How to become a Disney travel agent?

[woverbay11]

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!

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

You don't need an LLC to become an agent. You stated that you wanted to become an agent but I am guessing from what you have here that you plan to start your own agency.

Pam

 

[sfjamie]

Is it feasable to be a travel agent part time? Do you recommend completing the TRIPKIT and he TAP test and continuing with a CTA certification? My passion is travel and I would love to be doing something that feeds my love of travel. I have visited Walt Disney World 7 times , with my last trip in March of 2015. I love Disney, I like Universal and I love the beach.

 

[rubies2blue]

Pam,

I currently work from home with a travel company booking reservations and would love to speak to you about positions you may have open. I am a Disney world expert and would love to book for Disney full time. I go home (Disney World) every other year and would love to make magic for others! What is the best way to contact you?

Thanks,
Ruby

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Pam,

I currently work from home with a travel company booking reservations and would love to speak to you about positions you may have open. I am a Disney world expert and would love to book for Disney full time. I go home (Disney World) every other year and would love to make magic for others! What is the best way to contact you?

Thanks,
Ruby

Hi Ruby,

I just emailed you back.

Pam

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Is it feasable to be a travel agent part time? Do you recommend completing the TRIPKIT and he TAP test and continuing with a CTA certification? My passion is travel and I would love to be doing something that feeds my love of travel. I have visited Walt Disney World 7 times , with my last trip in March of 2015. I love Disney, I like Universal and I love the beach.

I have both part time and full time agents that work for me. Part time does put more of a constraint when it comes to availability for your clients, new leads and when discounts come out. If you want to do it the right way, get the proper schooling.

Good luck!

Pam

 

[Jilibabi]

Hi Pam,

I have looked into many authorized disney vacation planner agents and have gotten a few replies and I just have a question. I found a lot of companies are charging around $200 to start as an agent, some require you to cover insurance, google business account, and I have one that charges for bonds, licenses, and administrative costs such as shipping client's docs to agent. Is this a normal fee? and is it an annual fee I would need to pay each year I am an agent? I know it will probably differ from each agency but I just want to know if this is normal or if I should stay away from places charging these fees. Thank you! Jillian

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Hi Pam,

I have looked into many authorized disney vacation planner agents and have gotten a few replies and I just have a question. I found a lot of companies are charging around $200 to start as an agent, some require you to cover insurance, google business account, and I have one that charges for bonds, licenses, and administrative costs such as shipping client's docs to agent. Is this a normal fee? and is it an annual fee I would need to pay each year I am an agent? I know it will probably differ from each agency but I just want to know if this is normal or if I should stay away from places charging these fees. Thank you! Jillian

Hey Jillian,
There are a lot of agencies that charge fees and yes every agency is different. And yes this is the norm among many of them. Some charge a flat fee to join and others do it yearly when you renew your contract. Again, it depends upon the agency. I don't charge fees to join, but the agents know they have a couple of very small fees once they are up and running. What I do suggest you do is do a search on the agency that you are interested in to see what information is out there. I hate to say it but there are quite a few unsavory agencies out there that you should steer clear of.

Good luck

Pam

Pam

 

[TakeMeToTheMouseCF]

Hey Jillian,
There are a lot of agencies that charge fees and yes every agency is different. And yes this is the norm among many of them. Some charge a flat fee to join and others do it yearly when you renew your contract. Again, it depends upon the agency. I don't charge fees to join, but the agents know they have a couple of very small fees once they are up and running. What I do suggest you do is do a search on the agency that you are interested in to see what information is out there. I hate to say it but there are quite a few unsavory agencies out there that you should steer clear of.

Good luck

Pam

Pam

Hi Pam!

I am very interested in becoming a Disney Travel Consultant. I travel to Disney World 4-5 times a year (I also traveled to Disneyland last year and already have my July trip scheduled to return) and have stayed in most resorts. I love Disney so much, I got married their with Disney Weddings in 2012. That was a dream come true! I would like to help others make their dreams come true and spread the magic by helping them book their dream trips.
I plan all my friends, co-workers, and their friend's trips and enjoy it so much, I find myself planning weekly (pretend) trips for myself to Disney with various resort stays and character dining. I find it helps me get through till my next trip!
Do you have any openings with your company? This is something I have been interested in doing for a couple of years now but have not figured out how to get started. Please feel free to email me or I can email you, whichever your prefer. Thanks!

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Please feel free to send me an email at pam@kingdomkonsultant.com and I will send you our job requirements.

Pam

 

[JeanieC]

Hello,
I am looking at the travel institute course offerings. Does anyone know if it would be best to start with Trip Kit program or the CTA program? I do no not have agent experience, only lots of travel experience. So, I'm starting at the beginning. I work full time but would like to transition into Becoming a Disney Travel Agent eventually.

