Why Mums Should Become Travel Agents

How many people do you know who’ve been away somewhere fabulous this summer - jetting abroad or a UK staycation? There’s no doubt holidays are at an all time high again - yet more expensive then ever…

Ikos Aria, Kos

The particularly intriguing part is that regardless of whether you book through a company, direct with a hotel or online, commission is built into every single aspect of travel and someone is earning it - but, did you know that someone could actually be you? I certainly didn’t (and I consider myself to be quite travel savvy, doing all the research and bookings for wider family), until my school mum friend, Kim, introduced me to the concept of booking my own travel as an industry insider - a.k.a… a bona fide travel agent by having my own travel agent license.

Have you ever wondered how those travel influencers on Instagram seem to be permanently on holiday at the most incredible resorts and exciting places in the world and wondered - how do they do that?

Well, I can’t speak for them all, but I guarantee a large proportion are making good use of an independent travel agent license and in this blog post, I’m spilling the beans on how and why you should too - because I firmly believe that all of us Mums should be travel agents, so we can have the time freedom and independent means to spend more quality time with our kids, showing them the world, for so much less - because that’s the whole point right?!

My Story… I was certainly skeptical at first, the concept just seemed too good to be true - ten minutes to sign up, then a few hours of regulatory training via video tutorials, a quizlet at the end and I was officially a travel agent, with access to agent rates (up to 70% off!), travel industry perks and earning commission on bookings I made for others. Really?!

But, as I booked my first trip (2 nights in Paris for a trade show) and I paid €390 instead of nearly €1000 for 2 nights in a 5-star hotel round the corner from Laduree (and those macarons - tres dangereux!), simply because I booked it myself as an independent travel agent on a trade only booking system (worked just like a typical online booking engine), the realisation that I had stumbled across something potential life alternating had become apparent and I was excited by the possibilities.

I had traveled a lot in my teens and twenties, but like most couples, once we had children, despite the muttering of “children won’t change us” (we all do it!), as far as travel was concerned - they did - and travel at the level we wanted, became prohibitively expensive as a family of five. If you have school-age children and are also restricted to the school holidays, I’m sure you relate!

With my shiny new credentials though, that first year I was able to book the Paris trip, a weekend in London to celebrate Teddy’s 13th birthday (£100 saving), a week in Cornwall (for which I received a 30% discount) a Girls’ Trip to Ibiza - we stayed at the W Ibiza, saving €2600 between six of us (a 60% saving) and they kindly upgraded us to rooms with private pools when we arrived, and an October half-term stay at Ikos Aria (for which I earnt the commission on the bookings for our family and our wider family) and we were kindly upgraded to a three-bedroom beach villa.

By now I was totally hooked, I’d tested it personally for a year and was ready to shout how fantastic it was from the rooftops! I had really enjoyed the process of learning and self-development and attending travel events of interest to me and I wanted to help other mums who love to travel access the same benefits, so I set up Bright New Adventures to share the family travel adventure...

Its purpose is two-fold - firstly booking travel for others - to find families perfectly tailored holidays that embody all they love doing together and promoting eco-friendly resorts and travel brands trying to do more to make travel more environmentally conscious. If you’d much rather not do the research etc and would simply like to book a holiday just get in touch, I’d love to help!

Secondly, to help those mums like me, who love travel and also enjoy doing the research and booking, to become independent travel agents themselves, so they can benefit from savings and earn commissions booking holidays for themselves and others. If this sounds like you read on…

By becoming an Independent Travel Agent you’ll have all the credentials including an IATA number, ABTA and ATOL certifications, to sell every aspect of travel to anyone including yourself... package holidays, hotels, cruises, day trips, car hire, car parking, flights, etc... in essence, all things travel and you’ll earn commission on anything you book (between 8 and 20%). Just think about all the holidays your friends and family have been on this year and imagine if you’d booked them!

Would you like to work flexibly around your children and maybe a job you currently have (like I do) in pockets of time? You can turn your love of travel into a source of income and so much more. I fit my travel business around both my main business Bright New Things, my other commitments and three gorgeous kids - Teddy - 13, Tommy - 9, and Florrie - 5).

Becoming an Independent Travel Agent is essentially getting a travel business that’s ready right out of the box. You’re backed and supported by one of the biggest travel companies in the world, but it’s yours, there is no contract, no targets - you can book as much or little as you like. You’re your own boss! Globally recognised, you can book with any resort, hotel, crusie line etc and we have almost 100 preferred suppliers with pre-negotiated commissions, including Disney, Mr & Mrs Smith, Royal Carribean and Virgin Voyages

What would you do with an extra few hundred (or few thousand) pounds a month? Maybe you could use an extra income stream to supplement your household income, enjoy more days out, drop a day at your job, plan some home renovations, or go on more holidays! For your own family travel you’ll have access to amazing travel offers, agent rates.

Are you interested in hearing more? Just get in touch however you like, I would love to have a chat about it with you, answer your questions and give you more information about how to get started yourself. There’s more info on the Travel As An Insider page, or you can join one of our travel information calls - just book a space on it here . I’m on a mission to get as many mums as possible travelling more for less!