This page will provide you with information on how to become a travel agent in San Francisco.

Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Priceline.com, Hotwire.com and Kayak.com are travel websites that enable people to book their own air fares, rental cars and hotel accommodations. The websites can be accessed 24/7 often right from the comfort of home. 30 Percent of the U.S. population goes online to find information on travel. Because of the convenience of these websites, travel agents nowadays have to become travel experts. Customers that take on travel agents expect to get exclusive information that they cannot find elsewhere. This is why it's important for travel agents to educate themselves about the changing trends in various vacation destinations. http://www.khalsaweb.com/internetarticles/travel-onlince.html

Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Zoo, and the Japanese Tea Garden are all local tourist attractions that a travel agent should be able to refer their client to. Besides local attractions, the travel agent should also be able to refer clients to tourist attractions abroad. http://www.planetware.com/top-tourist-attractions-/san-francisco-us-ca-sf.htm

Some travel agents prefer to specialize in certain areas such as cruise travel, group travel, honeymoons, and business travel. Whether you are planning on focusing on one special area or if you just want to be an all round travel agent, the following steps are similar for both.

HIGH SCHOOL: The minimum requirement to become a travel agent in San Francisco is a high school diploma or the equivalent. If you are lucky enough to be able to travel a lot, it will also come in handy once you are a travel agent. Many employers will not hire people without any training geared towards becoming a travel agent. http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/travel_agent.htm

ADDITIONAL TRAINING: After high school, look into travel agent classes/courses online, in community colleges and in Public adult education programs. Some people even go on to get their associates or bachelors degree in tourism and travel. There are many travel agent courses, classes and programs available that can be taken both part time and full time. You can either take the classes in a classroom setting or right from home. The following school in San Francisco can be considered:

• ■ City College of San Francisco, 50 Phelan Ave, San Francisco, CA 94112-1898, Phone: (415) 239-3000. This school was founded in 1935 and offers classes geared towards travel services. http://www.citytowninfo.com/school-profiles/city-college-of-san-francisco

If you prefer a home study course so you can study at your own pace, you can look into classes from one of the following online schools:

• ■ Stratford Career Institute: Established in 1991, offers classes in travel and tourism. http://www.citytowninfo.com/school-profiles/stratford-career-institute
• ■ Central Pennsylvania College: Established in 1881, offers classes in travel & tourism operations. http://www.citytowninfo.com/school-profiles/central-pennsylvania-college
• ■ Penn Foster Career School: Established in 1890, offers classes geared towards becoming a travel/tourism specialist. http://www.citytowninfo.com/school-profiles/penn-foster-career-school

A travel agent also has to know how to work on computers because you will spend a lot of time researching rates and various deals. This is where a vocational school might come in handy. Additional classes that might benefit you include world history, geography, computer science and foreign languages.

EMPLOYMENT: San Francisco is one of the cities in California where the travel agent position is more common. San Luis Obispo, and San Jose are two other locations where travel agent jobs are common. The least amount of travel agent jobs can be found in Fresno, Visalia, and Modesto. When you start looking for a job as a travel agent, you can expect to start working in an entry level position. This is a good way to gain experience and learn the job. Over time you may get more responsibilities which may lead to that travel agent position. If you cannot get your foot in the door by getting that entry level position, try offering to work for free as an intern. This will look good on your resume and benefit you when looking for a future job. When it comes to your resume, you might want to take a look at the Mahalo page 'How to write a resume'. It might be of some help to you. http://www.citytowninfo.com/employment/travel-agents/california

SALARY: The 2010 base annual salary of a San Francisco travel agent is $36,821. The highest average salaries for travel agents is given in Santa Barbara, San Jose, and Modesto. When you first start working, or if you decide to start your own travel agent business, don't expect to make a lot of money right away. You will need to take some time to focus on building your client base. Once that is done, the income potential for self employed travel agents is unlimited. http://www.citytowninfo.com/employment/travel-agents/california http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_salaryresults.asp?op=salswz_psr&hdOmniNarrowDesc=Materials+Management&hdOmniTotalJobsFound=20&pagefrom=selectjob&redbird=http%3A%2F%2Fswz.salary.com%2Fsalarywizard%2Flayoutscripts%2Fswzl_salaryresults.asp%3Fop%3Dsalswz_psr%26hdOmniNarrowDesc%3DMaterials+Management%26hdOmniTotalJobsFound%3D20%26jobfamilycode%3D23%26joblevelcode%3D%26pagefrom%3Dselectjob%26hdZipCode%3D94104%26geometrocode%3D156%26hdLocationOption%3D1%26countertype%3D1%26jobcounter%3D9%26hdJobCode%3DLE11000030%26hdJobTitle%3DTax+Attorney+III%26hdJobCategory%3DLE01%26hdNarrowDesc%3DLegal+Services&jobfamilycode=23&joblevelcode=&hdLocationOption=1&hdSearchByOption=0&hdKeyword=travel+agent&hdJobCategory=AR02&hdZipCode=94104&hdStateMetro=156&hdGeoLocation=San+Francisco%2C+CA+94104&hdCurrentPage=1&hdViewAllRecords=0&hdSortBy=0&hdJobCode=OF13000058&hdJobTitle=Travel+Clerk&hdNarrowDesc=Hotel%2C+Gaming%2C+Leisure%2C+and+Travel&hdJSBoolDisplayAdvertisement=&jobcounter=8&countertype=1&rdbSearchByOption=0&txtKeyword=travel+agent&totaljoblistnum=2&hdAjaxDisplaySection1=0&hdAjaxDisplaySection2=1&hdAjaxKeyword=travel+agent&hdAjaxKeywordWithOR=%23travel%23+OR+%23agent%23

LICENSING: Most states don't have formal license requirements to sell travel. There is no state administered test to pass like there is with real estate and insurance. Some states do have a travel seller's registration program that you are required to join. California is one of these states. Once you register suppliers will recognize you as a legitimate entity. Because laws might change and be amended, it's recommended you check with the state office of the Attorney General or the Department of Commerce on what the current licensing requirements are. http://www.careeroverview.com/travel-agent-careers.html http://www.homebasedtravelagent.com/FAQ.htm

SCAMS: When looking for a travel agent job, you can expect to run into one of the many scams out there. You can mostly find them on the Internet. Companies that sell the dream of being self employed and glamorize the profession are often scam companies that are only after your money. Following are some signs that will help you recognize these companies:

• ■ If the company mentions only the positive aspects of a job as a travel agent, it might be a scam. For instance focusing on working from home, making your own schedule, making lots of money and traveling the world, are all signs it could be a scam.
• ■ If the company asks for a large amount of money up front, it could be a scam. There are legitimate host companies that ask for money up front to allow you access to their web portal, so be extra careful here.
• ■ If you are required to recruit new affiliates for the company, you are dealing with a multi level marketing company. They often make it sound like you will be working as a travel agent, when in reality you won't.
• ■ If the company claims they are very successful, they often aren't.
• ■ Watch out for companies that issue travel agent ID cards. Some companies, make fake ID cards. http://www.homebasedtravelagent.com/scams.htm