en/ htt...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats with Bill Coyle, VP Agent Engagement for KHM Travel Group, about host mentorship being free but lower commission %, what to look for in a consortium, and travel niche examples. HERE'S A LIST OF HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/independent-travel-agent-contracts https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/host-agency-commission...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats about getting an agency Job without experience, negotiating hotel rates for groups, and 50-50 commission split. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode: https://hostagencyreviews.com/travel-jobs https://hostagencyreviews.com/travelagentchatter/valerie-gossett-premier-resources-travel-group https://hostagencyreviews.com/travelagentchatter/trave...

An entrepreneur twice over, Laurie Burg has seen her sales skyrocket from $15M pre-pandemic, to $20M today. We sit down and talk with Laurie about why she made the decision to have her Disney-only agency broaden its focus beyond the World of Walt. Not only that, we discuss how she has managed to make the complex Disney bookings with low commissions profitable. (gasp!) The past ten years, she’s man...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats with Christopher Sherman, Brand Strategy and Marketing from Travel Edge Network , pros/cons of host that has own clients, difference between host and consortium, if you need a business banking account, and if client payments work. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode: https://hostagencyreviews.com/hosts https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/wh...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph talks about lead programs for agents, whether you need a business license, and about asking client to pay commission. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode: https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/what-is-travel-consortia-travel-coops https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/travel-leads https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/travel-agent-license https://hostage...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats with Stephanie Cannon, founder of SC Travel Design, on travel expense write offs, personal travel with a work component, accounting software, a gives some tax tips. HERE'S A LIST OF HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: https://hostagencyreviews.com/events https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/travel-expenses www.withstephaniecannon.com/taxprepkit https://with...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Steph chats with Chris Green, Director of Network Expansion at Avoya Travel Network on travel agency accreditation options, how to process fees, travel MLMs, and if trainings transfer when moving hosts. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode: https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/travel-agency-accreditation https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/what-is-a-host-...

Welcome to Friday 15! Today Maureen chats with Chad Burt, Co-Owner of Outside Agent about their education programs, support, Mentoring and Networking Tips, Fraud Protection Program. Here's a list of helpful resources for today’s episode: https://hostagencyreviews.com/ https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/tips-on-how-to-find-the-best-travel-host-agency https://hostagencyreviews.com/blog/travel-agents...