How much do travel agents make? Earnings by experience, from named sources

Employed travel agents earned a median of $50,160 in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The middle half earned $41,950 to $63,060. BLS leaves out the self-employed. In HostAgencyReviews' 2024 survey, hosted advisor income was $52,636 as reported, in its snapshot of experienced advisors (3+ years), and experienced independent advisors averaged $71,315.

Here is what each named source measures, how pay changes with experience, how advisor income is built, and how to spot an inflated earnings claim.

What counts as travel agent income?

Travel agent income is what an advisor takes home from selling travel: wages, commission, and fees. For employees, BLS wage data include money earned from commissions. For self-employed advisors, it is their share of supplier commission plus any service fees, before their own costs.

The two groups are measured differently. BLS surveys employers, so it counts staff. Advisors who work for themselves show up only in industry surveys, which are self-reported. Keep that difference in mind when you compare numbers.

How much do travel agents make? The sources side by side

No single source covers everyone. This table shows who each one measures.

HAR is a secondary source: a website that reviews host agencies and sells its full reports. Its 2024 survey had 2,063 advisors, and HAR says the income and fee data reflect the full 2023 calendar year. Its averages can be pulled up by a few high earners, so they aren't directly comparable with the BLS median.

What does BLS say travel agents earn?

BLS puts the median at $50,160 for May 2025. Half of employed travel agents earned more, half earned less. These are the full percentiles from the OEWS May 2025 estimates for travel agents (occupation code 41-3041):

OEWS counts 55,110 travel agents on payroll. The Occupational Outlook Handbook counts about 61,500 jobs in 2025, with 12% held by self-employed workers. That 12% is missing from every pay figure above. The OEWS survey does not include the self-employed, owners and partners in unincorporated firms.

Which industries pay travel agents the most?

Air transportation paid the highest median of the industries below. Most travel agents work in travel arrangement and reservation services, which employs 72% of them.

All figures come from the BLS OEWS industry estimates for travel agents. Small industries carry wider error margins.

How much do self-employed travel advisors make?

Self-employed advisors are measured only by industry surveys. The most detailed public numbers come from HAR's 2024 reports.

Hosted advisors. Hosted advisors book through a host agency instead of their own accreditation. HAR reports hosted advisor income of $52,636 in 2023, up 12% from $47,179 in 2022, in its snapshot of experienced hosted advisors (3+ years). That group averaged $517,797 in sales. Advisors in their first three years averaged $154,918 in sales and $12,057 in income. HAR counts only experienced advisors with at least $5,000 in commission, a floor it doesn't apply to new advisors, so the two figures aren't a like-for-like comparison.

Independent advisors. Advisors with their own accreditation averaged $71,315. Full-time independents averaged $78,940 and part-time independents $25,568. The sample was 153 experienced advisors.

The gap partly reflects experience. HAR found the median hosted advisor had 4 years of experience, against 13 years for independents.

HAR also warns that self-employed income may be understated, because owners can report income after write-offs or take part of it in other ways.

How does travel agent income change with experience?

It rises, but not in a straight line. HAR publishes two breakdowns by years of experience.

The first two columns come from a chart in HAR's salary article, drawn from its travel advisor research. The last column comes from HAR's independent report, based on 145 respondents.

Two patterns hold across both. Full-time advisors with 15+ years earn the most. Part-time advisors earn far less at every level. Bumps between bands, such as the independent dip at 9–11 years, come from small samples, so don't read too much into any single band.

What this means for new advisors: plan for a ramp. HAR's new hosted advisors averaged $12,057, and only 3% of active new advisors earned over $50,000 in their first two years.

What drives a travel agent's income?

Three things: supplier commission, the advisor's share of that commission, and fees charged to travelers. BLS says earnings for many travel agents depend on commissions and service fees. For how each of these is paid and when the money arrives, see how do travel agents get paid?

Commission. Suppliers set their own rates. Marriott pays 10% to preferred agencies and 8% to others. Virgin Voyages publishes 16%. Rates apply to the commissionable amount, not the full trip price. On cruises, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) says effective commission typically falls between approximately 6.5 percent and 8.5 percent once non-commissionable fares come out. See supplier commission rates for more.

The split. A hosted advisor keeps a share of what the supplier pays. Host-published ranges run from 60/40 to 90/10 in the advisor's favor. Commission split models compares the options.

