Do you want to become a travel advisor?
- Do you love to travel, and travel often?
- Does planning your vacation seem almost as fun as the trip?
- When people think of you, do they think of someone who enjoys traveling?
Do you have what it takes to join our family?
- Are you motivated to start your own business?
- Are you organized, and capable of maintaining your own business?
- Are you comfortable knowing this is a SALES job?
- Are you a good team player?
- Are you willing and capable of traveling often to stay up to date on destinations?
- Do you have excellent verbal and written communication skills?
All of our travel advisors are hired as independent contractors working their own schedules from wherever they choose. This means there are no taxes taken out of pay, and they receive a 1099 at the end of the year.
The most amazing job...some days!
We hear all.the.time: “I sure wish I had your job, it sounds like so much fun!”. Well, let me explain what this job really looks like!
First, this is a commission only sales job. If you don’t sell, you don’t get paid. So you work hard quoting a family and find them exactly what they are looking for, only for them to reply back “Thanks so much, we went ahead and booked exactly what you sent us.” OR maybe you never hear back from them because they decided not to go at all, or they booked with another travel agent. Guess what, you just worked for no pay.
Second, when you do book a client, you are their only contact person. You are answering questions, planning itinerary, arranging transportation, etc. We, as an agency, don’t get paid until after the client travels. That means you could work for well over a year on that one vacation with that client prior to getting paid for it!
Third, if something that is due (like a final payment) falls during your own personal vacation, you are responsible for handling that, or finding a “buddy” within the agency to help you out.
Fourth…..2 words: HURRICANE SEASON. You have lots of families booked to cruise or vacation during hurricane season. You stalk the weather channel every day, and compare those notes to when your clients are traveling because no matter how many times you suggest travel insurance, they didn’t buy it. Now they all call you on the same day wanting to change the dates of their vacation. That equals ALL that planning starts over!
Now, if you are still with me, the truth is that I wouldn’t trade all those hard days. We all love our jobs, and helping other families experience amazing vacations is what we do best. Our travel advisors play well together, and we often refer to each other as our extended family.
FAQ's
How will I be trained?
- All beginning training is done online.
- We have an annual travel advisor trip that we encourage everyone to attend. We provide on site training, tips for sales and growing your business, and most of all…a lot of fun!
How will I find clients?
- We will teach you how to advertise and provide you with templates for business cards and brochures that you may print.
- Word of mouth referrals is HUGE. Treat every client like family, and your business will grow.
- We also provide client leads to help you grow your business.
How will I get paid, and how much?
- We pay our travel advisors every other week via direct deposit
- We pay a very generous commission split on the gross commission paid to the agency by the supplier, with opportunities to increase your split and earn bonuses. We actually have some of the highest commission splits in the industry. We have been told we shouldn’t pay that much, but we know how hard all of our team members work and feel they deserve it.
Application process
If you are still interested in pursuing your dream job as a travel advisor, we would love to hear from you!
This form is the first step of the application process. If we feel that you might be a good fit for our team, we will contact you for part 2 which is more detailed. If we move to part 3, that will be a telephone interview.
If you are selected to join our family at Meridian Travel Company, there is a $250 non-refundable administration fee that covers your back ground check as well as your first year of admin tools we provide. Following that, there is an annual fee only to cover those admin tools provided.