Travel Agent Tips: How to Make 6-20% Commission on Airline Booking

For decades, independent travel advisors and smaller agencies have dealt with a frustrating reality: booking airfare often feels like too much work for zero financial reward.

You do the heavy lifting of managing complex itineraries and providing traveler support, but often end up waiting months for a tour operator or cruise line to finally pay out your commissions. Because it is frequently perceived as too much pain for too little return, many travel agents simply avoid selling airfare altogether, assuming they can't profit from it.

However, the industry is changing!

Here are our top five tips on how travel professionals can stop leaving money on the table:

1. Leverage Collective Buying Power
2. Capitalize on High-Yield Commissions
3. Utilize Simple, Painless Technology
4. Prioritize Executive Support
5. Ensure Your Partnership is Zero-Risk

Learn how to start effortlessly earning 6% to 20% in upfront gross commissions on the flights you already sell!

1. Leverage Collective Buying Power

The reality of the travel industry is that smaller agencies typically do not have the massive volume — often at least $5 million a year in air sales — required to negotiate highly profitable, direct contracts with major airlines.

The easiest way to overcome this hurdle is to partner with an established host agency. By partnering with Allied Continental, your travel business instantly taps into our $2 billion in collective buying power and gains direct access to negotiated agreements with more than 140 domestic and international airlines.

This allows you to earn point-of-sale revenue on the airline tickets you sell, giving you the exact same financial leverage as the industry's largest corporate players.

2. Capitalize on High-Yield Airfare Commissions

Once you have access to top-tier airline contracts, you can expect significant financial returns. Depending on the type of airline tickets you sell, you have the opportunity to earn 6% to 20% in gross commissions.

• The financial impact is substantial: in 2025 alone, Allied Continental paid out $611,618 in commissions to our agency partners across more than 14,000 booked flights.

Focusing on high-yield business and first-class international tickets can maximize your agency's profitability even further!

3. Utilize Simple, Painless Airline Booking Technology

Adopting new technology to book airfare should not be a headache!

• If your agency is ARC-appointed, you can continue using your preferred Global Distribution System (Sabre, Apollo, Worldspan, or Amadeus) to make and manage your own bookings while drastically improving your margins.
• If you want a simpler path, you can utilize our proprietary, easy-to-use platform, BookAllied. BookAllied allows you to view live inventory and see your exact commissions transparently at the time of researching fares.

4. Prioritize Executive Traveler Support

Travel doesn't only happen from 9 to 5, and when issues arise, waiting on hold for hours is not an option!

A major tip for travel agents is to partner with a team that provides "velvet rope" or "fast pass" access to elite airline executive support desks. This elite access ensures your travelers get priority service, making you look like a hero to your clients when severe weather strikes or flight schedules change.

5. Ensure Your Partnership Is Zero-Risk

Finally, never pay extra fees to access the commissions you've earned. Allied Continental operates on a shared-success model — meaning we only make money when you make money.

Our hosting solutions are completely risk-free, with no enrollment costs, no monthly or annual fees, and absolutely no ticketing quotas to meet. Whether you book a single ticket a year or a million tickets, your agency receives the exact same great benefits.

Ready to Increase Your Airline Booking Earnings?

Stop leaving money on the table. If you want to learn how easy it is to sell air and make money, our travel industry insiders are ready to help. Let’s build a more profitable future for your travel agency!

Allied Continental empowers travel advisors with direct access to airline contracts and commissions that boost your bottom line — earning 6–20% on tickets you already sell. Talk to an advisor today!