Avoya Travel

Avoya is built for those who sell cruises and are available 24/7. Let me explain:

Avoya gives great training to learn how to use their CRM and how to sell cruises. They don't expound terribly much on how to book FIT or AI in their CRM. If you need help of any kind with cruises you'll get it quickly. If you need help with a land booking (something is glitching in the CRM, the BDM isn't responding, you want to get on the list to start training for a TOs referrals) expect a minimum of a week, 2 emails, and a phone call before you get a response. Avoya makes it easy to get cruise referrals. They make you jump through hours and hours worth of additional (ridiculous and pointless) training to get referrals from non-cruise companies. Note: all referrals regardless of who they are for are a waste of time anyways. None of them have been remotely vetted. 95% don't ever respond to you or have given the wrong contact information. Of the remaining 5% 90% of those are tire kickers. You are also not aloud to charge consultation/service fees to any referral either on their first booking or if they come back to you so you can't easily weed out tire kickers that way either.

Additionally, if you have a referral and they call Avoya and say they want a new TA they will just move them (and any booking/commission that is currently pending) to a new TA, no reasoning needed. (But, if you don't wan't to work with that client you can't fire them.) If you're on the phone with a supplier and can't answer your call waiting, tough. If you set a boundary with said client and said "I'm away from my computer at the moment but I can take care of that in an hour when I get home" it doesn't matter. If the person in any way came from Avoya on that trip or a previous one they can pull them from your book of business and give them to someone else on that persons whim.

If you already have a large book of business mostly cruise based Avoya may be a good choice for you. The CRM and help is set up for cruises and if you bring the client with you and check the appropriate box when you enter them into the CRM Avoya wont take them away from you. If you mostly do FIT/AI/Land their CRM and support is not built for you. If you think you're going to rely on their referrals for any reason, you can't. Unless you bring the client yourself and check a specific button within their CRM literally no client or transaction/commission is safe/sacred until the client has returned. If your new, want good training, and are planning to do cruises but ARE NOT going to use their referrals Avoya is at least work looking at. Their CRM and cruise searching/deals are pretty good.

In short, Avoya is good for clients you personally bring in and if your niche involves cruises. Everyone else, I'd look elsewhere.

Avoya does an excellent job on educational training opportunities, support request responses,
Accounting backup/tracking process (to include efficient processing of negotiated vendor receivables
allowing more timely payables to IAs), the unique Agent Power lead program, customer record system
and marketing support that Avoya provides for both the Agent’s personal and Avoya’s lead-generated
owned clients. I value highly the respect that Avoya has garnered with suppliers, supported by their
committed efforts to grow their business. The Business Owners of Avoya Travel set and maintain high
standards and continue to achieve growth and respect in the Leisure Travel Industry. The Avoya Travel
Owners and Staff form a great goal-oriented Team! I am proud to be an Avoya Travel Independent
Affiliated Agent

As a brand new agent without extensive experience outside of personal travel, I have felt 100% supported. Every person I have encountered from onboarding, network enrichment, early success and brand sales have truly helped me grow my business.

Their Live Lead option is fantastic. I have only been with Avoya for a little over two months and have reached over $80K in sales. With the majority of these sales from the Live Leads option.

Working 12 plus hours per day in a spare bedroom can make you feel alone. I have never felt this way. Even though I am an independent agent, I feel I am apart of a team. I instantly reach out and someone is always available to assist.

Joining Avoya was the best decision by far when selecting a host agency.

I have been with Avoya for over 15 years and am proud of my affiliation. There is so much to appreciate, and I am happy to share just a few aspects here.
Avoya's search and res system is powerful. It standardizes all the suppliers' information, shows promotions available to us, gives live inventory and pricing options, makes it SIMPLE to use, book and cross reference with client and trip records, and so much more. This system also has a powerful "knowledge base" we can tap into, as well as dedicated, fast and responsive support should we have a question or an issue.

Avoya has access to group space on thousands of cuises, so we can offer competitive pricing and promotions to our clients.

The clout Avoya has with suppliers is extremely helpful in many ways. You can tell how grateful suppliers are for their strong partnership with Avoya and it certainly gives us an edge.

Avoya invests a lot in marketing to the public. From this they offer leads to us at no charge. We are free to choose how many leads we might want to take at any given time, and for which suppliers.
Avoya's educational opportunities, conferences (both virtual and in person), back-office support, professionalism and sincere, caring atmosphere all combine to create a wonderful environment in which to work.

I love all the support and information Avoya gives their Independent Agencies. I know I always have someone I can go to with all of my questions. I also love all the opportunities they have to meet and network with other IAs. I just attended a Avoya Boot Camp and learned so much about how to more efficiently run my independent agency and network with other IAs! Avoya is an incredible company!

