I don't want to become a full fledged Travel Agent, but I'm coming across a pretty lucrative opportunity, IMO. First, I've done my hw and read several old posts on FT (since 2002!) and Milepoint, so please do not refer me to old posts
I'm currently job searching, but want to book travel on the side - this is not a long term primary source of income.
I have the opportunity to book flights for a faculty member at my university. He books all his own flights and then is reimbursed by the university; he's only allowed to book coach; should I be successful in becoming his bookie, I may have the opportunity to provide for other faculty members - in a dream world I will progress to do all bookings for the university including organizing study abroad flights etc. He is especially interested in the ability to book complex group travel (he visits several universities around the world monthly).
1. I will only be booking flights, other logistics is provided by host universities.
2. My home state does not require me to be a certified travel agent.
3. I've learned that I cannot book his flight with my own credit card via the airline's direct site, in case they ask for a credit card. But I can book his flights via Travelocity etc. with my credit card as they will not check his credit card. Per this link:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ard-check.html
4. I'm thinking of charging like $50 per leg, so $100 for a regular round trip; the more stops on his visit would rack up the bill pretty quickly. Or I could charge a percentage of the fare, or a percentage between the airline's advertised fare and what I can save him etc. etc. etc.
So the question is, is this as simple as I think it is? I would LLC and seek a tax lawyer if this came to fruition. I can use tools like any regular FTer has access to, but is there something a professional TA has over me besides experience? Can any TAs confirm or expand on #3? I'm not concerned about IATA discounts etc. as this would only be flights for 1 person (at this time). I'm not even competing against other TAs, as he is booking all the flights himself - I am competing against Joe Schmo using Kayak.com at best (I assume he knows nothing about credit cards or how to use airline miles). What do you think is the most appropriate way to charge for the service, all the while making it worthwhile to alleviate him of the duty of doing it himself?
I'm looking for serious advice, please no sardonic comments.
Edit: I don't have the whole scope down, but his itineraries are more like USA - pvg- cai-hyd-USA. Not much domestic, and more "complicated" routings instead of just hop on a computer and find a r/t