Since last year, I have heard of several people making good money working in the travel industry as a home based online travel agent. The good news is that you can, too. In fact it’s easy! These people have done it honestly, legally and ethically with the proper guidance of knowing all the details in this new online career. Once you know the basic steps then you can start making real money.

There are two options to start with and those are; either to be a part timer in the first 3 months, giving you time to become more acquainted with the business flow of being an online travel agent from actual transactions and later dedicating yourself full time to your new career.

Then, there are those that start straight away as full timers and are now successfully supporting themselves and their loved ones. The fun part is that they started seeing the world together with their family, something that may have been just a dream when they were still in those clerical jobs. Their often find that their entire lifestyle has dramatically changed in just a short period of time.

In definition, a home-based online travel agent markets travel products offered by travel companies and suppliers that has a vast inventory of vacation package deals. The position is often referred to as “independent sales representatives.” “Independent” due to the fact that you are not working inside an office space of a travel company whose products you represent.

As an independent travel agent, you may deal directly with a travel supplier or through a middleman (host agency). Because you are not an employee from any of them, you are not on their payroll list or have employee benefits.

The bottom line here is that you make your own money and get paid through commissions on whatever travel products that you can sell and there is no limit to the income you want to generate from your own time table (weekly or monthly sales). These is achieved by negotiating your own commission level or get the best offered commission package from either the host agency or the travel supplier of your choice. Earning capacity is generally unlimited from commissions and it will steadily increase as you grow your network.

To gauge your success as an online travel agent is easy! When you sell more, you earn more, sell less and you earn less.

Important advice here is that when you are independent and on your own, remember that you should never be completely alone and do all of the work with no support. There are travel suppliers who offer great packages for independent travel agents that are all automated and can mean easier work for you, giving you more time to focus on expanding your client listings. Remember that you must constantly work with others who have all the resources that will help provide the best service to your clients. To have a good understanding of what I am saying here, check out this travel supplier, http://www.personaltravelgroup.com. and you will see the difference!

Personal Travel Group offer full professional support to all of their agents and their motto is “We do the work – you make the money!” You don’t need qualifications and they pay out 70% of the available commission! It’s the best one I’ve seen – check it out for yourself…

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOHt3_qBmuo"]Watch this video on how to be a Travel Consultant. [/url]

You are going traveling. You have lots of expenses to cover. You need to pay for your air fare, your accommodation, your food, your travel while away, cultural experiences and the list goes on. You want to save money so you decide not to bother with travel insurance. You are going on the trip of a lifetime so nothing will go wrong. It’s an unnecessary expense so you don’t need it. Wrong. Very wrong. Traveling with out insurance can be the biggest mistake you make when organizing your trip and a very costly one.

What is travel insurance? Well there are two kinds of insurance to look at when traveling.

1. Travel insurance, (sometimes called trip insurance) which covers cancellations, delays, lost baggage and emergencies.

2. Travel medical insurance protects you against any medical expense while traveling.

Ideally, you need a combination of the two when traveling. 

Imagine these scenarios:

You are in Darwin, Australia when a cyclone hits the area. The city is devastated by the cyclone and all services shut down. You have to be evacuated and sent home. Your travel insurance will cover you for this. You do have travel insurance don’t you?

Your luggage goes missing in India. You need to buy new clothes and fast. Can you afford it in your budget? Of course you can, you took out traveler’s insurance – didn’t you?

Or what if you go surfing in Hawaii and take a big wipeout? You are so severely injured you need surgery and major medical assistance, and then are airlifted home. But that’s okay – your travel medical insurance covers all that. You have got it, haven’t you?

Travel insurance is there to protect you in case bad things happen on your trip. It is a necessary expense. Overseas medical costs can be astronomical if you are not insured. And if you are injured in a developing country, medical attention may not be as good as at home. If you are insured you can get flown home and attended to at no cost.

Every year the government deals with thousands of cases of travelers being injured, falling ill or dying overseas. This is a distressing situation for all involved, but made even worse when the travelers are not insured, often leaving them with huge bills to pay. Hospitalization in other countries can cost over one thousand dollars a day. Medical evacuations can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and if you die in Europe, it can cost over ten thousand dollars to bring your body back home. If you do not have travel insurance you have to cover these costs yourself (or your family will have to find the money).

Travel insurance is a cost you need to budget for. If you don’t take it out, your medical expenses could cost a whole lot more. Insure yourself and travel safe.

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com