Gifted Travel Network

What I find unique about Gifted Travel Network is that they have truly created a tribe that is willing to grow together and help each other out through the process.
The wonderful perk is that the members range in experience from 40 years to brand new so there is a wealth of knowledge and ideas in the private Facebook forum that is being tossed around on a daily basis.
When you join the community and sign up for the MBA class, you have the opportunity to have monthly mentoring calls with a mentor who is very knowledgable, friendly and helpful and you will also have the opportunity to zero in on your niche with the help of Meredith Hill (if you are still struggling to decide what to specialize in).
The team is visible, innovative, resourceful, helpful and very much up to speed with the current digital age. Vanessa is always on top of her game with offering live Facebook classes and discussing various products and strategies for agents to grow their business. The emphasis is not only on the products but on the mindset. Although I'm fairly new, I think I will definitely grow personally and professionally with this group.

“Everything changes, nothing remains the same!” I have been associated with the same travel company for the past 40 years, however; I am now working in an entirely different industry.
Travel agents (order takers) are fast becoming a thing of the past. They are being replaced by professional travel consultants. Specialist that offer personal care and amazing value to their clients. We had to learn how to market ourselves, our value, our knowledge; instead of our product. Were it not for the founders of GTN I am not sure my company would still be around.

If you want a rewarding career as a travel consultant, if you have a passion to help others experience as many rewards as possible from their travels; you need to learn this new travel business from a forward thinking company like GTN. Actually, don’t waist another day looking around; I don’t think you will find another host that offers all that GTN offers, plus a 100% commission option. Come on, join the tribe!

Since joining Gifted Travel Network I have grown in many ways both professionally and personally. The mentoring, training calls, recorded call logs and daily positive motivation and feedback have been just the thing I needed to spread my wings and grow my travel business.

The management is visible and readily available to assist with any questions or issues that may come up working as an IC. Commissions are on time, communicated and direct deposit. It doesn't get any easier than that. We have access to a variety of wonderful vendors at all price points and signing up to work with them is such an easy process.

Within GTN I also have a side membership to GIFTE and between the 2 forums online there are many wonderful and experienced people sharing knowledge, ideas, motivation, and offering feedback and support. It truly is the family business you always wanted to work for right from your own home office.

I see myself being hosted with GTN for many years to come.

It's coming up on a year since I signed up for the Gifted Travel Network Travel MBA program, having read some great reviews right on this site.
I'll split my review into 2 parts. Firstly the MBA program and secondly GTN as a host agent.

1. I paid what I consider now to be a very fair price for this one year program that gave me a 70/30 commission split for its length. I entered this industry from finance and had no previous experience selling travel so really needed core basic directions. The program is structured very well, with modules to work through at the pace that suits you. On top of that there is invaluable support from the staff at GTN and perhaps most importantly, a mentor, who has been amazing. The commitment to helping new members to the program does not fade at all over the entire year, and the inevitable questions and concerns are addressed quickly and efficiently.I would wholeheartedly recommend the program for those starting off in the travel industry.

2. Gifted Travel Network as a host agency is growing rapidly, but I have not noticed any slip in the level of service. Personally, I am nearly at the end of my first year and am about to go to earning 100% of my commissions. I have worked hard to get to that position, but it really feels like a have a community behind me, rather than a business. On the basics like commission payments etc. I have not encountered any problems or mistakes, and the back office of GTN is proactive in solving problems before they're really problems. At different stages in my first year, I think I have received direct help from every member of the management team at some point, as well as the great admin staff. I hope that ability to connect with the experts remains as GTN grows further, but even if it becomes more difficult, the culture of a network that helps fellow agents is so well ingrained that there will always be many sources for any help required.

I have been part of the GIFTE and TESA program since 2013. I was very new to the travel industry at this time and the information, support and guidance that I received from Meredith, Vanessa and the GIFTE community, was so life changing for me both personally and for my business.

I recently decided to use GTN as my host agency, and I am so glad that I made this decision. Working with GTN has been a wonderful experience. Everything has been so easy and fast. If I have a question, I can easily get in touch with someone and I have the information that I need right away! I love the support from the GTN forum. There is so much information that I get from other agents that are willing to share their knowledge with the group. Every week we have "shop talk" which is a call that we have with a supplier so that we can understand what the supplier offers and how we can better work with them for our clients.

I feel joining GTN and being part of the GIFTE community has been the best decision that I made for my business and will help me be successful in my entrepreneurial journey.

I joined GTN when I started in the travel industry in 2014. I feel so fortunate to have been referred to GTN by a more experienced travel consultant when I was searching for a host agency. I have no doubt that GTN's highest priority is to help me create a successful and satisfying entrepreneurial business. The amount of mentoring and support I receive from the entire GIFTE team is truly amazing, as are their accessibility and commitment to helping us develop the most effective strategies to grown our businesses.
I was a member of GTN for about 6 months before signing up for the Travel MBA program. I felt I needed to see what was behind the curtain of the travel industry before committing to the Travel MBA program and I did just that for a while. I soon realized that I needed more support to speed up the learning curve, so I signed up for the Travel MBA program. I can't imagine where I would be right now if I was still trying to do this on my own without my mentor and all of the training that is specific to the Travel MBA program. My business is growing and I am confident in what I am doing and know that I have access to the best resources, supplier relationships, and support system as part of GTN.
GTN is a group of remarkably supportive professionals and wonderful people who willingly share their immense experience and knowledge. I cannot see why anyone would choose a different host agency. I am so happy to have found this one!