Thank you

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Hello,
I am looking at the travel institute course offerings. Does anyone know if it would be best to start with Trip Kit program or the CTA program? I do no not have agent experience, only lots of travel experience. So, I'm starting at the beginning. I work full time but would like to transition into Becoming a Disney Travel Agent eventually.

Thank you

Go with the Trip Kit. You can work your way up from there.

Pam

 

[JeanieC]

Go with the Trip Kit. You can work your way up from there.

Pam

Thanks so much Pam!
Jeanie

 

[DisneyJoe]

some require you to cover insurance, google business account, and I have one that charges for bonds, licenses, and administrative costs such as shipping client's docs to agent.

Paying shipping costs is fairly standard across the majority of agencies, at least the ones that I have seen.

 

[Supercool]

I have read most of the entries in this thread and find myself in the same situation as many here. Since the thread is a little old, what's the best way to get more info about job requirements now?

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Actually Kingdom Konsultant Travel is now hiring. Please send your current resume along with any professional/personal travel experiences to vacations@kingdomkonsultant.com and please mention this thread on WDWMagic.
I am hiring a LIMITED amount of new agents. If you have prior experience that is a plus. Bring your A game!

Pam

 

[DisneyJoe]

I have read most of the entries in this thread and find myself in the same situation as many here. Since the thread is a little old, what's the best way to get more info about job requirements now?

It really depends on the agency.

 

[Supercool]

Actually Kingdom Konsultant Travel is now hiring. Please send your current resume along with any professional/personal travel experiences to vacations@kingdomkonsultant.com and please mention this thread on WDWMagic.
I am hiring a LIMITED amount of new agents. If you have prior experience that is a plus. Bring your A game!

Pam

Great! Will do.

 

[MouseMelly]

Lots of great information! I also want to start planning part-time. I've done several trips for friends for free and have been told to start doing it professionally. So here I am! Sadly, I do not have any travel agent experience but I do have a love for WDW. I have a few questions on an agency I found to be an IC with. No upfront fees that I can tell, but I do have to find my own clients. I also have to carry my own E&O and I'm not sure if any training is included. Commission is 60% until I reach $250K in sales. Just checking if this is also standard? $250K sounds like a lot of sales for a part-timer.
Also curious about registering with Disney myself. The site requires an IATA or CLIA number. Seems odd as that looks to be flight and cruise certifications? Any chance I'm missing something important?
Thank you to everyone for all the help already given!!

 

[Kristin3210]

There is so much great information on this forum, it's the most helpful forum I've found to date on the topic of being a Disney Vacation Planner!

I'm in the same boat as a lot of the posts here. My other issue is I'd really love to talk to someone about the opportunity more directly to see if it is the right option for me. I've posted in a few Facebook groups about it and I didn't really get much reply for a one-on-one chat with a current agent.

I have been to Disney 7 times in my life and am working on booking trip #8 this September. I have considered becoming a travel agent in general for many years, but always just stuck with what I knew work-wise. Now I'm starting to think I should really follow my passions and do something I love. I have over 10 years of high level customer service and sales experience, and I've traveled a lot including study abroad programs, so I understand the travel industry very well from a traveler's point of view (I've been through being stranded due to an airline strike and lost luggage...too many times).

My only issue is, it seems like I need to wait for my trip to be completed in September to even apply places. Also, some of the agencies that seem most reputable don't want to consider you if you haven't had a DCL experience, and my experience is solely WDW.

Any tips on if I should wait until after my September trip? I'm an information gatherer/hoarder so I really like to have as much information as possible before setting my mind on doing something, even if it's a few months out!

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Lots of great information! I also want to start planning part-time. I've done several trips for friends for free and have been told to start doing it professionally. So here I am! Sadly, I do not have any travel agent experience but I do have a love for WDW. I have a few questions on an agency I found to be an IC with. No upfront fees that I can tell, but I do have to find my own clients. I also have to carry my own E&O and I'm not sure if any training is included. Many agencies do recommend that. The agency itself should have it and some do want the agents to purchase their own.
Commission is 60% until I reach $250K in sales. Just checking if this is also standard? $250K sounds like a lot of sales for a part-timer. Is that in a fiscal year? I don't put a selling demand on my agents, they do that themselves. Also 60% for someone that has never sold travel is a fair price if you are going to sell that much.
Also curious about registering with Disney myself. The site requires an IATA or CLIA number. You cannot register until you are hired and they give you the information that you need such as their IATA or CLIA #. The owner/manager must then approve you so that you can access that site.

Seems odd as that looks to be flight and cruise certifications? Any chance I'm missing something important? Once you are hired, hopefully the person who is training you will give you the information that you need.
Thank you to everyone for all the help already given!!

good luck

Pam