Quick Facts

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What makes Dugan's Travels different than other agencies?

Jennifer Dugan became an outside sales agent back in 1995. She was trying to make extra money doing leisure travel from her home while working as a corporate travel agent for the government full time. She teamed up with a local agency and found they offered no support and whenever she needed something, she had to come into the office and wait for an agent to allow her to use their computer. It was frustrating and once she got her first month's statement finding out she OWED money that she had never been even told about, she gave up.

Later on down the road, Jennifer had her first child. She tried going back to work and even at part time, it made her miserable. The agency she was working for part time offered her an outside sales position. She only made 40% commission and had to pay to have her computer access at home. It was the start of what she learned outside agents needed. From there she worked with several host agencies. There were several problems she encountered no matter what agency she worked with.

Low commissions paid to the person actually doing the work.
Commissions often not paid at all
Fees she was not informed about or more than she was told they would be
Shipping costs outweighed the commissions
No help when she needed it
The attitude of the host agency was doing her a favor by allowing her to work with them
The buck being passed to her anytime something went wrong even when it was the host agency's fault
Host agency acting as if she was owned by them
Host agency was behind on technology and if they offered anything at all, it cost her money to use it.
She felt alone

In 1999, Jennifer began to take on people who wanted to get into the travel industry but had no prior experience. It sounded simple at first, but those without experience not only needed guidance and education- they needed the basics that Jennifer herself needed from a host agency. She started off small taking on agents and word began to spread online about what she offered.

Each year the agency began to grow with more agents and soon she began to even get experienced agents looking for an agency to work with. Every year more training was added to the training program and the agency's handbook began to get more and more pages added.

Today with over 600 outside sales agents ranging in experience from none to 20 years in the industry- Dugan's Travels has done it all.

We keep up to date on technology and the industry. The very first agent who joined Jennifer as an outside agent is still with us today in charge of the training of new agents. We keep costs down low for agents. We work as a team and each year our sales grow higher. There have even been agents who have left our agency to start their own host agencies. We make it look easy, but really it is not. Taking on agents means being responsible for their actions.

A successful agent needs two things. A great host agency that is owned and operated by someone with experience and knowledge of what an outside sales agent needs and an outside sales agent who is willing to learn and go after the business that is out there.

When you are comparing Dugan's Travels to other agencies- consider these things:

We have been in business since 1997. We have had agents since 1999. Jennifer has been an agent since 1992.

We pay 75% commission. Agents who stay with us for 3 years- go up to 80% commission after their 3rd anniversary.

We have made it through rough times like Sept 11th and have a reserve so that if something happens- you are not left high and dry without your commission checks. New agencies have not been around long enough for you to know if they will be here 6 months from now. It sounds really easy to have a host agency, but many of them are unprepared to give up their own life savings to make the agency get through bad times.

Many host agencies are in it solely for the money. Many of them are run by people who have no formal training or years experience as a travel agent. They figure they know how to book things online using websites such as Travelocity so they can operate a travel agency. There is more to running a travel agency than that.

How many agents work with them? 3 or so? How can you know they are going to pay those 3 agents and how do they have a history long enough to know you will be okay 6 months from now? Be weary of someone who has been with an agency for less than 6 months and is trying to get you to join- they don't know if that agency is really what they say they are. You need a host agency with a history but is not so old they have no clue how to use the internet to your advantage.

Even if a host agency claims to pay a higher commission than Dugan's Travels, that does not mean you will ever see it. And if they are only making 10% with Carnival Cruise line and paying 80% commission you are making less than with Dugan's Travels.

For example: A cruise that is $2000 prior to taxes, port charges and fees.

An agency only making 10% commission would mean $200.00. If they pay 80% commission, you will be owed $160.00.

Our agency making 16% commission on the same cruise is $320.00 x 75% is $240.00.

Really take some time to get to know the agency you are interested in joining. Contact agents who work with them. Get a feel for what they stand for. Don't just pick the first agency that comes up in the web search engine. Anyone can pay any amount of money to be displayed first on the search engines.

We hope this helps and that you will compare our agency when looking for your host agency.

THE FACTS

There is so much information on the Internet regarding working from home as a travel agent. There are websites advertising "travel agency in a box" for $499. There are many programs that say you will become a travel agent, but in actuality you will refer people to a 1-800 where someone else will do the work and you will have no say or input in the trip. When the person has a problem, you will have no way to help. You also learn nothing about the business. If unhappy with the agency you are working with and want to leave to work with another agency, you walk away without training or experience.

