travel consultant

travel agent

assistant

senior associate consultant

administrative assistant

Flight Centre Travel Group

Working for Flight Centre is a bit crazy.
They spend a lot of money getting you trained in Toronto and Vancouver (or one or the other, depending). Once you're trained, you're only about 40% ready for work in a store. You don't have all of the log ins you'll need, you don't have all the technology you'll need, and you're left to find them on your own, depending on the store.

If you're lucky enough to go on a fam, it is amazing. A lot of fams come from getting massive sales with the companies hosting the fam. Don't expect to go on one at any point - they're a nice bonus but shouldn't be an expectation when you get the job.

The pay is garbage. You're not going to be paid overtime. You will, however, be expected to stay weill past your shift if it is required. Frequently I worked 12-16 hour days with no break and no pay past 7.5 hours. You're expected to bill this back to your client. For example, if you're on hold with a cruise line for 4 hours (which is more common than not), and your shift ended 3 hours ago, you're expected to charge your client for the time you were on the phone by including it in your mark up. You're expected to mark up your sales by a percentage based on your cost of seat. This is on top of the commission the stores rely on you getting instead of paying a fair wage.

You're expected to sell, sell, sell. Don't fool yourself into thinking this is a travel job - it is a sales job first. There is a lot of pressure put on you and in turn your clients. 

Your coworkers will throw you off a bridge if given a chance. They will take sales out from under you by any means necessary. This means lies and deception if need be. Gossip is rampant; nothing you say "in confidence" to management stays confident. Mental health isn't a consideration at all.

Conclusion: if you're in to high pressure sales and kind of like travel, you're the right person for Flight Centre.

I had to quit working with the company due to bad management and the pressure that they put on travel agents to mark people up in order to hit sales targets.

I used to be in used car sales, and I found travel agents to be more sleazy and the pressure was enough to drive me to stress leave.  The atmosphere is almost always surrounding getting drunk and after work activities.  If you cannot participate then you are almost an outcast and the catty travel agents talk behind your back.  Not saying they are all bad, you know who you are.  The pay just isn't worth the amount of hours that have to put in.  I averaged the amount of hrs based on my average pay, including commission, and I averaged about $8.50/hr with benefits.

My suggestion is to work at head office in Vancouver or get there as soon as possible.  Stay away from Victoria and Vancouver Island! (except Woodgrove in Nanaimo) 

This is a great entry level position, as you are trained for 2 weeks and get to learn A LOT, in a very short period of time.  I got to travel to Vietnam, Seattle and Vancouver for Familiarization trips for really cheap and for conferences and even a ball.  I was there for a year, and let me tell you, you either love it or you hate it.  I am the type of person that would like to work the hours scheduled and go home, not have clients call me with nightmare flight emergencies, and stay overtime almost daily.

Good Luck! 

 

- A typical day would include having consultations with clients about trips want to go on. After bookings are made it also my responsibility to contact suppliers and whole seller to pass on information and confirm bookings. I will pay supplier invoices and record all financial details in the client's ledger.
-I have learned the sales process as well as multiple systems used within the travel industry. I have also learned to be more organised and punctual.
-Part of my job is managing my own business. Although I have amazing store managers, i have also learned management skills as it is my responsibility to look after my clients from start to finish.
-The work Place culture in flight centre is extremely social. I tend to go out to functions with  colleagues outside of work hours as I see value in having strong friendly relationships in the work place. I have found that this makes my workplace more pleasant to be a part of.
-The hardest part of the job would be managing a good work/life balance. It is easy for me to spend too much time at work because I don't like leaving work half done.
-The most enjoyable part of the job is getting to meet new people. It means that there is always someone new and each day is different to the last. I also love being part of the process of booking a holiday.