Service fees. ASTA says fees help ensure advisors are compensated for trip planning, research, customization, and ongoing support. In Travel Weekly's 2025 survey of advisors, 43% said their agency charged clients a service fee. In HAR's independent report, 69% charged professional fees.

Illustrative example: how a year of commission adds up

This example is illustrative, not a forecast, a promise or a typical result. The sales volumes and the product mix are assumptions, and they don't describe the results of any host's advisors, including Tripdash's. The rates come from the published sources linked above. For scale, HAR's new hosted advisors averaged $154,918 in sales in 2023.

An advisor sells $200,000 of travel in a year: $120,000 in cruises, $40,000 in hotel room revenue and $40,000 in tours.

That is $14,880 in commission before any split. A hosted advisor keeps a share of it. At the ends of the host-published range of 60/40 to 90/10 covered in commission split models, a 60/40 split leaves the advisor $8,928 and a 90/10 split leaves $13,392.

That is before fees the advisor charges, host fees, business expenses and taxes. Whether those taxes come through a W-2 or as self-employment income depends on how you are paid. See W-2 vs W-9 for travel agents.

What the example shows: commission tracks sales volume and product mix, not a single headline rate. The same $200,000 booked entirely at Virgin Voyages' published 16% would pay $32,000 in commission, before the split.

How to spot an inflated earnings claim

Be wary of any claim that doesn't say whose income it measures, which year, and how many people. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sets rules for earnings claims made to sell income opportunities.

Under the FTC's Business Opportunity Rule, an earnings claim is any representation of a specific level or range of actual or potential sales, or gross or net income or profits. A seller covered by the rule needs a reasonable basis for its claim at the time the claim is made. It must also hold written substantiation and give buyers an earnings claim statement.

The FTC's guidance for multi-level marketing (MLM) adds tests that apply well to any income pitch:

1. Typical, not best case. A claim should reflect what the typical person is likely to achieve.
2. Net, not gross. Claims should take into account both what participants earn and what they spend.
3. Disclaimers don't fix it. For an atypical success story, a "results not typical" disclosure is not enough.
4. Lifestyle images count. Pictures of houses, cars and luxury vacations are implied earnings claims.
5. Hypotheticals need real assumptions. An "if you sell X, you'll earn Y" scenario likely would be false or misleading if most people don't hit X.

In January 2025, the FTC proposed expanding the Business Opportunity Rule and a new Earnings Claim Rule for MLMs. Both would require written substantiation for earnings claims. As of October 21, 2026, no final rule had been announced. This is a summary, not legal advice.

What this means when you compare hosts: ask for the source, year, sample and median behind any income figure. A split percentage is a contract term. An income figure is a claim.

How Tripdash splits commission with advisors

Tripdash advisors keep 80%+ of every booking, with IATA accreditation, E&O insurance and supplier access included. Your earnings depend on your bookings and what suppliers pay. See how Tripdash works for advisors.

New to the business? Start with how to start a travel agency.

Sources

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Travel Agents, last modified August 27, 2026 (May 2025 wage data).
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. OEWS profile: Travel Agents (41-3041), May 2025 estimates.
3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: scope of the survey.
4. HostAgencyReviews. The Hosted Travel Advisor Research Report Summary, 2024, September 17, 2024 (updated October 1, 2024).
5. HostAgencyReviews. The Independent Travel Advisor Research Report Summary, 2024, December 13, 2024.
6. HostAgencyReviews. How much do travel agents make? Travel agent salary 2025, published May 2, 2024, footer date March 7, 2025.
7. Travel Weekly and Phocuswright. Travel Industry Survey 2025 and Data points, 2025.
8. American Society of Travel Advisors. The history, economic impact and future of non-commissionable fares, May 2026.
9. Marriott. Commission policy; Hilton. Transient commissions; Virgin Voyages. First Mates; Tripsite. Travel agents. All as published, checked October 2026.
10. Waybird (runs its own hosted program). 9 questions to ask a host agency before you join, August 19, 2026.
11. Federal Trade Commission. 16 CFR Part 437, Business Opportunity Rule, via eCFR, current as read October 2026.
12. Federal Trade Commission. Business guidance concerning multi-level marketing, page dated April 2024.
13. Federal Trade Commission. FTC proposes rule changes and new rule to deter deceptive earnings claims, January 13, 2025.