How to become a Disney travel agent?

woverbay11

New Member
I am a stay at home dad and my youngest will be starting Kindergarten in July so I will have a lot more time on my hands. I have always loved planning vacations and absolutely love Disney World. We are DVC members and try to go at least every year. So I figured what better to do than to use my love for Disney to help others enjoy the most magical place on earth. Can anyone give me any tips on where to start?

Thanks!
 

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
I'm looking for information as well. I just left Disney after 3 years with the DRC. I still have many contacts within the organization, and all of my friends in the travel trade department have told me to become a TA.

Many agencies will want you to have experience staying at the Disney resorts and sailing on the cruise ships. I assume since you worked at the DRC that you lived in the Orlando area - did you spend much time in the Disney resorts?

I have this requirement for my agents so that we can give our clients first hand knowledge of the resorts from our many personal trips.
 
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SecondStarTilMorning

Well-Known Member
To legitimately have and keep the CLIA agent card you should be enrolled in their Accredited Cruise Counselor Program which involves coursework, ship inspections, 2 sailings on different cruise lines, and possibly have a few other requirements fulfilled, including selling staterooms. You have 2 years to complete the requirements or the card will be suspended - unless the owner is granting you one of their few owner cards, which should only be for their use.

I am always very cautious with agencies that allow you to sign up and have access to TA discounts immediately (a week?), this makes many travel suppliers such as Disney put much tighter policies on their discounts like they just did in the last few months. (For example, with Disney we used to be able to take a few short trips (2-3 nights each) using TA discounts, if they were available. Now, due to people abusing this privilege, all agents are now limited to 1 TA discounted trip per year per destination)

It also cheapens the profession.

Beware.

Well, I'm following the CLIA guidelines which allow you to receive your CLIA ID card after taking only one ACC course. As far as I know, you can always re-enroll to maintain your CLIA ID card if you don't meet the requirements within 2 years. This is the current situation, and I'm not going to simply wait until I've completed the entire ACC to take advantage of discounts that are being offered. The reason it only took me a week (plus the 10 day processing time for my CLIA ID) is because the process is dead simple, and the courses offered by CLIA, Disney, Cruise Lines, and Hotels are so easy that it's comical. Now, if CLIA ever changes to become like IATA and requires a minimum booking requirement before they offer you membership, then the barrier to entry will become more reasonable. At the present time, this is how things work, and I don't feel badly about taking advantage of perks offered to those who are actively working to make money for Disney, Cruise Lines etc.
 
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DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
Well, I'm following the CLIA guidelines which allow you to receive your CLIA ID card after taking only one ACC course. As far as I know, you can always re-enroll to maintain your CLIA ID card if you don't meet the requirements within 2 years. This is the current situation, and I'm not going to simply wait until I've completed the entire ACC to take advantage of discounts that are being offered. The reason it only took me a week (plus the 10 day processing time for my CLIA ID) is because the process is dead simple, and the courses offered by CLIA, Disney, Cruise Lines, and Hotels are so easy that it's comical. Now, if CLIA ever changes to become like IATA and requires a minimum booking requirement before they offer you membership, then the barrier to entry will become more reasonable. At the present time, this is how things work, and I don't feel badly about taking advantage of perks offered to those who are actively working to make money for Disney, Cruise Lines etc.

If you are in this for perks and discounts, you are in for a rude awakening.
 
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Kingdom Konsultant

WDWMAGIC Board Sponsor
Premium Member
WDWMAGIC Sponsor
My agents are on call for their clients 24/7 and customer service is our number one priority. We had a CLIA when we first started and switched to an IATA. IATA is much harder to attain for an agency. CLIA wants you to do X amount of ship inspections in a year and X amount of sailings and you have all of the required courses to keep your card. As I have said before,I will not hire anyone that does not either have prior experience as an agent or gone to school to become an agent. Then they have to pass not only the interview with me, but my senior agents will weigh in and you must pass an agency exam. Then you must sell a minimum amount of travel to earn the privileged of getting the IATA card if I hire you. Beware of agencies that will hire anyone that asks to join and does not have specific guidelines for their agency. Many agencies do this to build up their numbers to try to get Earmarked as we are, which is the WRONG way to do things. I am a firm believer in quality of service and not the quantity of agents to achieve that goal. If you do want to become an agent, do it the right way, take the courses and pass your TAP exam. This gives you the basic knowledge of what is expected of you when you are an agent, then you will need to learn the specific agencies rules and regulations on how they do things. And please if you want to sell Disney travel destinations, go with an agency that has the designation of Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.

Pam
 
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Caresse

New Member
Many agencies will want you to have experience staying at the Disney resorts and sailing on the cruise ships. I assume since you worked at the DRC that you lived in the Orlando area - did you spend much time in the Disney resortIs?

I have this requirement for my agents so that we can give our clients first hand knowledge of the resorts from our many personal trips.

I have not yet taken a Disney cruise. I have stayed at many of the resorts. Grand Floridian, Poly, Beach Club, Yacht Club, Animal Kingdom Lodge, all of the moderate resorts, Art of Animation, Pop, All Star Sports, and Saratoga Springs. And I have toured all of the resorts and rooms several times. I've been to DisneyQuest numerous times, both waterparks, and I've seen La Nouba 3 times. My favorite resort is the Beach Club. I love the smell when I walk into the lobby, the pink limestone floors, Cape May's crab legs, and of course Stormalong Bay. Second fave is the Animal Kingdom Lodge. But the punch they serve in the Poly's CL lounge is addictive. I have stayed at Caribbean Beach more than any other resort, always in Trinidad South. Before and after Pirate rooms. My favorite quick service is the make your own pasta at Port Orleans RIverside.
 
