There is a bit of hype floating around when it comes to the prospect of working as a transportation affiliate. The idea is that you can make a decent living by becoming an affiliate for one or more online travel or transportation service companies. Unfortunately, like many other online schemes, this isn’t necessarily true. But it’s certainly easy to make money as an affiliate for them – and I’m going to tell you how!
The first thing to understand about being an affiliate for a travel company is that virtually none of them will actually pay you for your efforts. They are simply taking advantage of the fact that you already have an interest in them. This is an entire department dedicated to selling travel products, and they make money off of your enthusiasm. It’s the same reason why any job that pays you a commission on any product you buy is a job, because you’re already interested enough in it that you’re willing to spend the time for it. So if you’re looking to become a transportation affiliate, you need to be careful not to make the mistake of thinking this is where you get paid to work.
In fact, you generally won’t get paid for anything. That’s not to say, however, that you won’t have a number of opportunities to sell their products and make a good bit of money. A good number of the larger, well-known executive ground transportation companies do in fact offer affiliates a handsome compensation package.
You can expect a certain amount of flexibility in your job as an affiliate for this type of company. If you happen to have a specific area of travel you’ve taken care of for them before, then great. If you don’t, they’ll usually work with you to find something within your specific niche to promote. You might be required to start out in the customer service area and learn the ropes there. Eventually, you might end up working your way into higher paying, more lucrative positions.
The thing to remember about being an affiliate for a company like this is that you are still solely responsible for your own success. You will make all the arrangements necessary to promote the product. This could mean creating articles, advertising, or even just communicating with the customer base. You must make sure the entire department dedicated to traveling is taken care of. If you find yourself doing a poor job at any of these things, then you can’t expect to see much in the way of commission checks.
Another mistake you might want to avoid at all costs as an affiliate travel agent is trying to promote more merchandise than is currently available. A good example would be offering to buy traveler’s insurance for a discounted rate. You can sell all kinds of stuff on the Internet, but not everything has the volume that’s needed in order to make a serious amount of money. You can find train tickets through various affiliate programs for very low prices, but if the price of the ticket is lower than what you can buy them for anywhere else, then you have missed the boat.
Finally, make sure you don’t try and take advantage of other affiliated travel agencies by promoting products through them. Many of these affiliate transportation services offer promotions that offer up to 50% discounts on select products. The problem is that these are usually available only to people who book their trips through their agencies, and they aren’t available to anyone else. So, if you’re promoting a bus rental from someone else, make sure you get the discount. You will make far more money this way, and it’s far more ethical.
One thing to keep in mind is that you should never try to convince other affiliates to recommend your services through them. You will almost always be rejected by the travel affiliate departments. They are the ones that deal with customers and help them find the right deals. If you want to become a successful agent, you need to do everything you can to separate yourself from the pack and promote your own independent travel agency, even if you have to pay a little extra for it. It will pay off in the long run.