What Makes a High-Earning Travel Agent in 2026
The Travel Agent Guy Podcast | Host + Haley DiCarlo
Guest: Haley DiCarlo — Europe FIT specialist, $1M+ in annual sales, ~$200K in annual commissions; co-owner of Sava Travel; travel agent coach Focus: The five pillars of becoming a million-dollar travel agent
Overview
The travel agent business model has evolved. The agents reaching $1M, $2M, and $3M in sales aren't just good at travel — they've built systems, teams, and habits that compound over time. This episode breaks down exactly what separates high earners from everyone else.
Pillar 1: Network — Leave Your House
The most obvious and most important trait of a high-earning travel agent is a strong, actively farmed network. But most people get networking wrong from the start.
What networking actually looks like
Forget structured business card exchanges. The most valuable connections happen organically — at a car wash, an oil change waiting room, a kid's karate class. You have no idea who's sitting next to you or how much they travel. The goal is genuine curiosity about other people. When they become curious about you in return, the conversation opens naturally.
Haley's $40K car wash story: Haley's six-year-old started talking to a woman while their car was being washed. Haley asked what she did, the woman asked what Haley did, and within a week Haley had booked a $40,000 trip for her. Zero sales pitch involved.
The farming mindset
- Show up everywhere — free events, community gatherings, everyday errands
- Never open with "so where's your next vacation?" — let it come up naturally
- Consistency over time is what builds a real referral pipeline; one-offs happen but they can't be the strategy
Paid networking groups
Both hosts recommend joining at least one group that costs money to be part of — paid membership signals that members have discretionary income, which makes them strong candidates for travel clients.
Real numbers shared:
- Haley's group (~$200/year): $25,000+ in commissions booked from that group alone in 2025
- Host's Rotary group ($2,000/year, ~150 members, weekly 2-hour lunch): ~$17,000 in commissions over 12 months — strong ROI, plus significant value beyond commission
The leadership move
When joining any group, raise your hand for a leadership role early. Leadership positions typically only require a few hours per month, but they dramatically accelerate how quickly people get to know and trust you. Junior League board, Rotary board, chapter leadership — any of these work.
The fancy lunch strategy
A realtor Haley met eats lunch out every single day. If she doesn't have a scheduled lunch partner, she sits at the bar and meets people. Her annual lunch spend is a few thousand dollars. The logic: you have never once met a client having lunch alone on your couch.
Timeline expectation: Give any networking group a full year of consistent showing up before evaluating results. By year two, things start to materialize. Don't join in month one and wonder why nothing has happened yet.
Pillar 2: Follow-Up Strategy — Be Relentlessly Helpful
"I don't want to be pushy" is the mindset of a low-earning agent. High earners reframe follow-up entirely: you're not annoying them, you're helping them. They came to you, raised their hand, and asked for help. You're honoring that.
The 10-follow-up rule
Follow up with every lead a minimum of 10 times — until the client explicitly tells you they're going in a different direction or are no longer interested. Until that happens, you don't stop.
The $40K CEO story: An advisor Haley coaches nearly walked away from a $40K lead at the seventh or eighth follow-up attempt. Haley pushed her to keep going. On the tenth or eleventh attempt, the client — a CEO who was simply too busy — finally engaged, paid the fee, and booked the trip. That sale almost didn't happen because the advisor felt uncomfortable.
Key sales statistic: Roughly 70% of sales are made after the eighth follow-up contact. If leads keep ghosting you, ask yourself: when did you last follow up eight times?
How to follow up without sounding robotic
Never send "just following up on our conversation." Delete that phrase entirely.
Effective follow-up approaches:
- Share a relevant blog post or destination article: "I came across this piece on the wine regions of Tuscany — thought you'd find it interesting ahead of your trip"
- Send an excursion link: "Just found this — private chef dinner on a terrace overlooking the Acropolis. Is this something you'd love to do?"
- Be direct about helping: "I want to help you. You said you needed help. Do you still need help?"
- Frame value, not urgency: "I know this trip is important to you — I just want to take X, Y, and Z off your plate entirely"
When a lead ghosts the first consultation
Don't get annoyed. Text them: "Hey, I'm so sorry — there must have been a problem with the link today. Let's get rescheduled." Wait five minutes, call them, then text if no answer. Keep going.
Pillar 3: The Right Systems — CRM vs. Workflow Tool
This is where most agents have a critical blind spot.
The distinction that matters
Workflow tools (TravelJoy, TESS, TURN, etc.) manage the trip after it's booked — invoicing, itinerary building, client communication post-sale. They are essential and irreplaceable for that purpose.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) manages the lead pipeline before the sale closes. Almost no travel agents have a true CRM. Most people who say "CRM" are actually describing a workflow tool.
What a real CRM does
A proper CRM tracks every lead through distinct pipeline stages:
- Hot lead
- Consultation scheduled
- Waiting for fee
- Research and design
- Proposal scheduled
- Decision maker feedback
- Closed — won
- Closed — lost
For each stage, the CRM tracks: notes from every interaction, total projected commission, projected close likelihood, follow-up due dates, lead source, time from creation to close (sales cycle length), and pipeline totals by month so you know whether you're on track.
