Originally Posted by
behispid
I work at a travel search company. I'm asking this for two reasons.
1. HR pointed me to the agent experience website that IATA provides which barely has any deals on it, aside from in places like the Caribbean.
2. From all the research I've done it seems like most people can look for prices and stuff in a GDS and book flights/hotels themselves. We don't do this stuff at the company I work at so I'm not able to these things. I asked around the company and some people have had luck flashing the card at places like disney world to get discounts but aside from that no one seems to really have used it.
I don't know, I was hoping that someone with experience using the card could enlighten me, and I assure you I do in fact have one :P
Airlines rarely have special deals simply by using your IATA card. However, hotel chains have lots of them, though some require an affiliation with a travel agency - that is, they want to know that you can steer business their way.
There are particularly good deals for travel agents at Marriott and Fairmont. Each of those programs has a website for travel agents with an IATA card where you can sign up for their program.
As others have said, ask someone else in your company how they use their IATA card. Sometimes, you can just call the hotel's 800 number and ask for a travel agent rate, though the booking agent may ask you for a travel agency IATA number (not your personal number). You can say you are an independent contractor and have a personal IATA card.