***Build your own travel business from home

Do you like to travel? Would you like to travel more? Would you travel more if you could find some real bargains, say up to 70% or more off the regular retail price, not just the 10% AARP or 10% business discount often available at motels?

If you do like to travel, I’m sure you have gone the route of search-engine searches for discount travel, only to find the major Internet booking engines with their flashy “lowest prices guaranteed” all offer exactly the same prices.

The truth be known, some bargains do raise their heads above all the “cheapest prices guaranteed” but good luck finding them. You must tenaciously search every day, and even then some of those specials are alive for only a few hours. Is there an easier way? I think there is, and you can turn travel into business.

Yes, those bargains are there, reserved for the travel professional in the form of travel perks, business tax deductions and sales commissions. Consider these points:

• Own your own booking engine and earn commissions on all travel booked through your site -- your own travel and the travel of anyone and everyone that you can drive to your booking engine. This requires a lot of internet knowledge and contacts in the industry or it will not work.

• Operate a legitimate travel business and you can apply business tax deductions to your own travel as long as you include that travel in your business plan, and you keep accurate records.

• Many travel industry businesses offer familiarization trips, FAM trips for short, to professional travel agents and agencies so that they can then “sell” these services to their clients. These FAM trips may offer huge discounts or free accommodations and trips when the agent books 8-10 clients for the same accommodation or trip. You are more likely to get free trips and perks or a basic 10% off public rates.

• Travel agents can build their own FAM trips calling the travel vendor directly, offering some form of advertisement back home, and requesting travel professional discounts.

Become a distributor for an existing travel organization. For Example, Hotels Etc. allows you to purchase their membership cards at wholesale and resell them at retail price to consumers, or businesses and you keep 100% of the profit. www.hotelset.com/go

This month my wife and I are taking a quick summer vacation to Canon City, Colorado, for a ½ day white-water rafting adventure in Bigho
Sheep Canyon and a 2-hour train ride in a vista-dome through the Royal Gorge. We have acquired two nights’ lodging because we want to further explore the business opportunities in the area. We contacted the vendors as travel professional with an offer to do a write-up on their company and publish it on the Internet. In return we received ½ off the raft trip and the lodging and complimentary tickets for two for the train ride. After applying business tax deductions, we estimate that we will realize close to a 70% savings or $300 on this one very short trip. Not too shabby!

You can indeed travel for less and travel more. In fact, your travel can become your job if you find the right company.