Being a travel agent is an amazing experience. You develop relationships with your clients and co-workers and you learn a lot. The travel industry is forever changing. If you're looking to start a career with Flight Centre get ready to give them your blood, all your time because there will be NO work-life balance and you will be greatly underpaid.
Yes they train you really well. They want to cut costs by any means so you will be responsible for your booking (obviously), ledgers, banking, statements (some take about 2 hours to complete). They teach you how to run your own business which is Amazing knowledge to have. Then take 90% of everything you earn. I would consider investing a year with them to gain all the knowledge you can and then open your own business and make more money.
You will find that people are placed in positions by default and not by merit. If you do decide to start with Flight Centre please realize that location is key. Demand a position in the financial district or anywhere where you know the clientele will be high. Avoid working in malls like the plague.

In order to be a top earner, you will need to have no work-life balance. The only way to get recognized and valued is to be a top earner. The Area Leaders have favorites and they don't hide it. TLs and ATLs are brought up through the ranks unprepared just to fill a spot and not because they're qualified and can't properly train the first year consultants without sacrificing their own numbers and sales targets. 
When covid hit, they tossed us all out like we meant nothing. There are people still working that get yelled at daily, no support from the Area Leaders and all that company culture they are so proud of was the first thing they threw away. I'm shocked how they are still in business 

If you live at home or don't have to pay rent and choose drinking/socializing over making any sort of decent income then this is the job for you. If not.. look elsewhere

CONS:
- VERY low base salary (think poverty line - they 100% lie to you in the interview about your expected earnings)
- Unless you're in a busy store good luck hitting target every month
- **MANDATORY** UNPAID "Buzz Nights" (aka drinking with your co-workers, if you have a family and don't like to party then you're treated like an outcast)
- Very "Cult" like atmosphere
- Living in Vancouver where average rent is $1500+ but you're lucky to clear $1800/month. Have fun with that - So many people I knew went into DEBT working here.

PROS:
- Flexible shifts & travel opportunities
(But if you're making no money, good luck paying for your trips)

Not a very good place to work, the salary is low and the people in leadership are usually very unqualified, this leads to all sorts of problems, like not being properly trained, and not having a resource to go to for help when it's needed. "Just Google it" type leadership. You don't ever get a raise, and there are no salary reviews. Sell more is all they'll say if you ask for a raise.

The work environment is cut throat and you're encouraged to aggressively mark up everything you sell. Co-workers will steal your sales and clients. 

The annual trip is a joke, they fly you to some random city for a single night where you have to share a room, the "flighties" are the group of people who have no other career options so they cheer on command to please their masters.  It's like a cult, but worse. 

Lying to clients about prices to make quotas, mandatory unpaid “Buzz Nights”, impossible to book vac time - blackout dates beginning and ends of each month plus all of December, lucky to pass $2200/MONTH. The salary is minimum wage. 1% commission. Work “as many hours as possible” but don’t get paid anything passed your scheduled 40 hours. Management is inconsiderate.

You can go on familiarization trips which are discounted and you go with other employees, but good luck affording that. 

You’re destined to be an alcoholic, as they basically force alcohol on you and once you get home, that’s all you want to do after a day of screwing clients over.

My typical day consists of goal setting, customer service for clients, sales and helping clients plan their dream vacations! I have learned over the course of my time with this company how much I love being busy and wearing different hats within the business! From helping a client get home to see family they haven't seen in a long time, to creating a plan for someone's first trip ever! My co-workers that I have met along my journey are not just co-workers, they have become my family. The hardest part of my job is having someone have to go on a trip for unforeseen circumstances. The most enjoyable part of my job is creating people's travel dreams!

Working in a mall, the hours varied. I definitely learned to be more organized and to keeps notes on everything (a paper trail is your best friend in certain instances). Management was amazing, I never made it to that role, but I was up for consideration for two positions. My co-workers were my family and are still great supportive friends. There were weeks (a lot of them) where I saw them for more hours then my own family. Which brings me to the hardest part, work/life balance. No matter how hard your tried it never worked. The most enjoyable part of the job, was the company in a whole. Amazing company to work for.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Travel consultant 5 salaries reported	$39,800 per year
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Assistant 1 salary reported	$246 per day
Senior associate consultant 1 salary reported	$148 per day
Administrative assistant 1 salary reported	$4,600 per month

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