Travel agents join host agencies for a variety of reasons. Some who are new to the industry require hosts with wide-ranging training programs; while for industry veterans the deciding factor can be which consortium a host is aligned with.

Still other agents place a strong emphasis on the host agency’s credibility. “I wanted to find a company that had a credible reputation with suppliers within the industry,” says Karen Wolworth, a Nexion agent who runs Side Street Travel in Ann Arbor, Mich. “I wanted to be associated with someone who wasn’t just a fly-in-the-night type of organization.”

There are myriad host agency models out in the marketplace, says Judy Nidetz, with Travel Experts in Chicago. Commissions and fees are an example of the many models on the market. Says Nidetz, “I did a lot of research and there’s pay by the invoice, split commission, there’s monthly fees. There are so many different ways that you can work as an independent contractor in our field these days.”

Nidetz, who received a split commission at her former host, moved on to Travel Experts, where she is now paid a monthly fee. “I immediately got a 35 percent raise the minute I walked out the door of my old agency,” she says. “I think it’s important for agents to consider what’s best for them and how they’re going to end up making the most money.”

At the end of the day, agents say, it’s up to you to determine what’s important for your at-home business. “The bottom line is you have to look at what you’re trying to accomplish,” says John Bloom, co-owner with his wife, Diedre Bloom, of Travelers Trails in Richland, Wash., an Avoya Travel affiliate.

Following are 11 reasons why travel agents chose their hosts:

1. Flexibility.
Carrie Wallace of Chicago-based MoonRings has a business model that requires flexibility, with the agency selling vacations to exotic corners of the earth. “We do a lot of wire transfers and a lot of back-office processing types of things that have to happen in order for our clients to do what they need to do,” says Wallace.

Her business identity is important, she says, noting that Andavo Travel gives the agency the autonomy it needs to maintain that identity. “Andavo was completely willing to work with you as who you are and not try to make you into who they wanted you to be,” says Wallace. “And because we had our own identity and branding, we felt that was a pretty good option for us. That was the fundamental, key thing that told us Andavo was the right fit.”

2. Access to management.
Wallace was impressed with the fact that at Andavo Travel she can talk to top management, including Andavo CEO Mike Cameron. “We had access to that level of people during the discussion stage, which told us something about their company over all,” says Wallace. “And then they also put us in touch with their controller and their finance people, so we could see how our back-office processing was going to go and how wire transfers were going to work.”

3. Marketing.
Avoya’s Bloom was looking for a host that would enable the couple to do what they do best: sell.

“Before we joined Avoya, we were buried in a lot of overhead and administrative-type tasks,” he says. “Avoya provides all of the support, the marketing and the back-office services.” In particular, Bloom found the company’s Live Leads program especially attractive. “The leads come in because of the marketing that Avoya does,” he says, adding that the leads sent to him focus on his specialties: river cruises and escorted tours.

“I don’t book a lot of big ship cruises, except for past customers of mine and Avoya’s — and I don’t have to because I focus on what I do best. It’s my business to decide how I’m going to work it, and Avoya basically spends all the money to bring those leads to me. All I have to do is accept them,” says Bloom.

4. Training.
Wolworth joined Nexion because, as someone new to the industry, she was looking for a host that offered training. “I knew I was going to need some guidance and support, especially in the beginning,” she says. “Because I wasn’t trained in the GDS and had heard about its intricacies, I wanted to make sure the host agency had booking tools that I could use that were non-GDS to get started with.”

Another plus for Wolworth was Nexion’s Strategic Selling Program, which enabled her to work with a Nexion employee to achieve specific goals. “It was about a six-week program, during which every week I met with my mentor and we set a goal to accomplish,” says Wolworth. “I wanted to grow my group business, but I wasn’t sure how to do that. And so they walked me through the process of how to set up a successful group, how to market to it, how to service it and how to organize it.” The program was so successful that groups are now a major focus of Wolworth’s business.

5. Corporate culture.
The right corporate culture was also important for Wolworth. In particular, she finds Nexion’s annual conference invaluable. “I’ve gone every year and I’ve made some great friendships with other agents, and we continue to support one another away from the office,” she says.

6. Websites.
In today’s market, your website is your storefront so Tambra North, owner of Trip Me Out Travel in Orlando, Fla., was looking for a host that would be able to provide her with a professional website.

“What I was looking for was creativity, a website that would pop,” she says, adding that it was a deciding factor in why she chose Montrose Travel. “There had to be a website because that’s where everybody is today,” North says. “That’s how relationships start nowadays — online.”

7. Authenticity.
In selecting a host agency, Tim Dearhamer, Cruises Inc., Tulsa, Okla., didn’t want to feel as though he was being sold a bill of goods. He had the option of joining Cruises Inc., a host agency, or its sister company, CruiseOne, which offers franchise opportunities. “One of the things that super impressed me about the Cruises Inc./CruiseOne people is they said don’t do the franchise if you’re not 100 percent sure,” says Dearhamer. “And to me that was shocking, because obviously the franchises make them a lot more money and would put me at a much higher level of commitment.” That confirmed Dearhamer’s belief that they were not just trying to “sell” him. “They are someone who will partner with me and help me,” he says.

8. Face-to-face interaction.
Dearhamer was also impressed with the fact that Cruises Inc. offers onsite training at its headquarters. “I felt it was important because I wanted to go and see the headquarters and meet the people who were behind the computers and phones, and I wanted to know that it was a real legitimate place and not in some industrial park hidden in the back corner,” he says.

9. Back-office support.
Because he was new to the industry, Dearhamer paid particular attention to the type of back-office support that host agencies offered. “I felt very comfortable [with Cruises Inc.], because when I sell a cruise and set up travel arrangements, I know there’s a set of eyes in the back office that are looking through all of that and making sure I didn’t mess it up somewhere,” he says.

10. Consortia.
Travel Experts’ Nidetz, who had worked at a brick-and-mortar agency for 15 years, knew that a luxury consortium would be key when it came to making her choice in a host. “I had been growing my business and I had a mostly high-end luxury clientele,” she says. “The agency I was with before did not have a luxury marketing consortium. I knew if I was going to make a move, it was going to be to a Virtuoso agency.”

11. Backup.
One of Nidetz’s biggest concerns was not having backup when she traveled. “I was very concerned about who would cover for me,” says Nidetz. “Of course, I brought that up to the Travel Experts owner, Susan Ferrell, who said that she’d been very successful recommending fellow agents in the same time zone where they cover for each other and you make your own deal.” Nidetz paired up with an agent who was starting at Travel Experts at the same time, and the two now cover for each other regularly. “I cover for her, she covers for me, and we keep our commissions.”