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Question for FT's TAs!

Question for FT's TAs!

Old Oct 26, 2013, 8:50 pm
  #1  
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Lightbulb Question for FT's TAs!

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

Last edited by iruvmattree; Oct 27, 2013 at 12:32 pm
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Old Oct 26, 2013, 8:58 pm
  #2  
 
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Good to ask questions. I own an agency that does crisis and exotic vacations <think exotic locations not girls to be clear>.

If all you do is book simple air it'd be hard to justify $50 a leg which is more than most experienced agents would charge. Also the university likely would get upset at increased travel costs.

Good agents always use client cards to book with the travel partner. (Airline cruise etc). Thus booking on your card and charging him may not work and cuts some credit card protections off for him. Also you would end up eating credit card fees.

Doing TA work it not going to make you quick easy bucks.
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Old Oct 26, 2013, 9:08 pm
  #3  
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I'm actually not looking for the quick easy bucks.. I'm just sitting at home and applying for jobs all day long, and declining job offers when I don't feel they're right. Booking flights is something I enjoy doing anyways, the opportunity just presented itself. I mean I could charge anything more than a wooden nickel, hence why I asked what is a good rate. Even 5% of a ticket is pretty good.
I would most likely be paid via check from the university, so no fees lost there for me
I just graduated in August

Last edited by iruvmattree; Oct 26, 2013 at 9:15 pm
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 12:29 am
  #4  
 
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Question for FT's TAs!

I'm kinda in the same boat as you... I just truly enjoy researching and finding fares. However my set up isn't really like a TA. Since I work in the music industry, I know tons of bands, and I find all of their flights. Bands tell me the cheapest they found for the flights they want... And I go on the hunt and beat what they found. As bands LOVE to save money, my deal with them is they pay me 10% of their savings. So if they wanted to book a $1400 fare and I find something better for $1000 and they book it. They pay me $40 per ticket. Since bands book for 8-20 people per flight, it can really add up. They save money, and I get to make some.
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 2:00 am
  #5  
 
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Question for FT's TAs!

I was associated with California State University as well as the University of California. I can tell you public universities pay as little as possible for assistance booking flights--in the $15 to $20 range for a RT if they pay anything at all. I am sure that private universities would be the same way, particularly in these days of massive budget cuts. Also, for us, we had to use one of the "approved" travel agents or book airfare ourselves.
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 2:29 am
  #6  
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There is no way you can charge $50 a leg just for going online and booking. Anyone with an internet connection can do that in 10 minutes. I would say charge no more than $5. Anything more than that and you are going to upset someone in the accounting office, even if the professor himself doesn't say anything.
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 2:46 am
  #7  
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Question for FT's TAs!

Ok, thanks guys. Like I said, I have no idea about prices... But I understand I'm dealing with about $5-$20 per ticket, which is fine.
The question I haven't had answers so much is can I book with my credit card via Travelocity etc. without the guy being asked to show his credit card? That's my more major concern.
I don't have the whole scope down, but his itineraries are more like USA - pvg- cai-hyd-USA.
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 3:36 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by iruvmattree
The question I haven't had answers so much is can I book with my credit card via Travelocity etc. without the guy being asked to show his credit card? That's my more major concern.
Yes, you can. As long as you don't book directly through the airline, he won't have to show his credit card because the airline won't have the credit card information.

Note that by doing this, he loses certain credit card protections. For example, many credit cards provide lost luggage reimbursement, which he won't get if he didn't book using his own card.

Also, if you use your own credit card and get reimbursed, there may be tax implications for your LLC. I don't know what they are, but you should look into it.
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 5:21 am
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Question for FT's TAs!

Even if you book directly with the airline, they will not ask him for a credit card.
Booking on Travelocity is a big waste of time and money, if he is flying business class, then you are missing gout on commissions .
I own a travel agency , we do a lot of corporate travel - if you want , reach out to me and we can talk, I am sure we can come to some arrangement to max your profit and I can send you a 1099 , so you don't have to worry too much about taxes.
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 10:30 am
  #10  
 
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Originally Posted by ReduceTC
Even if you book directly with the airline, they will not ask him for a credit card.
Asking to see the credit card used to book a flight is a regular occurrence in some countries or with some airlines.

Saying they will not ask him for a credit card is incorrect unless you know his itineraries, especially as the OP seemingly intends to use his/her personal card to book the flights.
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 10:51 am
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I was in exactly the same situation - a faculty member who had a travel consulting business on the side. Several things - first, for a simple domestic trip, $50/leg is way out of the ballpark for the going rate. I charge $35 for a domestic roundtrip and $50 for an international one. If there are other requirements, you can add on.

