Question:
Become Certified Home based Travel Agent
Imagine a whole new world of travel opened up to you....
With the deregulation of the travel industry by the U.S.
Government in 1985 in an attempt to revitalize that industry,
another opportunity also opened up... the opportunity for
individuals to become Independent Travel Agents. With this
development, the growth of the travel industry has been both
explosive and exciting.
Imagine... enjoying the tremendous benefits of being an
Independent Travel Agent.
This is your chance to see parts of the world that most people only
dream about. You can begin to take advantage of the unique travel
opportunities and discounts available to the Independent Travel Agent
and enjoy a generous commission structure as well.
If you would like to see the world, or just go someplace warm this
winter, drop me some e-mail, mention Travel, and I will send you more
details.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Answer:
For Informational purposes only:
Agent I.D. Scams, or, The Instant Travel Agent
This faq was written to clearify the purpose of and
create a public discussion of travel agent I.D. card
scams that exist in the travel business and have
infiltrated the internet and Usenet in particular. This
post will become a frequent posting on rec.travel
newsgroups and anywhere else ID card scams feel
they can lure unsuspecting consumers. As legal action
grows against the companies involved, additions will be
made regarding specific legal rulings. Already, one court
in New York has ruled these operations as "illegal
pyramid schemes" (see article below)
The travel industry is full of varying types of scams and
bad deals. From the selling of stolen tickets, to the
selling of phoney tickets, to false advertising
of prices, the less-than honest have been able to take
widescale advantage of the public's infatuation and
misunderstanding of the world of travel. One of the
more popular scams in existence today is the so-called
"agent I.D." card scam, in which a company claims to sell
"agent qualifications" to anyone who can fork over
the hefty fee they require. With this "I.D. card", which
is often only a made-up business card and a list of the
800 numbers of airlines and cruise lines, the
company promises it's holder can do amazing things like
"travel at travel agent rates", travel for free and reap
huge discounts on all their travel costs,
without ever having to go to the trouble of working
professionally as a travel agent and without ever earning
the discounts by selling travel.
These companies often operate from legitimate travel
agencies and profess that you will be listed as an
"outside agent", an agent that works outside of the
office. The fees for this can range from 295.00 for most
bogus deals and up to 3 or 4 thousand dollars for other
even more bogus plans. All such offers operate on
the fringe of the law or respectability and countless
companies have taken people's money and ran, leaving the
consumer stranded (for an excellent article
on just this topic, see TravelAge West [contact 647-
1...@MCIMAIL.com], number 37, Volume 30, September 11,
1995, page one, "Learnng the Hard Way" by Scott Bittle]
Most individuals who are initiated into these scams end
up eating their losses quickly and seek out other scams
to waste their money on. Still others, who believe they
are now travel agents, often grow into the industry and
stay to become respectable travel consultants, eventhough
they now realize that whatever
fees they paid to get where they are were totally
unnecessary.
The fact is that travel agent travel discounts are too
few and too small for the professional full-time travel
agent and even smaller for the character who does
not actually sell travel. Real discounts come when an
agent has actually produced volume in sales from the
supplier they wish to get discounts from. Regular
discounts are often more expensive or the same price as
the cheapest package or special price that a hotel or
airline is offering. Further, due to the increase in
agent I.D. scams, travel suppliers are now accepting I.D.
cards only from fully accredited I.A.T.A.N travel
consultants.
To drive my point even closer to home, earlier this year
in Yonkers, New York a well-known I.D. card scam
operation was ruled by a City Court as being an illegal
pyramid scheme, due to the fact that these businesses
mostly make their profits by increasing membership and
not from their "travel sales". Like any pyramid scheme,
new members are expected or required to recruit new
members in to the pit. The whole focus here is the hefty
fees taken in from the membership cost, not the sale of
travel. Most of the advertisements seen in the
rec.travel newsgroups promissing travel agent credentials
and discounts are a product of this rule of the pyramid.
In the case of New York, the scam business was forced to
repay a buyer of their package for damages caused.
Every agency and industry association. organization and
trade magazine (except the association for free public
travel and the promotion of phoney ID cards and
business scams) has united against the selling of I.D.
cards for profit. In a recent bold move, ARTA
(Association of Retail Travel Agents) announced plans to
set up a joint web site to lure prospective agents away
from what are known in the industry as "card mills".
(this faq will be updated with its web site
as soon as it is completed. For now, consult with Travel
Weekly's editors [http://www.novalink.com/travel]
Reference: isue number 94, volume 54, November 27, 1995,
front page, "ARTA Net Site Set to Counter ID Card
Mills"). Further, state governments around the country
have been busy in the last year coming up with new ways
to make it more difficult to set-up travel offices. On
January 1 in
California and other states all sellers of travel will be
required by law to register with the state as such and
pay registration fees to conduct the sale of
travel. [consult with your local district attorney's
office to find out if your state requires travel sellers
to register as such to legally sell travel in your area]
The reason for this industry-wide fight against travel
agent ID scams and instant agent packages is not due to a
fear of competition from small companies, nor is it a new
tactic for the collection of revenue from the business
sector- it is nothing less than an attempt to legitimate
the industry itself. Just as we in concert stand against
prostitution tours in Bangkok, or misadvertising of
fares, or fly-by-night businesses- all of which hurt the
industry as a whole
-legitimate travel sellers seek to maintain a clean image
of their trade in the eye of the
traveling consumer.
To conclude, a word of advice for the 2 types most lured
by the I.D. card scam;
If you would like to become a professional travel agent,
because the industry seems attractive to you, check into
a local travel agent training school. These
institutions will effectively train and educate you to
become a successful travel consultant and even help you
with job placement. Another option is to ask a local
travel agency if they will allow you to become a serious
outside agent. If they are a legitimate company they
won't charge you a fee because you will hopefully
be earning the agency money with the sales that you
eventually bring in. When you have reached a certain
level of production, you will then be allowed on the
agency's I.A.T.A.N list and be able to get some of the
benefits offered to full time travel agents, the most
common of which is long work weeks and low salaries.
If you're just looking to travel "for free" you're better
off spending your time and money on something else
altogether. Go camping, or get your head office to
sponser some incentive travel for you, or keep hitting-up
your frequent flyer plan for bonuses and upgrades. Become
a flight attendant! Buy a private jet!
Nothing comes for free. Better still, find yourself a
good travel agent who can help you consistently find the
best deals on travel that are available and stick
with them.
