The third is a home based referral travel agent, and the main difference here is there is no compute

During lodging in alaska my meanderings around the world of travel on the Internet I sometimes lodging in alaska come upon the promise of much cheaper holidays by becoming a home based Travel Agent. The question I always ask myself is the simple one, which is this. Is it worth the effort to make savings on your vacation costs, or is it a lot of hassle, and a lot of money?
First thing to consider is how difficult is it to become a home travel agent and the quick response to that having lodging in alaska searched around the internet, is not very difficult at all. Providing you are prepared to lay out a small amount of money and fill in some details that is about all there is.
What are the benefits when it comes to booking vacations? Before answering that question we need to look into what you are getting into in a little more detail. To read all the promotional blurb you could easily think that you were going to be a travel agent much like you find in the High Street of any large town in the UK.
There is much talk about the perks you can expect, the cheap tickets, the incredibly discounted prices of hotel rooms, excursions, car hire, and a whole lot more. You are also told you will be given the travel agent identity card, called the IATA card, and all you will have to do is quote the number and Abracadabra all cheap tickets will appear by magic.
We need therefore to take a closer look at all of this. The IATA card does exist, and you can buy one. However before we look at that, we need to see exactly what the word Travel Agent means to you if you decide this is a route to go down.
Firstly you will not be a Travel Agent as you find in the Main Street of many towns and cities. In fact there are two other kinds of travel agent. There is the Home Based Travel Agent who sets up working either full or part time from home. Basically they are hosted by a real travel agency, called a host travel agent, who then pays them any commission due. To do this you buy a license from the host agency, and then hook up to their computer system. You do everything a normal travel agency does only you do it from home.
The third is a home based referral travel lodging in alaska agent, and the main difference here is there is no computer linking, they refer their clients to the host travel agency who then book the vacation. lodging in alaska There is obviously still a commission, lodging in alaska only it is smaller, and in many respects this set up is not dissimilar to being an affiliate for Expedia, or Travelocity.
The point of course is the IATA card which identifies you as being in the trade and qualifies you for all the perks. Or does it actually qualify you. The truth is that it doesn t qualify you for free trips or nearly free trips, but it does put you in a position to at least have a shot at them and definitely succeed with some of the reductions. That after all is your sole reason for wanting an IATA Card.
It is important to distinguish between an IATA card, and the IATAN card. The host travel agent you sign up with, will arrange the card for you, and that will cost you some money. The IATAN card is the big one, and you need to have made over $5000 in travel commissions in a year to qualify, but holders of that card can get 75% discounts on airline tickets.
A little bit of research on the internet for Host Travel Agencies lodging in alaska to link with is required. You mainly need to ensure they are reputable, and then you are set to go. You should understand that dealing directly with an airline with the IATA card is unlikely to get you discounts, but asking Hotels for the net rate for rooms and quoting your card number could well give you success.