If you’re an experienced consultant choosing between Australia’s two biggest home-based travel networks, MTA and TravelManagers, you’re choosing between two good options. MTA suits you if you want an all-inclusive package, with head office handling ticketing, IT and leave cover. TravelManagers suits you if you value training, a large peer community and a clear, published split.
I run a competing network, Niftrip, so take my view with that in mind. Every fee and term below comes from MTA’s and TravelManagers’ own websites.
Who are MTA and TravelManagers?
MTA, on the Gold Coast, is owned by Helloworld and says it has 450+ advisors. TravelManagers, in Sydney, is owned by New Zealand’s House of Travel and says it has 500+ personal travel managers, or PTMs. Both are accredited agencies with their own client accounts, and both take experienced consultants only.
How do their fees compare?
| MTA | TravelManagers | |
|---|---|---|
| Joining fee | $495 + GST | Induction, fee not published (both plans) |
| Monthly fee | $150 + GST | Business Pro $370 + GST; Lifestyle Plus $170 + GST |
| Fee waiver | Waived above $61,000 gross commission a year (benefits page); FAQ says $58,000 | None published |
| Split you keep | Not published | 90% (Business Pro) or 80% (Lifestyle Plus) |
| Split applies to service fees? | Not published | Yes, on both plans |
| Annual dividend | None published | Up to 5% more, criteria not published (both plans) |
| Ticketing fees | None, including after hours, reissues and revalidations | Not published |
| Professional indemnity insurance | Included | $260 + GST a year if you don’t have your own |
The biggest gap is MTA’s split. It isn’t on MTA’s website, so you’ll need to ask for it before you can compare properly.
What would you keep with each network?
Say you sell $500,000 a year at a 10% average commission. On TravelManagers’ Business Pro you’d keep $40,560 after the split and monthly fee. You’d still be paying MTA’s monthly fee at that level, $1,800 for the year, so MTA would need to pay you a split of 84.7% to match Business Pro, or 79.5% to match Lifestyle Plus.
The tables show what you’d keep on each TravelManagers plan, MTA’s monthly fees for the year, and the split MTA would need to pay to match each plan.
A year’s at-source commission after TravelManagers’ split and monthly fee, ex GST. Overrides, dividends and joining costs left out.
Not shown, because they don’t publish enough to work it out:
- MTA doesn’t publish its split, so its take-home can’t be worked out. The tables show the split it would need.
The same figures as tables, with the split MTA would need to match
At a 10% average commission:
| $250,000 sales | $500,000 sales | $1,000,000 sales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TravelManagers Business Pro (90%) | $18,060 | $40,560 | $85,560 |
| TravelManagers Lifestyle Plus (80%) | $17,960 | $37,960 | $77,960 |
| MTA monthly fees for the year | $1,800 | $1,800 | $0 (waived) |
| MTA split needed to match Business Pro | 79.4% | 84.7% | 85.6% |
| MTA split needed to match Lifestyle Plus | 79.0% | 79.5% | 78.0% |
At a 12% average commission:
| $250,000 sales | $500,000 sales | $1,000,000 sales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TravelManagers Business Pro (90%) | $22,560 | $49,560 | $103,560 |
| TravelManagers Lifestyle Plus (80%) | $21,960 | $45,960 | $93,960 |
| MTA monthly fees for the year | $1,800 | $0 or $1,800 (depends which threshold applies) | $0 (waived) |
| MTA split needed to match Business Pro | 81.2% | 82.6% or 85.6% | 86.3% |
| MTA split needed to match Lifestyle Plus | 79.2% | 76.6% or 79.6% | 78.3% |
Between TravelManagers’ own two plans, Business Pro pays off once your commission passes $24,000 a year, which is $240,000 of sales at a 10% average or $200,000 at 12%. Below that, Lifestyle Plus costs less.
What do you get with each network?
| MTA | TravelManagers | |
|---|---|---|
| Training | Welcome Training monthly at the Gold Coast head office; MTA Professional Plus, an 11-pathway in-house program | Four-day induction at the National Partnership Office in Sydney (its cost blog says three days); webinars; famils with over 200 PTMs last year; annual conference |
| People | Business Development Managers; head office support team | Support team of 50 in Sydney; seven state-based Business Partnership Managers |
| Leave cover | Assistance Team, minimum 10 days rising to unlimited, and you keep all your commission | Dedicated locums, plus buddy systems between PTMs |
| Ticketing | MTA Self-Ticketing; after-hours emergency ticketing at no extra fee | Self-ticketing 24/7 with a fares database including negotiated nett fares; after-hours emergency help |
| Marketing | Personal website, personalised email newsletter, 1300 number, in-house graphic designer at no extra fee | Personal TravelManagers website, marketing program, tactical supplier campaigns |
| IT | Free IT helpdesk with remote support | Travel IT team, home office set-up and checks |
| Client money | Independently audited client account | Customer fund for supplier failure, chargeback insurance, fidelity insurance on client funds, quarterly client account audit |
| Targets | None published | “No specific targets or KPIs” |
MTA’s strength is how much is included. No ticketing fees, a free IT helpdesk, free design work and included insurance mean fewer surprise costs.
