Experience, salesmanship, area of the country and whom you work for will be some of the factors affecting a travel agents salary. As with any profession, how effective and skillful you are will regulate the salary you receive. Travel agents held about 103,000 jobs in 2004. Travel agents are found in every part of the country. Approximately 3 out of 5 agents work for an agency. Around 14 percent of travel agents in North America are self-employed.
Salaries of self-employed travel agents depend in large part on commissions from bookings and service fees they charge their clients. It will most often take some time for a self-employed travel agent to build up his or her business. It takes time to build up a sufficient number of regular and non-regular clients. Therefore, it is not unusual for newly self-employed travel agents to report low yearly earnings. Even experienced self-employed agents will most likely experience low yearly earnings during economic downturns. Another expense of self-employed travel agents is benefits. They must cover their own insurance and death benefits, which agents employed by an agency will often have provided for them.
Salaries for travel agents employed by an agency vary by region and size of agency. For a “travel coordinator”, which is your basic travel agent and is responsible for travel agendas and the procurement of documents for international travel, the median salary, as of March 2006, is 41,268 dollars yearly. This varies slightly, the bottom 25th percentile of travel agents make 36,014 dollars yearly; while the top 75th percentile will earn 48,629 dollars yearly. For a “corporate travel manager”, whom have similar duties of the travel coordinator, but more responsibility, the median yearly salary as of March 2006 is 72,725 dollars. The bottom 25th percentile of managers will earn 61,193 dollars yearly; while the top 75th percentile of managers will earn 84,439 dollars yearly.
Salaried employees of travel agencies generally benefit from standard employer-paid benefits. Self-employed travel agents must provide these benefits for themselves. One considerable perk of travel agents is reduced personal rates for travel expenses. Travel agents very often get discounts on lodging and transportation. Also, travel agents often get to take “familiarization” trips. These trips are designed to learn about various vacation destinations and regions, and are offered at discounted prices, and occasionally at no cost to the agent. These benefits appeal to many people considering this profession.