There are many agencies willing to take on independent agents but are not prepared to handle the needs of an independent agent. There are agencies that want the business from independent agents, but are not willing to pay a decent commission or help the agents learn about the industry. Even agents with years experience as travel agents need help to learn to become a homebased agent. There are many issues that a traditional agent does not deal with that a homebased agent does on a daily basis. One major problem with agencies offering independent agent opportunities is they have never dealt with what a homebased agent goes through. They have not seen the world through a homebased agent's eyes.

Jennifer Dugan who has been an outside agent for over 10 years owns Dugan's Travels. She was with several host agencies and saw what she needed as an independent agent and took some of the good things other agencies offered but wanted to offer as much as possible to agents. We actually train agents and help you will your day-to-day operations. We don't sign you up and then tell you are on your own.

We are very unique in what we offer because our agency is made up of a group of people who help one another. When you need help, you have so many people who are willing to help. You are not alone with Dugan's Travels. Your business matters to us because we look at things as a group. If you sell a cruise that helps the agency because that is more sales and increases our sales level to get higher commission and pull in the industry. Here are some things you get with working with our agency.

Our support system includes an email chatlist. You send one message to an email address and that message goes to all the agents with Dugan's Travels. If you need help with a Hawaii trip, you send one message for help and get help from all different agents. Plus all the old messages are stored on a website and you can search for answers on the website.

We believe you should not be told how to run your business. We are very flexible in how you can work with us. You can work as much as you want. We don't require a certain amount in sales. We do have a small fee if you don't make $3000 or more in sales. But this is just to encourage agents to produce some sales in a month. The small quota of $3000 can be met by just doing one or two bookings. Most agents meet it by booking a cruise or tour package.

* Dugan's Travels offering a great training program that allows you to work on your training when you can. We give you two months to do your training before your quota begins. For example, if you start in December, you have until February to train and then you will need to meet your quota. Most people get their training done in a few weeks. Some even get it done sooner. Your training consists of reading the handbook, which is approximately 100 pages. Next you will complete a new agent orientation that includes different lessons on using websites of suppliers, booking different areas of travel such as rental cars, hotels, tour packages, or other travel arrangements. All your training is done 100% online so you can do it whenever it is convenient for you. If the lessons require homework, you will send it to the agent via email.

*We have an agents' only website. It will help you with handling bookings, a chatroom to chat with other agents, account list, newsletters, and so much more. It is constantly being updated with things our agents can use.

*We believe in using the Internet to our advantage. We have access to websites to book with suppliers and let you send in all your document and commission claims via email. There are so many websites available for agents to make bookings and get extra commission. So you can work whenever you want to.

*We offer 75% commission. Most agencies offer 50-70%. This includes any bonus commissions. We also pay 75% on all service fees charged to your clients if you choose to charge service fees. You are not required to do so. Agents who stay with us for 3 years move up to 80% commission.

*We keep your costs low. We don't charge per ticket transactions or add to your fees. The only other expenses our agents pay is postage. We encourage our agents to request documents be mailed directly to them or the client to avoid postage costs. If the documents must be sent to Dugan's Travels, we will send them as cheaply as possible.

*We are offer a buddy system where new agents can work with an experienced agent and split the commission 50/50. So if you would have made $100 on a booking you did on your own (your 75% of the total commission) you would then get $50 instead and the other agent would get $50.00. You are not required at all to do this, but is a way to have help and learn. You will need to work together on the booking as a team.

*Our handbook is free. We don't charge extra for our handbook like so many hosts. Our training program is free also. To make it clearer, here are the exact things you will be looking at if joining the agency.

*Monthly fee is $10 fee if you do not make $3000 or more sales in a month. It is due on the 15th of each month for the month before. So February 15th, a fee of $10 will be due if you do not book $3000 or more in sales January 1-31st. It is actual bookings. So if you book a Disney World vacation for $3500.00, you have met the quota.

*$130 payment at your sign up. Your renewals each year are $50.00. The renewal will be due by your anniversary date of signing up.

*Postage can be deducted from your commission or send it in via check or Paypal. We can also charge your credit card if needed.

*You can also use our online booking sites on your website free of charge. We do not have the ability to track what is booked on your website so you need to get your clients to notify you when they make a booking. This is important regardless so if there are any problems you can be notified. If you are wanting to speak to Jennifer directly, you will have to schedule an appt. She is the only one running the agency in order to keep costs down and offer this type of commission structure. As you can imagine the phone calls are hard to keep up with between customers, suppliers, and agents. If you do want to speak to her, you will need to get an appt and it will be no longer than 15 minutes. You will also need to call the agency so it is on your dime and not the agency's. You can also set up a time to meet in a chatroom to keep your cost down on contacting her.

Once we receive your insurance and contract, we will send you the username and password to You can fax in your contract and pay online for your insurance. Or you can also send it via the mail with a check or money order.