Typical host agencies charge a start-up fee, monthly association fees AND take a cut of your commission checks. Stop giving away your hard earned commissions! That is why we founded Unique Travel Agents. A host agency that provides basic needs and services while giving the travel agent 100% of their commission.
The best part is - No Start-Up Costs, No Monthly Fees, and No Commission Splits.
Did you know the average US travel agent makes about $46,400 a year according to BLS and the most common commission split when working with a host agency is 70/30. That means that the average travel agent is losing approximately $13,920 in commission every year to their host agency. This doesn't include the monthly association fees which averages to be an additional $600 per year. This adds up to over $14,000 every year of hard earned money that should be going into your pocket, but instead you are giving it back to your host agency. And for what? Why should they get a piece of the pie when you are the one doing all the work and closing the sales?
Unique Travel Agents is here to break that mold. We want to challenge the industry to start doing better. Stop agreeing to giving away your hard earned money and start building a business that is profitable and successful.
Who should join Unique Travel Agents?
Registration is now open! The first step is to submit your Registration Form here.
We will review your application and once approved, we will send over the payment instructions for your $239 annual membership fee. Once payment is made, a Welcome Packet will be emailed to you with all the important info.
Set up your logins to the top supplier sites and you are ready to roll!
Hi, my name is Melanie Haber and I have been a travel agent for over 12 years. I started working in the travel industry at the young age of 19. While attending college, I got a job as an Administrative Assistant at a local travel agency. From there, i worked by way up, becoming a full-time travel agent before graduating in 2010. Soon after, I decided to start my own agency called Unique Travel. Here, I began growing my own book of business planning travel for family and friends. At the time, I knew joining a host agency was the quickest and easiest way to start booking travel and making commission. Being a young entrepreneaur, it was nice not having to worry about accredititation requirements and financial responsibilities. Fast forward to 2020 when we were all faced with significant depleated business due to the pandemic. I found myself struggling to keep my business afloat which forced me back into the corporate workforce, still working for travel companies, but never really finding true satisfaction like I had when operating my own company. Fast forward to today, when travel is finally back to normal and my clients are ready to start traveling once again, as many of you are probably experiencing as well.
At the beginning of my journey, working along side a host agency was definitely the right decision. However, now that I am a seasoned veteran and have been doing this for awhile, I realized how much money I was throwing away each month because I was associated with them. And I wasn't using their resources such as trainings and FAM trips and how-to-tutorials like I once was. To be honest, the only tool that I was using on a monthly basis was their invoicing tool and that was just to collect a paycheck. I wasn't using anything else, but yet I continued to pay my monthly dues and conceded to my 80/20 commission split.
There began my research. I tried to find another host agency that I could join that would offer low monthly fees and 100% commission. Much to my surprise, I didn't find anything that suited my needs. That is when I knew I probably wasn't the only agent out there facing this same issue. Not to mention, I was tired of paying for something that I really wasn't using. Since day one, I also fought the fact that I was having to give up 20% of everything I made.The more work I did and the more money I made, the more money they made. And for what? Giving me a IATA number to book off of? Giving me an invoicing tool to monitor my commissions? I thought there, has to be a better way!
Enter Unique Travel Agents. The idea behind the business is really just to make it simplier and easier for agents to book travel and receive their commission. So many of us have worked in this industry long enough to know what the heck we're doing. For 95% of my clients, I book using 1 or 2 supplier sites. I know where to go, what to do, and how to do it. I understand the need for host agencies who provide incredible resources like videos and trainings, but those host agencies are just no longer the right fit for me. I wanted to make more money doing what I already do, and I was determined to make it happen. And I wanted to share that option with travel agents who want and need the same thing.
Who are Unique Travel Agents? It's simple. Agents who are experienced and want to make more money.
Over a span of 5 years with my host agency, I made over $800,000 in travel sales.
My commission split was 90/10 for all 5 years. The total commission made was $79,414.
I paid monthly fees and sub-agents fees over the 5 years, totalling just under $3,000.
Overall, it cost me just under $11,000 in total to be affiliated with my host agency. This amounts to $2,182 per year.
Have questions? Feel free to contact us at info@uniquetravelagents.com