Example: If a hot lead closes at a 10% rate, the CRM calculates that automatically and gives you a realistic forecast of what's actually in your pipeline versus what you're hoping is in it.
Recommended CRM options
- monday.com — what both hosts use; has a mobile app for adding leads on the go at events
- HubSpot — free version available; fully customizable; Bert used this well past the $1M/year mark and it worked fine
The morning routine
Open the CRM first — before email, before anything else. One of Bert's advisors has it set as her browser homepage so it's the first thing she sees every single day. Review where every lead stands, identify who needs a follow-up today, and action it first thing while there's still a full day to get a response back.
Pillar 4: Automations — Stop Doing Things Manually
Workflows are only as powerful as the automations inside them. If you're typing individual emails to each client, you will not scale.
The baseline workflow structure
Sava Travel's standard automated communication timeline for every trip:
| Trigger | Content |
|---|---|
| 30 days after booking | Passport reminder |
| 60 days before travel | Dinner reservations, spa appointments |
| 30 days before travel | Tipping customs, electricity/adapters |
| 2 days before travel | Safe travels message |
| Day of return | Welcome home email |
The "experience before the experience" approach
Beyond the baseline, create country- or destination-specific workflows that build excitement and genuinely educate clients before they travel.
Examples for an Italy workflow:
- 21 days before: Guide to Italian wine regions so they can order confidently
- Another send: The different pasta shapes and what to know about pasta culture
- Tone can be as casual or as detailed as you want — the point is to hype clients up
Why this matters beyond the primary traveler: When you automate content to all travelers on a trip — not just the lead booker — you create referral sources you'd otherwise never reach. The husband who never spoke to you reads your Italy guide, tells his buddy about his incredible travel agent, and now you have a new lead for an African safari from someone you've never met.
CYA automations — protect yourself
Some of the most important automations are legal and logistical coverage:
- Child custody email — Automatically triggered any time a traveler under 18 is on a trip. Gently explains that if both biological parents aren't traveling together, a notarized letter may be required. Sent even when it seems like a standard family trip — because you can't always know the family situation
- Real ID reminder
- Visa requirements
- Departure tax explanation (especially for Quintana Roo / Riviera Maya bookings)
The practical value: if a client claims they weren't informed of something, you have a timestamped automated email as proof it was sent. Even if they didn't read it, you're covered.
Pillar 5: Don't Do It Alone — Build a Team
This is the pillar both hosts are most passionate about, and the one most travel agents resist the longest.
The mindset shift
You are not giving up client relationships by bringing in support. You are expanding them. Clients who work with an advisor-assistant team often develop loyalty to both — and that's a good thing.
The reframe: Only you can craft a thoughtful, customized itinerary and pitch it the right way. Lots of people can book a dinner reservation. Stop spending your $1,000/hour time on $15/hour tasks.
Team structure at Sava Travel
Guest Experience Team Handles everything between booking and travel:
- Dinner reservations, spa appointments, special requests
- Client questions about dress codes, packing, cruise policies, etc.
- Special arrangements: birthday balloons, beach photos, dietary needs (gluten-free restaurant research, vegetarian options), room type reconfirmations across multiple properties
- Communicates directly with clients, CCs the advisor on everything so the advisor always has visibility
- Average time spent per Europe FIT trip: 5 hours 15 minutes
Pre-Departure Team Does a full quality check on every trip before the client travels:
- Flights — Logs into airline portals, verifies seat assignments, confirms everything matches
- Transfers — Contacts the transfer company to confirm flight numbers, timing, and client contact info
- Hotels — Contacts each property to reconfirm names, room types, and dates; asks about any active construction; requests a handwritten note in the room signed by the advisor; asks if the hotel can include any complimentary amenity with the note (this regularly results in wine, chocolate-covered strawberries, etc. at no cost to the advisor)
- Tours and excursions — Confirms tour operator phone numbers, meeting points, and times against what was booked in Viator or other platforms
Pre-departure saves (real examples):
- Caught a misspelled client name on an insurance policy — three different Deborahs, caught before travel
- Discovered an extra hotel night booked in error for a Banff trip — cancelled before the non-refundable window
- Rebooked a transfer pickup time after a client's flight changed — resolved within 24 hours, updated on itinerary
- Arranged distilled water delivery to four hotel rooms for a client traveling with a CPAP machine
Haley's result from adding an assistant
After resisting the decision for a couple of months, Haley finally brought on support. Her sales increased by over $500,000 the following year.
The Five Pillars — Summary
| Pillar | Core Action |
|---|---|
| 1. Network | Leave your house; farm organically; take leadership roles; give it a full year |
| 2. Follow-Up | Minimum 10 follow-ups per lead; be relentlessly helpful, not salesy |
| 3. CRM | Use a real CRM to manage your pipeline — not just a workflow tool |
| 4. Automations | Build workflows that run without you; automate the baseline and the experience |
| 5. Team | Stop doing $15/hour tasks; bring in guest experience and pre-departure support |
Sava Travel is the host agency co-owned by Bert and Haley. It provides fully trained assistants as part of its membership model, along with access to TURN workflow software.