Second, and maybe even more important, many universities, especially public ones, have conflict of interest rules that are very strict. As an employee of the universiity, you may be forbidden from charging a fee to another university employee. The university looks at such transactions as giving you, the employee, unfair advantage over non-university travel agents in obtaining the business of another university employee. Be sure to check with your accounting dept or HR dept before you start.
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 11:16 am
  #12  
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It's not as easy as it appears and there is far more to the job than simply booking tickets such as entry & visa requirements, travel insurance, FFP/FFM, etc. that will all take time. Frankly making $5 - $20 per ticket and spending what could be hours in research and booking isn't a great pay off IMHO.
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 12:34 pm
  #13  
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Originally Posted by ReduceTC
Even if you book directly with the airline, they will not ask him for a credit card.
Booking on Travelocity is a big waste of time and money, if he is flying business class, then you are missing gout on commissions .
I own a travel agency , we do a lot of corporate travel - if you want , reach out to me and we can talk, I am sure we can come to some arrangement to max your profit and I can send you a 1099 , so you don't have to worry too much about taxes.
I will PM you, but he's not allowed to fly anything but coach. I've read differently, that several people have been asked to show credit card if they booked direct.

Originally Posted by ft101
Asking to see the credit card used to book a flight is a regular occurrence in some countries or with some airlines.

Saying they will not ask him for a credit card is incorrect unless you know his itineraries, especially as the OP seemingly intends to use his/her personal card to book the flights.
Exactly, I don't plan on making much money off him, but I'd love the spend

Originally Posted by JerryFF
I was in exactly the same situation - a faculty member who had a travel consulting business on the side. Several things - first, for a simple domestic trip, $50/leg is way out of the ballpark for the going rate. I charge $35 for a domestic round trip and $50 for an international one. If there are other requirements, you can add on.

Second, and maybe even more important, many universities, especially public ones, have conflict of interest rules that are very strict. As an employee of the university, you may be forbidden from charging a fee to another university employee. The university looks at such transactions as giving you, the employee, unfair advantage over non-university travel agents in obtaining the business of another university employee. Be sure to check with your accounting dept or HR dept before you start.
Thanks for this baseline. I think I'll start with asking for something like $25/$50 domestic/international, but be willing to go down to $15/$25, as TH310 mentioned. I'm actually nothing but a recent alumnus of the university, so I don't think your second point will effect me.

Originally Posted by tcook052
It's not as easy as it appears and there is far more to the job than simply booking tickets such as entry & visa requirements, travel insurance, FFP/FFM, etc. that will all take time. Frankly making $5 - $20 per ticket and spending what could be hours in research and booking isn't a great pay off IMHO.
I'm currently interviewing for jobs, so my schedule is pretty much wide open and uneventful. I'd much rather be booking for free than playing Candy Crush on Facebook, as so many of my notifications tell me my peers are doing. I hadn't considered the logistics of visas nor travel insurance so much.

Last edited by JY1024; Oct 28, 2013 at 9:26 pm Reason: merged consecutive posts - pls use multi-quote feature
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Old Oct 27, 2013, 4:40 pm
  #14  
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Originally Posted by tcook052
It's not as easy as it appears and there is far more to the job than simply booking tickets such as entry & visa requirements, travel insurance, FFP/FFM, etc. that will all take time. Frankly making $5 - $20 per ticket and spending what could be hours in research and booking isn't a great pay off IMHO.
TIMATIC can be done right on the GDS and is fairly straightforward IMO.
More difficult is getting a client to understand the fare rules and dealing with irate customers.
With regards to FFP-the job as a TA is only to input it, not to manage redemption/explain the program, so it shouldn't be that much work.
Travel insurance might be a bit more difficult as there are many things that must be done to establish a price and qualifications to get a cheaper rate, as well as selling to customers without carecard.
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Old Oct 28, 2013, 4:09 am
  #15  
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The university should provide many aspect of travel insurance. However, I would be very surprised if the university--or whatever entity is reimbursing the travel--were to pay ticket booking fees to a third party individual who isn't an official travel agent. It can be difficult to justify why an official travel agent was used if there's an additional fee for ticketing.

If you book tickets through an OLTA, what happens if changes are needed? Will you and can you help the guy in IROPs?

You might want to look at services like the cranky concierge. Also, award booking services are generally not travel agents and have very clear disclaimers to that effect.
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