Sounds like a good service to offer but you should do your homework.

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Carlana Charles - Ciboney Virtual Solutions
Web: http://ciboneyvirtual.com Blog:http://ciboneyvirtual.com/blog

This is a definite read for later....Travel Planning is so important and I remember using a certain software when I was back in the corporate cement wall world.

Monique

I just signed up with a really awesome travel company, It's a great opportunity to make some extra bucks for services you provide to your clients anyway. I book travel for some of my clients and now I have my own online travel site where I can earn a commission whenever I book travel through it. The clients can also book their travel directly through my site if they want and I still make a commission. The site searches all of the top search engines, like travelocity, expedia, hotwire, etc. and locates the best deals for you.

The company also provides the training to where I could become a licensed travel agent and book deal directly w/ the providers and then I would be able to provide even more services, but It's not a requirement and I don't have to. I probably will take the training some time after tax season when things slow down "just because", but I just don't have time right now.

Honestly my main incentive is to get great travel deals (and they have some GREAT deals) for myself because I would like to start traveling again, and if I can make a commission off of it too, then why not.

If anybody would like some info about it, PM your email address and phone#.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

My advice would be to actually go to a Corporate Travel Company and see if they could partner with you like they do with bigger companies. I have worked for many of the big banks and when I used to organise travel for the directors, I would call the travel company (try HRG Worldwide.) tell them all the details and they booked online for me. They would then email an itinerary to you.

For simpler trips they usually provide you with a login to their online booking systems and you can make the reservation yourself.

Not sure if this is what you are thinking but it could work.

I am actually looking at doing this myself, by going to the Corporate Travel Companies and seeing if I could use them for my clients.

Cheers, Nicole

With deregulation, many travel agencies are now charging a service fee for booking travel - so that's something to keep in mind if working with a travel agent when booking travel for your clients. You should make them aware of the additional costs. They probably won't mind, but people don't like surprises.

For regular travel for clients (straight line - Toronto to Montreal, Toronto to London, UK, Toronto to Paris, etc.) I'm confident doing it and just charging for the time it takes me to do the arrangements, but for anything more complicated, I call a travel agent I know from the Chamber of Commerce and have her do it. The client still pays me for my time to coordinate with the agent and her $40 fee, but we both have the comfort level that things are done correctly, the best flights are gotten and we are made aware of any Visa requirements (I'm thinking about a trip a client took to two cities in India earlier this year).

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Julia

I offer travel planning but I rarely get the chance to do it! I get the feeling that people feel that if they use me and pay for it - then they may aswell pay a 'proper' travel agent.

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Diane Murray, Scotland
www.theadministrator.co.uk

Well it really depends on the client for me. For some corporates they have their own travel agency. Most likely I'll choose a travel agent just because I don't have to pay upfront as in Orbits and so on, I actually have to use my own credit card to expense it off. So my vote is to travel agencies. They can also help on the planning a bit. (Ya, I'm lazy)

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Joey Wong - Virtual Assistant Service - Your Partner in Achieving Business Success
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