Prior to joining Avoya I had been the Manager of the Home Based Channel for a major supplier for 14 years, thus had access to all host agencies. When my career path changed I could have joined each and every one of them as they were my past accounts. I was interested in the Avoya business model mainly because of the lead program, of which no other host offers to this extent. I knew every supplier in the industry and had for years - but did not have a "book of existing clients" to start my business. With the help, assistance and patience of the Avoya support staff I have been able to build my business into producing over $1,000,000 in sales for the past three years running! I find that when a problem occurs (and yes, they do happen) I can always count on assistance from my Avoya family as well as the wonderful independent agents who are always willing to lend an ear, share a laugh, or help solve a problem. That's the most important thing when being a home based agent where you do not have interaction with clients and other staff - we at Avoya are all one big family! Thanks to the Anderson's and their amazing team for the brain power behind Avoya! I'm here to stay!

It was February, 2022, and I was frustrated with my then Host Agency (HA).

I joined that particular HA as a brand-new, hot-off-the-showroom-floor, certified Independent Travel Agent (IA). I was old to the travel business, but a new IA with my LLC. I didn’t have much money, so the $19/mo. (now$21) fee was attractive, but even MORE attractive was the 80-20 commission split, unheard of at other HA’s. This was, by far, the best draw of all! I did want a user-friendly Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and I especially wanted customers! I didn’t realize it then, but what I really needed was a reliable support system.

My experience in choosing my first HA was in learning that specifics matter. I was general in my wants, and got exactly that. Every review in HAR has a “Program Details” section, and one of those details is ‘Lead Program’, indicating if that HA provides Leads or not. I casually dismissed the fact that my HA choice did not offer Leads, because I intended on building my business by recruiting my family and friends. It also wouldn’t hurt to post on FB that I was now a IA, then maybe pass out a few business cards. I did not need Leads because every one I knew was now miraculously ready to travel, and would immediately become my customer!

There were three. Three people. What I didn’t count on is that no one had immediate plans to travel. An 80% commission on nothing, is nothing. Avoya Leads do not pay 80% commission because they are Avoya customers, but these are actual Leads, not names off some outdated mailing list. They are vetted and real, and allow a new Avoya IA to earn income they would not have earned on their own. An IA is able to generate some income as they are building their own customer base at 80-20!

I learned that ‘advanced’ CRM, but that does NOT necessarily mean user-friendly. That system was not intuitive. There were multiple pages to navigate for simple information, and entering info was quite time-consuming. On the other hand, Avoya’s CRM is quite intuitive. It is almost as if IA’s had a hand it it’s design. One of my favorite features is the tie-in with Outlook Office 365. Every e-mail between you and PAX is auto-saved in the record. There is also a ‘Conversation’ feature that allows you to chat with your PAX. Those chats are then a matter of record. Everything is documented.

When I chose Avoya, I had no idea what an ‘available’ support system looked like. I did learn that ‘reliable’ support does not mean expeditious, nor does it necessarily mean availability when you need it. Support is needed after 5pm, and on Saturday! There were those times, during 9-5, that I would receive an answer in a reasonable amount of time, but there were way too many times I would have to wait hours, or even a couple days to receive a reply for a problem in which I needed immediate help.

Enter Avoya. In this industry, you are only as good as your access to correct information. Every IA is 100% dependent on access to the right suppliers, but we also depend heavily on a strong support system. Avoya has a very extensive, and easy to access Knowledge Base, but when additional support is needed, no support staff comes close to those at Avoya. They are always available, and they always respond. I have submitted a slew of Support Requests, and by far, the vast majority are answered within 10 minutes. This level of support is a crucial underpinning of every IA. You can be confident that Avoya support will not leave you floundering, or left in the cold. I did not know this level of support existed.

If you are searching for your first HA, or are switching to a new one, please take time to review what Avoya has to offer. A user-friendly CRM and a solid support staff are crucial ingredients for an IA at any level, and when you add in Avoya’s access to all the top travel suppliers, you have the best recipe for the success!

We have been affiliated with Avoya Travel for more than 12 years. We are extremely pleased with our association with them. We value their integrity, ingenuity and creativity. Their booking engine makes it easy to give a quality quote to our customers. In addition, it tracks payments and calendar items. Our payments from them are always on time and accurate. I would highly recommend affiliating with Avoya Travel.

I have been with Avoya for 12 years and they always continue to improve and reaearch to keep improving there is no end for them. Recently due to the Pandemic I feel Avoya went above and beyond to seek out assistance with financial and legal advice to help keep our business alive. if you run into a snag they also have a great support system. Thank You Avoya

I started in a travel-related business three years ago and immediately realized I enjoy my job, the clients, the vendors, and just about anyone that I come in contact with had the same attitude, travel is fun whether you are booking a reservation for someone else or traveling yourself. I signed up with one Host Agency and realized I was getting nothing for my money. After a lot of research, I decided I would try Avoya Travel. I can truthfully say Avoya Travel Host Agency has a wonderful program for independent agents, the support you may need to run a successful business is there if you need it from the day you sign up to the first lead that you are offered from their lead program. I'm looking forward to a long successful relationship with Avoya Travel.