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Is there money in selling air?
US agency owner, Susan Tanzman says there is money to be made in selling air tickets, if agents adjust their business model.
Ms Tanzman told TravelMole: “Anyone who says they don’t make any money out of air is just wrong.”
Ms Tanzman, who owns a Los Angeles-based agency, regularly gives presentations on “How to Make a Million Dollars Selling an Airline Ticket.”
She recently gave one at the ASTA convention in Miami, and later said in an interview: “I think most people are like me. They’re willing to pay for good service and follow-up. Most of our clients are used to paying for service.”
Her agency, Martin’s Travel & Tours, has been charging a flat fee, $40, for airline tickets since the airlines started phasing out agent commissions in 1995.
“If the average ticket is $325, at $40, we’re already doing better than 10%”, she said.
Ms Martin said she does even better with consolidators – which makes up to $2,000 on a ticket.
“I think what you have to do here is pick and choose who you do business with. I have a notebook where I pick certain consolidators for Europe, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, and domestic. I break it all down. And I know who to call when I want a quote,” she said.
She judges consolidators by not only their price, but also their volume of business activity and other factors.
Her business is split about 50-50 between corporate and leisure clients.
She said she spends up to three hours looking for the best fare for clients. But the work pays off because, she said, she often can find fares less expensive than those offered on the internet.
Her agency has been in existence for almost 30 years, and most of her clients come from word-of-mouth.
Some of her dozen or so agents make up to $100,000 or more a year, she said, though that does not all come from airline ticket commissions.
And the million dollar figure? Ms Martin admits that is a mythical number meant to attract attention.
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