TravelManagers’ strength is its people and its training. The induction, the state managers, the famils and the conference are a big part of why its advisors speak so warmly about it in Australian agent groups. Its client-money protections are also the most thorough I’ve seen published by any Australian network.
On technology I’d call it even. Both let you use the GDS you already know, and the better one for you is whichever is closest to what you use now.
What are the contract terms, and what happens when you leave?
| MTA | TravelManagers | |
|---|---|---|
| Contract type | Franchise agreement under the Franchising Code of Conduct | Contract; type not published |
| Term | Five years, with one month’s notice allowed after the first twelve months (FAQ); the benefits page says “12 months” | Not published |
| Your clients | “Your client database will always remain yours and yours alone” | “Your client database will always remain yours” |
| On leaving | “You take your database with you and retain any commissions” | “You take your client database with you” |
| Other work | Allowed “as long as there’s no conflict of interest” | Not published |
| You’ll need | An ABN and GST registration | An ABN before you sign |
Both are clear that your clients are yours, which is the most important point. MTA’s term is the longer commitment on paper, and its own two pages describe it differently, so get the term in writing. TravelManagers doesn’t publish its term or notice period. Neither publishes what happens to bookings that haven’t travelled when you leave, or whether you get a full export of your client records, so ask both.
My verdict: MTA or TravelManagers?
If I were an experienced consultant who wanted to hand off as much admin as possible and sold enough to clear MTA’s fee waiver, I’d look hard at MTA. The inclusions are excellent and the fixed cost drops to nothing once you’re established. I’d want the split in writing first, and I’d think carefully about a five-year franchise term.
If I valued training, community and a published split I could plan around, I’d lean to TravelManagers, and I’d choose Business Pro once I was selling more than about $240,000 a year. I’d factor in the induction cost and the split on service fees.
You can’t make this choice properly until MTA tells you its split. Once you have it, the tables above will show which one leaves more in your pocket.
The full details
Where the figures come from
Every fee and term on this page comes from MTA’s and TravelManagers’ own websites, checked on 20 October 2026. The take-home figures are what you’d keep from at-source commission in a year after TravelManagers’ split and monthly fee, ex GST, with overrides, dividends and joining costs left out.
About MTA and TravelManagers
MTA (Mobile Travel Agents) was founded in 2000 on the Gold Coast and calls itself the original mobile travel business in Australia. Helloworld has owned all of it since October 2025. It says it has 450+ advisors.
TravelManagers was founded in 2005, is based in Sydney and is owned by New Zealand’s House of Travel. Its advisors are called personal travel managers, or PTMs, and its join page says it has 500+ of them.
Who each network suits
MTA suits you if you want one fee that covers nearly everything, you sell enough to clear its fee waiver, and you’d rather head office handled the admin, ticketing and IT.
TravelManagers suits you if you want structured training, a big and active community, a published split, and strong protection around client money. It also lets you choose between a lower-fee plan and a higher-split one.
MTA’s fee waiver and transferred bookings
MTA’s two pages disagree on the waiver threshold. At $500,000 of sales and a 12% average commission you’d earn $60,000 in commission, which is above one figure and below the other, so ask MTA which applies.
MTA’s FAQ says that on bookings you transfer in, “you’ll receive the same commission split as you would have if you’d made the booking yourself”.
Reading the tables
When MTA tells you its split, check it against the rows in the tables above. If it’s above the number for your sales level, MTA leaves you with more than that TravelManagers plan.
Service fees
TravelManagers applies its split to “all at-source commission and service fees charged”, so on $10,000 of service fees you’d keep $9,000 on Business Pro or $8,000 on Lifestyle Plus. MTA doesn’t publish how it treats service fees. If you charge service or planning fees, ask.
Inclusions and technology
MTA describes its model as all-inclusive, and its pages back that up line by line.
Both run solid, conventional travel-agency technology. MTA offers Amadeus, Galileo or Sabre through remote servers, and its own mid-office system, Virtual Office, built in-house.
TravelManagers offers multi-GDS support with a cloud-based mid-office, Tramada training resources, Axus itineraries, Fastbook Cruise, an in-house hotel aggregator and a consumer app. Its finance team does your BSP reconciliation, and you have 24/7 access to the back and mid office.
How much experience you need
TravelManagers asks for at least three years in the industry, proven sales success and strong product knowledge. MTA asks for 3+ years on its “start your journey” page, a ready client base and GDS experience, while its enquiry form says a minimum of 2 years. Neither takes complete newcomers.
Is there another option?
If you’re experienced, comfortable with modern technology and sell above a 10% average commission, there’s Niftrip, the network I run. It charges $99 + GST a month plus 1% + GST of turnover with no split. You can see how it compares in Niftrip vs MTA and Niftrip vs TravelManagers, or read the full breakdown on our pricing page.
