Fascinating Journey

One of the first things aspiring travel agents search for in the Internet is what the average salary is when you work for a travel agency.

In this article, I’ll give you quick rundown of what to expect for compensation as well as some of the additional benefits and perks.

Travel Agent Salary – What to expect

Before well delve into actual numbers, it’s necessary to understand that there is more than one place you can work as a travel agent.  Travel agencies don’t have a monopoly… despite what one might imagine.

In addition to the traditional agency, you might find yourself working for a tour operator, a visitor bureau, or even an international real estate development company.  You may even find yourself working from home as an independent agent or in some type of virtual travel agent agreement.

Every position has different salary ranges.  The following numbers are only rough estimates, as of November 2009.

Traditional travel agency jobs usually offer salary anywhere between K and K.  This number can vary widely, and is heavily weighed on your personal training and skill set.

Working as an independent agent usually awards bigger rewards due to bigger risks/higher rate of failure.  Most of these positions work on a commission basis, as opposed to a traditional salary.

The average home based travel agent can expect to make between K and K, with high flyers making significantly more.

A caveat about these numbers

These numbers may seem either high or low, depending on your personal work experiences.  However, it’s important to remember that your income as a travel agent is dependent on what you bring to the table.

And, as I mentioned earlier, what you make is heavily weighed by the type of training you get. Many schools simply don’t give you the tools needed to succeed as a travel agent.  You have to make sure you get your training from a reputable information source.

How to become a travel agent – The best way to get training

Sure, being a travel agent is one of the most exciting jobs you can find.  However, you have to do certain things if you want to enjoy the salary… and the other perks.

If you’re interested in becoming an agent, I suggest giving a peak at what Amazon has to offer.  In particular, there are three resources that give you the nuts and bolts of becoming a travel agent… at a fraction of the cost.

While these three resources (often called the travel agent mini-set) aren’t advertised openly on the Amazon website, you can find a link to all three in the resource box below.

Are travel books necessary, or is it practical to get the information they contain from other sources? As with any other type of publication, travel books have their benefits and drawbacks.

It’s advisable to consider both when deciding whether to purchase them.

Travel Book Advantages

Whether you prefer paperback or e-book versions, travel books can come in handy during any traveling. In particular, you can learn about the particular culture and unique customs of a certain region of the world. Then when you get there, you’ll be able to adjust to your environment better and maximize your stay there. Here are the advantages of travel books:

1. They’re handy

Besides the traditional paperback travel books available, a wide variety of e-book readers and file formats are also available. This means that it’s more likely that you can find travel books for the region that you’ll be traveling to, which are compatible with your particular e-book reader.

2. They provide a cornucopia of information

Do you want to learn some basic phrases that you can use where you’ll be traveling to? Do you want to learn what to see, where to eat, and where to sleep? If you’re a history or environmental buff, do you want to learn the history of a particular region or the unique environment that it has? You can learn the answers to all of these questions, by using traditional or electronic travel books.

3. They’re convenient

Whether you want general or specific travel books, both types are available. paperback books fit easily into your backpack, while you can fit several travel e-books into your e-book reader. This allows you easily to access information about a particular region or country.

3. Travel e-books can be delivered immediately

Unlike traditional travel books, there’s no need to wait for them to arrive via post. You can receive many e-books immediately after you purchase them, which makes them convenient while you’re on the road.

Travel Book Disadvantages

1. The cost

Both paperback and e-book travel books are more expensive than basic travel websites or information from others who have traveled to a certain region. And while e-books are cheaper than paperback books, if you buy enough travel e-books, their costs can exceed one traditional travel book.

2. Picture quality for travel e-books

Although color photographs are becoming more available for travel e-books, the majority of the ones available are still black and white. So make sure to do your homework before buying a travel e-book.

3. Traveling becomes less spontaneous

Indeed, when you travel it’s helpful to have some basic information about sites, accommodations, customs, and so on. However, in the spirit of motorcycle road trips, sometimes trips that are more spontaneous tend to be more memorable. Oftentimes you can get more reliable and up-to-date information from locals, than from travel books.

If you’re planning to travel, then you should definitely consider travel books. However, you should also consider the benefits and drawbacks, to ensure that you can book the best trip possible.

Ever thought of finding a job that would let you travel around the world (or at least a region!) and get paid for it?

Sounds great, right?

In theory, sure. But in reality, holding a traditional ‘travel job’ is oftentimes more frustrating and annoying than holding a ‘regular job.’

Here’s why:

You typically can’t experience the culture, activities, or people of the places you visit… because you’re busy working (and the work usually sucks)!

Even if you could do these things, you’d be hard-pressed to because you get paid pennies for your hard work.

Even if you made money, you can’t go to the places you want to. You go where you’re assigned or you get fired.

So, if you want to work like crazy and not even get to ‘travel,’ be my guest. Get a travel job.

However, if you WANT to earn a healthy income as you travel on your own pace and schedule, consider becoming a ‘traveling entrepreneur.’

No, you’re not selling snake oil or anything ridiculous like that. This is a simple method of using modern Internet technology to market products on the web… and get paid for doing so.

The products can be in ANY market you choose. A simple visit to Clickbank or Comission Junction will show you how many thousands of products are out there that you can get paid to promote.

Once you’ve found your high-payoff product, you simply promote the heck out of the product for a few hours a day (or per week!) online with some simple techniques like blogging, utilizing facebook, myspace, twitter, and other methods. It’s very easy to learn and simply takes your commitment.

If you get turned off by selling to your friends or multilevel, pyramid scheme marketing (MLM), then becoming an internet entrepreneur could be the perfect solution for you.

So, if you are OK with being told where to go, when to go there, what you do when you get there, and when you leave, then be my guest and get a travel job.

However, if you’ve ever thought about working from an internet café or from your laptop while anywhere in the world, you may want to consider joining the growing community of underground marketers who make money while they travel by utilizing the internet.

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