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lovepooh

Well-Known Member
I know from my experience that when I booked my trip, I had to send over MY ARC Card and my College of Disney certificate and what's new in 2013. But they also verified with my agency I actually work there.
So they do check. With as much travel as I book in any given week, It will be nice to have that week in Disney to relax of sorts!
 
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Caresse

New Member
That's why I'm not in it for the discounts. I've noticed that some TA's would rather book under the general public promotions, and earn commission off of their own booking.
 
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lovepooh

Well-Known Member
For us it worked better for us to use our TA discount then to do a package. But yes I booked on the site and I am up to date on the College of Disney.
 
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Caresse

New Member
I cannot eat a table service meal for what the cast discounted dining plan costs. I'm lucky that I have friends who will still book for me. That's why I don't want to be a TA for discounts. I want to be a TA because trip planning is what I love to do.
 
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luv

Well-Known Member
I do think that if you want to be a Disney TA, you should broaden your horizons a smidge and visit the rest of Orlando. People will be asking questions about that on occasion. See Blue Man Group. Ride Cat in the Hat. See Shamu.

I realized I should never, ever try to be a TA. I don't like planning other people's vacations, lol. It's a lot of work, requires input from them (not, "I don't know, which is better?") and then they generally toss it out the window and I'm left thinking, "WHY did you insist on my help?!"

That's why I now tell them to pick up a book and come here.
 
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Amy Angeli

New Member
Getting into the the Disney Travel Agent business can be a little tough when you do not have any experience. The first step would be contacting some of the Disney specific travel agencies about employment. Unfortunately, I dot not know of any that are currently hiring those with no experience.

I can however give you some advice of what to avoid and what will be expected of you.

1. Some travel agencies are run much like multilevel marketing schemes. Avoid these agencies. They will want you to pay for training, registration, etc. At that point, they really do not care if you book a single trip as they have made money off of you and anything you book will just be more money for them. I did not pay a dime for my training. A small fee for registering with the agency when you have no experience is legit, but anything else should be a red flag. You will also be expected to list with one of the agencies such as IATA. If you want to do Disney specifically, look for an agency that is Earmarked. It is not an absolute deal breaker if they are not, but Disney does not give Earmarked status to just anyone and it will let you know that the agency is serious about booking Disney.

2. There needs to be a support system in place and open communication between agents. Don't work for an agency that is just going to sign you up and then throw you to the wolves. You can never know "everything" about Disney. There is simply too much and it constantly changes. I can honestly say that I know a good bit about traveling with Disney. I work with a number of other agents that make me look like a bumbling idiot and all of us regularly ask questions of each other. Without that support system in place I would have been lost.

3. Your organizational skills must be excellent. Once you get going you will be keeping track of dozens of clients trips, all of which will have different wants and needs. They are depending on you to take all of the hassle out of traveling. When a promotion drops you need to be ready at a moments notice to start re-booking clients. You will need to keep track of all of the important dates such as payments, dining, etc and when they have questions you need to answer accurately and quickly. A missed date can mean the automatic cancellation of a Disney cruise. That is not a phone call that you will want to make.

4. Be prepared for a huge knowledge shock. When I started as a TA I thought I knew a lot about Disney. What I quickly found out was I knew a lot about how "I" did Disney. To be a good TA you need to know how everyone does Disney. This means a lot of reading about elements of a Disney vacation that you have no interest in. If a client wants to go golfing, you need to know what options they have even if you have never hit a golf ball in your life.

5. Being a Disney TA is enjoyable, but it is a job. There are a lot of late nights, early mornings and clients that make you crazy.

6. Good communication skills are essential. You must be pleasant, clear, concise and helpful. Much of your communication will be via email. The written word does not transmit tone all that well. Be prepared to proof read everything you send out to make sure you do not write anything that will upset a client.

If you have some specific questions feel free to ask.
I have a question. I'm thinking of signing on as an Independent Contractor with an Authorized Disney Travel Agency however they have a quota you must meet each contract period and if you don't meet it, you owe them the difference. Is this normal across the industry? It's holding me back from signing the contract due to the consequences of not meeting quota.
Thanks!
 
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Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I have a question. I'm thinking of signing on as an Independent Contractor with an Authorized Disney Travel Agency however they have a quota you must meet each contract period and if you don't meet it, you owe them the difference. Is this normal across the industry? It's holding me back from signing the contract due to the consequences of not meeting quota.
Thanks!

I have never heard of that so I am going to go with a very big no.

The bottom line is that it costs very little for an agency to have you on their books as an agent. You are looking at basic bookkeeping and whatever training they give you. ("give" being the opportune word) Everything else (business cards, internet, etc) come out of your pocket. Sometimes an agency will give things to clients like lanyards, backpacks, etc. but they are rarely high dollar items. If an agency wants you to pay an exorbitant fee to be an agent, find another agency.
 
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Amy Angeli

New Member
I have never heard of that so I am going to go with a very big no.

The bottom line is that it costs very little for an agency to have you on their books as an agent. You are looking at basic bookkeeping and whatever training they give you. ("give" being the opportune word) Everything else (business cards, internet, etc) come out of your pocket. Sometimes an agency will give things to clients like lanyards, backpacks, etc. but they are rarely high dollar items. If an agency wants you to pay an exorbitant fee to be an agent, find another agency.
Thank you for your feedback. Something about that sent up a red flag to me.
 
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DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
I have a question. I'm thinking of signing on as an Independent Contractor with an Authorized Disney Travel Agency however they have a quota you must meet each contract period and if you don't meet it, you owe them the difference. Is this normal across the industry? It's holding me back from signing the contract due to the consequences of not meeting quota.
Thanks!
That is not standard.

I have heard of it, but it's not the norm.

I'd love to know who that is.
 
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