Avoya Travel

I left Avoya after 6 months due to disagreement with their commission structure for leads and their marketing philosophy. I have been in sales my whole career - and this is the only company I know where the customer cannot choose who they work with.

As a new TA, I was enticed by the training and onboarding program, and the opportunity to get leads with Avoya. However, after I earned $80 on a $5000 cruise I realized their model is flawed. Basically, you earn 4.8% on most cruise leads - it is a 30-70 split on leads, with 30% to you....after deducting any offers you made to the client.

They want you to sell on value, but in training the first thing they push is to offer a discount or onboard credit. What they don't tell you is that any OBC you offer is deducted from your commission at the 80/20 or 30/70 lead split. Teaching you to offer a discount on your iniital call with a client is not adding value, and cuts your pay.

Avoya spends a lot of marketing, and they want to protect their investment - but the reason the leads stay with Avoya is because of the TA and how we bring the lead to closure, and maintain the customer relationship. However, they still keep the 30-70 split on all future deals as well.Even though they were only responsible for the initial lead.

And then we received a letter from their CEO that said they would sue any TA that left and worked with a client that was previously a lead. Meaning the customers you had fostered and nurtured were not allowed to leave Avoya and follow you. Never in my career had I ever seen a policy like this - while I should not be allowed to poach any leads if I left, a customer should be able to use me if they wanted to, and found me on their own. Avoya threatened all agents with lawsuits should a client follow us no matter what. That is not a company I wanted to be associated with.

I left and am very happy with my new agency I am associated with.

I have been affiliated with Avoya Travel for more than 10+ years. They are absolutely the best. My sales have increased from $250,000 year one to well over a million $+ each year. They have the most innovative team of specialists whose sole purpose is to help the travel agent thrive. Lots of education, training webinars, team support, everything needed to become successful in this industry. Thanks, Avoya Travel for being the best!

I started off in the travel industry working with another host agency that I was not happy with and one of my friends who's also a travel agent kept telling me to give Avoya a try. I'm so glad that I gave them a try and I'm happy to still have my travel agency business affiliated with them a year later. The support that I get from Avoya especially the Early Success Team and Brand Sales Departments is extremely wonderful. I will admit when I first joined Avoya I was struggling but that's because I didn't reach out for help and once I contacted Early Success at Avoya asking them for help I went from struggling to now ending every month with at least over $2,000 commission wise. The Early Success Team is a wonderful asset that I'm very glad that Avoya has for free where as with most other host agencies they charge you for a coaching session. Avoya has opportunities where you can meet with the senior leadership team in person. Avoya even invited me to attend the naming ceremony for Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas where I got to meet so many of Avoya Senior Leadership Team in person and I even got to talk to Avoya CSO Phil Cappelli for a bit during the 3-day naming ceremony cruise to the Bahamas. The live leads program with Avoya is amazing not only are my customers from the live leads program but some of them are also referrals that I got from the leads that I claimed threw Avoya live leads program. Avoya has a long standing relationship with so many suppliers and whenever I have a question or a issue I know that Avoya support team is there to help me. I love how Avoya also has training/educational opportunities that are offered via Zoom. A lot of Avoya staff use to be IA's with Avoya so a lot of them talk from experience. Overall I'm very happy with my affiliation with Avoya and I should of went with Avoya in the first place. Now I'm actually getting ready to add agents under my license and expand my business. I also love how Avoya Early Success Department makes sure that I have goals set for myself and how they cheer me on and celebrate whenever I hit a goal.

I was with a previous host company for 2 years but I wanted more; therefore, I began a long search for a company to give me a little more knowledge that I was missing.
When I found and joined Avoya it was MORE than I expected! The coaching and available materials is a bit overwhelming (because they have so much available)!
I am very proud to be with Avoya and ALL the teams that is there to help is AWESOME!

I am totally new to the travel business and feel so lucky that my research led me to Avoya. Now that I have been with them for just under a year and have more knowledge about the industry, I can say that they are a great host agency! The Avoya University program to become a travel agent was excellent. After completing the program and taking the TAP test, they provide extensive training on using the Agent Power system for booking and managing travel. And, finally, being put into the Early Success program where they continue to guide and support my independent agency as I learn the business. I have had my personal ups and downs as I have navigated this new industry and the Avoya team has been rock solid and supportive to help me find success. I highly recommend Avoya!

