9.
Re: Alex Jul 20, 2008 9:27 PM

in response to:
Ramon25
Ramon, where are you getting your figures from? $6 TRILLION per year??? Maybe if you are counting every airline, every pilot, every flight attendant, every airplane mechanic, every cleaning person and baggage handler, and then every person employed in every hotel, restaurant, taxi company, bus company, as well as every dime spent on any kind of travel, including leisure and business, etc. worldwide... maybe you could get a number around $6 Trillion, but to say the travel industry as it would affect someone selling travel in the US and their potential to make money... that would be not only a stretch, it would be like pointing to the Pacific Ocean and telling someone they have all the water to drink they'll ever need. Is there a ton of water out there? Sure. Is it usable in it's present form? No. Can you make it all usable? No... some of it, undoubtedly you could boil until it evaporates and drink the condensation of the steam, but it's WORK to make that happen.
I've worked in travel for many years. Is there decent money to be made with it? Absolutely? Is it easy and fast? No. Can you scam the system and get your own private travel at discount prices? Yes, for a while in limited amounts (and not as cheaply as you might imagine), but sooner or later the travel suppliers catch on to what's happening and they decertify you.
Travel is a great profession, and has potential to be a fun one, but know this going in. It's not instant, it's not easy. You'll make vastly more being self-employed rather than getting a job doing it for someone else, but you don't get paid your commissions until the person makes final payment or actually takes the trip, and many people book a year in advance, so that's a LONG time to wait for a paycheck in the early days of your travel career. And there are a percentage of people who will actually cancel their plans during that long wait and then all your work with that client will have been for nothing (and remember there will be many people who ask you for travel help who never book with you at all, so count on giving away a LOT of your time).
Honestly, I have no idea what Ramon25 is involved with and perhaps it's 100% legitimate, but if it's really about selling travel, I'd be very cautious before handing over any money for the opportunity.