As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I have recently been doing some research on becoming an at home travel agent. I do not have experience in this field other than planning my own vacations. I really want to specialize in Disney travel. I have seen many posts regarding this and have looked at countless websites. My big question is which host agency to choose. I was looking at "Off to Neverland travel" and "Academy Travel". As well as some others. Those are the two I have heard back from. I have a phone interview scheduled with OTN. I have noticed that many of the host agencies charge fees to start. Is this normal?
The reason I chose to look into this is so I could make some money at home doing something I love. I love planning my vacations down to the last detail and I would like to help other people have great vacations. Any advice or suggestions would be great.
Thank you
__________________
Chris
married to my best friend Wayne and mommy to dd17,ds14,dd9, and ds4.
Congrats on thinking of joining our industry. To answer your question on fees, I am aware of agencies charging anything from nothing to $750. Some also have annual fees after that as well as quarterly minimum sales or an additional fee will be assessed.
In choosing a host agency, there is no single answer. It is like picking a travel agent, a place to live, a doctor, etc. Different agencies are right for different people. Be sure to ask plenty of questions and get an idea what the agency is doing to earn their share of the commission.
Have you ever worked with a travel agent for your trips? If so and you were happy with them, that may be a great spot to start. If not, and please don't take this the wrong way but if you had no interested in working with a TA, what do you think you offer to make people want to book with you? (Strictly asking this to think about your potential success)
While being a TA, especially a Disney exclusive one, it is also a LOT of hard work and very demanding if you are a great agent.
Thanks for the advice Sandy. I think the reason I haven't used a travel agent to plan my vacations is because I didn't realize that it was a free service. Also I really enjoy planning Disney vacations for my family. That is why I wanted to look into doing this for other people. It is hard work but I love it.
__________________
Chris
married to my best friend Wayne and mommy to dd17,ds14,dd9, and ds4.
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I have recently been doing some research on becoming an at home travel agent. I do not have experience in this field other than planning my own vacations. I really want to specialize in Disney travel. I have seen many posts regarding this and have looked at countless websites. My big question is which host agency to choose. I was looking at "Off to Neverland travel" and "Academy Travel". As well as some others. Those are the two I have heard back from. I have a phone interview scheduled with OTN. I have noticed that many of the host agencies charge fees to start. Is this normal?
Start up fees are normal. HOWEVER, be wary of what are known as the "$499 card mills". Many of these talk big about the discounts you get as an agent and the money you can make, but both, really, are likely to be a lie. And if you avoid these, run away from MLMs, like Joystar (not to be missed by anyone).
If you can, talk to some of the agents. And try to get a name of two from whomever you talk to, to get past the prepped interviews.
Find out about training. Being a TA is a lot more than just calling DTC and making a rez. You have to understand how to quote it and how to come up with different recommendations.
The reason I chose to look into this is so I could make some money at home doing something I love. I love planning my vacations down to the last detail and I would like to help other people have great vacations. Any advice or suggestions would be great.
Thank you
Be aware that to make any realistic amount of money requires move than a few hours a week. Many of us here work more than "part-time" and some weeks it's more like OT.
But good luck. A good travel agent is great for the right client.
This can be a very fun business, that is why we decided to open a Disney specific agency. You can work at home, work the hours you like and get to talk and plan Disney trips. We love it. It does require time and effort to get leads and then make bookings. You can make good money, but it all depends on what you put into it. You will not instantly get people calling you for Disney vacations, so some marketing and sending out quotes is required.
If you have any questions give us a call and we can help you along.
Steve and Lisa
Quote:
Originally Posted by busymomof4kids
I have recently been doing some research on becoming an at home travel agent. I do not have experience in this field other than planning my own vacations. I really want to specialize in Disney travel. I have seen many posts regarding this and have looked at countless websites. My big question is which host agency to choose. I was looking at "Off to Neverland travel" and "Academy Travel". As well as some others. Those are the two I have heard back from. I have a phone interview scheduled with OTN. I have noticed that many of the host agencies charge fees to start. Is this normal?
The reason I chose to look into this is so I could make some money at home doing something I love. I love planning my vacations down to the last detail and I would like to help other people have great vacations. Any advice or suggestions would be great.
This can be a very fun business, that is why we decided to open a Disney specific agency. You can work at home, work the hours you like and get to talk and plan Disney trips. We love it. It does require time and effort to get leads and then make bookings. You can make good money, but it all depends on what you put into it. You will not instantly get people calling you for Disney vacations, so some marketing and sending out quotes is required.
If you have any questions give us a call and we can help you along.
Steve and Lisa
Thank you for the advice. Finding clients was one of my concerns. I have been in sales/customer service for a lot of my working life but I don't have experience in travel as a business. I just love Disney and love talking to people about Disney. I know it will be hard work but fun at the same time. I just need to learn exactly what I need to do to get clients. What kind of advertising ect...
Chris
__________________
Chris
married to my best friend Wayne and mommy to dd17,ds14,dd9, and ds4.
Thank you for the advice. Finding clients was one of my concerns. I have been in sales/customer service for a lot of my working life but I don't have experience in travel as a business. I just love Disney and love talking to people about Disney. I know it will be hard work but fun at the same time. I just need to learn exactly what I need to do to get clients. What kind of advertising ect...
Chris
Chris -
That is a big question to ask anyone you interview with. What do they do to help find you clients (ie their mailing list and sharing of leads) as well as what do they do to help you market yourself. You will find the answers are anything from none and nothing to large lists and marketing directive which can be paid for by the agency.
One thing to keep in mind also is most host agencies will require you sell a minimum amount of travel in order to obtain a CLIA card or a minimum amount of commissions for the IATA card, both on a yearly basis. One of these is required to book travel agent rates. Once you build up a client base, you should not have a problem with this.
I just saw this thread. I recently became a travel agent with OTN and I have been very satisfied with them so far. THey are usually very quick to respond to any questions I have (when I think to ask them) and they also have an agents forum where we can go ask each other for advice and help when needed. Come to think of it I need to log on there and ask them a question myself.
So far I have only booked one vacation, and Chet, Jodi, and Rose have been lifesavers in helping me to make sure I am doing everything right.
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The biggest advice I can offer is when you are ready to interview host agencies ask a lot of questions! Agencies differ DRASTICALLY in what they offer - some charge contract fees, fees for insurance, fees for postage, and they all vary in the amount of support they give outside agents, as well as the amount of training they give on an ongoing basis. The also differ drastically in what they expect of you as an agent. Many are fine as long as you pay them your yearly fees, some expect you to sell travel
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