When I started researching how to get into the travel industry, one host agency kept coming up as the one that checked all of the boxes. I knew that as someone who new to travel, I wanted an agency that would provide training and support from day one. Avoya has done that and more.

When I started with the Travel Education platform, I was able to learn what I needed to be able to pass the test from the Travel Institute and feel that I had a firm foundation to build upon.

As a veteran, I received a discount on the affiliation fee and then started my training on Avoya's internal software and processes. All along the way, there were people to help direct me and point me in the right direction without giving me the answers.

Once I passed that initial internal training, I was able to participate in the Avoya Live Leads program and this helped my business start to grow. At the same time, I started working with the Avoya Early Success program. They have been invaluable in helping me get the right business processes in place to help me grow my business. I have been assigned a business development coach who is available to meet with me every 2 weeks to help keep me on track and provide valuable insight.

All of this is provided at no extra cost to me because of Avoya's shared success model, they succeed when I succeed. I feel I am ready to take on my first Wave season.

In one word: WOW! From recruiting, to onboarding, to education and now the sales coaching, the support we receive at Avoya is unmatched. I am beyond grateful, while also kicking myself for wasting time at another host agency and not joining Avoya years ago. Shoutout to Sandy and the Early Success Program for helping me get out of my head and hit my goals! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Avoya travel has made it seamless and easy to begin building a travel agency business by allowing you to work at your own pace through your travel education to help you become familiar with geography, popular destinations, and understanding the travel business as a whole. After this, you take the Avoya University course which takes you step-by-step into learning how to use all of the tools and resources at your disposal to set you up for success when you begin getting leads. Avoya also offers an optional live lead system that really helps you stay polished during shoulder season. The Early Success Program and the Brand Sales Teams are truly the shining gems of this host agency. Without them, I honestly believe I would have given up and closed my new business. Shout out to Mandy Hudson and Oswaldo Guzman who have been my guiding angels and assisted me through this entire process by providing their ears for listening, expertise and knowledge, and given me friends and colleagues I can count on when I am in need. From script writing workshops to 1-on-1 calls about suppliers and selling, these guys do it all and provide so much support for us IAs. Thank you and I cannot wait to continue this relationship in 2024.

I began my journey as A Travel Agent / Destination Specialist with Avoya Travel network on July 5th of this year. After having done my research and moving from one host to another and from behind the scenes with ALG,... I realized Avoya was the better choice, because they provide leads ($$$) (maybe not all good leads), but at least they are honest about it. During the training they explain the percentage of good leads and bad leads. Since I started.... I've slowly followed through with all the clients based on the training provided from the very beginning to the Early Success training. I highly suggest, "Don't ever stop training!" Everything is easy to find and the support desk is pretty quick to answer questions when your lost. Having a one-on-one is easy enough, just email and someone will take time to help. Most of the job is about reading. Lots of reading.
Everyone I've spoken with has been easy to get along with, and though there are not classes where there is a teacher and the students in a webinar (which I'm very used to and it worked to have the connection to the community I was working with) it's actually a good thing. They do have webinar meetings where we do gather and are being taught, but they are timed and your questions are answered... and if not, just email someone and they reach back as quickly as possible.
I've already booked $70,000+ Gross in 6 months, and my current year commission is over $3,000+. That's pretty good in my eyes for booking 8 customers out of the 37 I've been trying to work with. Unfortunately at times, you do have to let go of a client because there is nothing you can do to match their unrealistic budget. That's OK! Trust me!
If your interested in joining Avoya, just understand your NOT alone. There is always help and taking leads is a quick way to make a bit of cash.
I do highly suggest getting out into your community and making yourself known. It's your community that is going to remain loyal to you, their Travel Specialist.
Good Luck (Fingers crossed for you)

Words literally can't explain how grateful I am to be partnered with Avoya. We literally have the best education for new agents and they also provide us with leads so no social media is required. I have only been in the network for almost 2 and a half months. I have learned more in the few months I've been with Avoya than any other agency I was a part of previously. The mentoring we receive keeps me hungry as an agent and helps me continue to make sales that are unheard of for someone who is this new to the industry. To anyone looking around for host agencies Avoya is literally the best host agency out there because we have the best technology, resources, and mentoring that you can get in the travel industry today. Thank you to our fabulous early success team and my early success coach Sandy for helping me get off to a fast start and supporting me in the many brands I sell as an IA. I can not wait to see where I will be a year from now.