Q & A

Yes. Our Travel Counsellors set themselves apart from the rest by building personal relationships with their customers and delivering the highest level of personal service and care that can be found in the travel industry. It’s our unique approach to travel that makes us more than a little different to the rest. You’ll be able to offer your customers an authentic, tailor-made travel service, creating bespoke, “one-off” itineraries that cannot be found anywhere else. And that’s what keeps our customers coming back year after year, again and again. In fact, 96% say they would recommend Travel Counsellors to their friends, family and colleagues.

We have a route to becoming a Travel Counsellor for everyone – whether you’ve got years of experience selling travel, or you’re completely new to the industry. We currently offer the follow routes: Leisure: For travel professionals who have a minimum of 3/4 years’ recent experience in a role selling travel. Return to Travel: For travel professionals who have a minimum of 3/4 years’ experience in a role selling travel, but have had a break of more than 12 months. Corporate: For travel professionals who have a minimum of 3/4 years’ experience in managing travel for corporate clients. Travel Academy: For people who don’t have any previous experience in the travel industry, or have worked in travel but in a non-sales based role. Our recruitment team will be happy to discuss your experience and advise you on the best route for you.

How much you can earn as a Travel Counsellor is entirely up to you. Your earning potential is completely uncapped, so the more you put in, the more you get out. Our commission model is based on a 60/40 split – you retain 60% of the profit you make on your bookings – and with our in-house booking system Phenix, you’ll have complete control over the margin you make on your bookings. Our Business Development team will work with you to set your own personal targets, but as a leisure Travel Counsellor, we would encourage you to strive to achieve £200,000 in sales in your first year, at a margin of 14% in order to achieve £16,800 in year 1. However, many Travel Counsellors exceed this in their first year. The average Travel Counsellor earns £24K a year – that’s £6k more than the average High Street travel agent. Many of our ‘Gold’ and Corporate Travel Counsellors earn more than £100K, with top earners bringing in over £150K.

It’s your business, so you’re the boss. Just make sure that you’re devoting enough time to developing your business and nurturing your customer base. If you’re working one hour a day and expecting incredible rewards, you might be disappointed – it’s no coincidence that our most successful Travel Counsellors are also our hardest working! The flexibility that being that running your own business offers is one of the many reasons why our Travel Counsellors made the decision to be their own boss.

For just £295+VAT, you’ll have everything you need to set up your own business, with all Travel Counsellors trademark and brand privileges. If you have no previous experience in the travel industry, you can enrol on our Travel Academy for a comprehensive full time training fee of £10,000+VAT.

The vast majority of our Travel Counsellors work from home – but if you’d prefer, you’re welcome to rent a non-retail office. But our stats show that you’ll be happier and more successful working from the comfort of your own home!

There are over 1,600 Travel Counsellors working around the clock, around the world – so you’ll always find that there’s someone to talk to if you fancy a chat! But we’re not just about webcams, messageboards and TCTV broadcasts. You’ll have plenty of ways to meet with your friends and colleagues face to face, with our anniversary days, training days and our prestigious Annual Conference. As a member of the TC family, we promise you’ll never feel alone. If you would like support at any time, our friendly and helpful Business Development team are only ever a phone call away.

With a standard notice period of about 4 weeks, and your Travel Counsellors phone line only taking a couple of weeks to install, the transition is almost always seamless!

After a series of eLearning Pre-Induction modules, you’ll spend four days at Head Office following a training programme at Head Office in Manchester. It’s a friendly and engaging way to learn all about the Travel Counsellors approach to travel.

We ask that Travel Counsellors maintain a minimum of £15,000 in commissions for any 12 month period, but this won’t present a problem if you give the role your full commitment and follow our advice on best practice.

You’ll be paid monthly by bank transfer, with commissions earned 6 weeks before the customer travel date. If you have any queries, you can always call our Accounts team for friendly expertise!

One of the pre-induction activities involves sending over all your personal business contacts – whether they’ve ever booked with you or not. We’ll add them to your Contact Centre ready for when you come for your Induction. You’ll then receive our full support to help you nurture and grow that list into a loyal customer base.

You’ll have access to professional and effective marketing materials created by our talented team of creative. We’re also on hand with plenty of tips on how to market yourself in your local area. If you’d like to discuss upcoming marketing campaigns, our Marketing team would be happy to take your call.

Wherever you are, whenever you need us, you can rest assured that there will always someone on hand to help you. Our Duty Office is available 24/7 to help and support both you and your customers should an issue arise either pre-departure or in resort. The duty office monitor worldwide events, so should an issue arise that may affect your clients then the duty office will communicate accordingly. They will also run a report to identify the bookings that may be in resort or travelling imminently and they will notify you of any bookings affected. The Travel Counsellor and the Duty office work together to ensure our customers are looked after.

We all need a break – so rest assured that your business won’t suffer while you’re taking some well-earned time away! We operate a buddy system, so a named Travel Counsellor will look after your customers in your absence. We just ask that you return the favour!

No one likes admin - so we'll do it for you! We have over 300 people at our Head Office In Manchester, including our dedicated administration team. The team are here to process your client’s documentation for all 3rd party retail bookings. This includes the checking and sending of confirmation invoices as well as the processing and sending of your customers tickets. They also take care of refunds, names changes and cancellations. This support means you'll have more time to dedicate to each of your customers – which is what really matters.

We understand that to sell a destination, first-hand experience is invaluable. Thanks to our strong supplier relationships, we’re delighted to offer a wide range of educational opportunities to all Travel Counsellors.

Because of the unique nature of your franchise agreement with Travel Counsellors, there are no limits on your hiring of staff if you feel you need to. Additionally, you can even sell your business and realise its value at a later date!

Yes, you can process scheduled air bookings, and the ticketing is done by our team at head office. We also have our own consolidated rates with major airlines in both UK and Ireland.