With a little less than a year of experience, I believe that joining the Gifted Travel Network was the best thing I could have done! I became a part of GTN through the Travel MBA program which provides guidance and expert advice on starting your business and becoming successful in the travel industry. The Travel MBA program also provides access to a dedicated mentor who is available to assist with any questions a newbie would have in the industry. I am rating GTN 5 stars because of the knowledge I have gained, the connections I have made that they have given me access to, the accessibility of the Executive team (I didn't want to be just a number at another company), and have never had a bad experience about not receiving my commission in a timely manner.

I want to tell you why I recommend GTN as my host agency. I have been in the travel business 18 years and I've been with another host, local to my area, for that entire time. That host was a good place to start, but there has been no sense of community within the group of outside agents. Discussion among outside agents was never promoted, and seems to have been discouraged, which always felt strange. The host president was not a big traveler, and therefore was not a good resource for destination information. The relationship between me and my previous host was always strictly business.

When I discovered the GIFTE program and then learned about the possibilities of GTN, it was like a breath of fresh air! I have benefitted a great deal from Meredith Hill, Vanessa McGovern & Jen Cochran's expertise in the training programs they offer, specifically the Making Money Selling Travel Blueprint. I took about three months to go through the Blueprint and there are still things I need to work on, even now. After learning these techniques, I now confidently charge planning fees and turn away business that does not make sense for my company. These practices, though scary at first, have definitely put more money in my pocket. It also makes me feel much better about what I do, as I am viewed by my clients as a true professional. The second part of the equation is that with GTN, I do pay a fixed monthly fee, but receiving 100% commission more than offsets that fee! GTN is a member of the Ensemble consortium, so certain types of travel produce enhanced commissions, which I always appreciate. My former host took 20% of my commission, which wasn't too bad as such rates go, but this GTN fixed-fee approach has been a very big help for me. With my membership in GTN, I keep the full commission, and the fixed monthly fee covers E&O insurance, Client Base Online services & Travel-42 - a good site for reviewing destinations and writing up proposals for clients. The calls with the staff at GTN provide so much encouragement along the way that it makes me feel like part of a community. Having the community support with both GIFTE & GTN has been very helpful to me. I never realized how "on my own" I had always been, until now!

I value the business training & the new ideas about how to operate that I have never heard from the various suppliers, since the new training is based on me and my brand & not some other company. There are some training sessions that deal with mindset, and though the intention behind that is very good, sometimes it ventures into the popular "the universe is watching out for me" philosophy. As a Christian, I know who is watching out for me, so I'll stick with that, but I do appreciate that for someone who feel defeated by life, reshaping how they think is necessary in order to be successful in this challenging travel business!

I am very happy with my move to GTN as my host agency, and with the GIFTE community! Just a few days ago my husband & I were discussing some upcoming expenses, and it was so much fun to see the look of amazement on his face when he asked how much money I had in my business account! I'm haven't reached my ultimate goal just yet, but I know I will get there. One of these days he will get to feel like a "kept man"!

I am so happy with my decision to join Gifted Travel Network. Since I didn’t have any previous experience as a travel agent, I decided to invest in the Travel MBA program and to date I have felt that the investment is well worth it.
The mentoring and content far supersedes the price tag of the program and compared to the point of entry to getting educated on how to run a successful business in other industries + the cost of a true MBA - the price point of the Travel MBA is a bargain!
My mentor in Travel MBA, Lisa Fletcher, is so kind, responsive and always eager to help. Her knowledge, counsel and experience is greatly appreciated.
The GTN private membership forum is also a huge resource. All the members of GTN are so happy to help. Since joining just a few months ago I’ve been able to secure marketing assistance for a magazine ad from a cruise line, I've been on two luxury ship inspections and gotten endless guidance and insights...without GTN none of that would have been possible!
I know my future is very bright in travel and with the support of GTN and the Travel MBA program I know I’ve set my business up for maximum profitability and success!
Meredith, Vanessa, Jen and Sarah are outstanding professionals, extremely knowledgeable, efficient and extremely friendly.
Do not be hesitant about joining them, it was by far the best decision I made for my business!
Thank you GTN for everything!

Gifted Travel Network does give you a feeling that you are part of a family rather than just a number. This part I liked very much. They do provide a lot of education to their agents in the form of calls, webinars, etc. They do have an awesome portal for their agents. I joined the Travel MBA program, which was much like Meredith Hill's Make Money Selling Travel. I was disappointed in in the Travel MBA program, mostly due to the cost and the fact that it was much like MMSTB. I feel like I had already invested in the MMST blueprint and now I had a series of webinars that was much like the blueprint, not all, but most. They give you access to mentors and a monthly call with Meredith Hill. I am not saying that GTN is bad, it was just not for me. I would encourage a new agent to the industry to really think about the cost versus how it will affect your bottom line. Research other alternatives when you are first starting. If you don't have the money to do so, don't feel you have to. There is an excuse if you just can't afford it and don't let anyone make you feel that you can't succeed in this business if you don't have it to invest. You can so don't give up!