If you’re trying to pick a travel course, start with the Certificate III in Travel (SIT30222). It’s the standard entry qualification for travel agents in Australia, and the cheapest full-fee online version I found is TAFE Queensland’s at $3,145. The Certificate IV in Travel and Tourism (SIT40125) is broader and higher level, with the travel agency units optional, and the Flight Centre Travel Academy program is a university-accredited diploma pathway that has cost around $18,000.
None of them is legally required, because travel agent licensing ended in 2014. I’ve been in travel since 2004 and have run a host agency since 2013, and I think the Cert III is worth doing if you’re going in cold, as long as you know what it will and won’t teach you.
What’s the difference between Cert III, Cert IV and the Flight Centre Travel Academy?
- Cheapest full-fee online Cert III I found, at TAFE Queensland
- $3,145
- Full fee for the Cert IV in Travel and Tourism at Holmesglen
- $13,584
- Flight Centre Travel Academy, per the Academy’s own 2020 blog
- $18,800
-
Cert III in Travel (SIT30222)
- The entry qualification 17 units (12 core and 5 electives), reservations system and international airfares are core
- 6 to 12 months part-time online $3,145 to $9,302 full fee, much less with state subsidies
-
Cert IV in Travel and Tourism (SIT40125)
- A broader, higher-level course 19 units (7 core and 12 electives), the travel units are electives
- About 8 months at Holmesglen $13,584 full fee, $5,232 subsidised in Victoria
-
Flight Centre Travel Academy
- A diploma pathway through Torrens University Business, marketing and travel subjects plus skills training
- 10 months for the Travel Consultant program $18,800 per the Academy’s own 2020 blog, includes industry experience
| Cert III in Travel (SIT30222) | Cert IV in Travel and Tourism (SIT40125) | Flight Centre Travel Academy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | The entry qualification for travel consultants | A broader tourism and travel qualification at a higher level | A Flight Centre training brand offering a diploma pathway accredited through Torrens University, plus other programs |
| Units | 17 (12 core + 5 electives) | 19 (7 core + 12 electives) | Diploma subjects; the Travel Consultant program starts with 4 subjects |
| Travel agency content | Core, including a reservations system (SITTTVL007) and international airfares (SITTTVL009) | The same travel units are electives, so it depends on the provider | Business, marketing and travel subjects plus skills training |
| Typical price | $3,145 to $9,302 full fee; much less with state subsidies | $13,584 full fee at Holmesglen; $5,232 subsidised in Victoria | $18,800 per the Academy’s own 2020 blog; current fee not published in what I could check |
| Length | 6 to 12 months part-time online | About 8 months at Holmesglen | 10 months for the current Travel Consultant program |
| Work placement | None required | None required | Includes industry experience |
| Government loan | No (VET Student Loans don’t cover Cert III) | No | Repaid through a HECS-style loan, according to forum posters |
One course gets mixed up with these. The SIT30125 Certificate III in Tourism, the Free TAFE course in Victoria at William Angliss, is a tourism qualification, so if you want to sell travel, skip it.
Where can you study the Cert III in Travel, and what does it cost?
These are the providers I’d look at first, priced from each provider’s own page unless noted.
| Provider (RTO number) | Price | Length | Delivery | Reservations system | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAFE Queensland (0275) | $3,145 full fee online; QLD residents $240 subsidised or $85 concession. On campus $3,690 subsidised, $6,600 full fee | 12 months part-time, about 15 hours a week, start any time | Fully online and self-paced, open nationally | Amadeus | The cheapest full-fee online option I found |
| Travel Training Australia, delivering for FIT College (31903) | Not published; quote on enquiry | 6 to 12 months, commonly about 8 | Fully online, self-paced | Amadeus, plus advanced international airfares | Your Travel Centre’s recommended course for newcomers |
| Suzan Johnston Australia (0170) | $6,000 self-funded ($800 deposit, then $325 a unit as you go). SA trainees $2,750, or $1,755 concession | 10 to 19 months | Online, self-paced with recorded classes | Sabre, plus Tramada ($25) | One-week placement is optional. Helloworld’s preferred training provider. Says it’s no longer approved for government subsidy in Victoria |
| TAFE NSW (90003) | $7,250 standard fee; NSW estimates $0 to $2,550 for eligible residents under Smart and Skilled | About 8 months full time | Campus and online, varies | A computer reservations system | Subsidy for NSW residents only |
| TAFE SA (41026) | $9,302 (courses.com.au listing) | 9 months | Varies | Not stated | Price from a third-party listing, so confirm with TAFE SA |
| National Skills (45438) | $4,500 (courses.com.au listing) | 24-month traineeship | Traineeship while employed | Not stated | You need an employer for a traineeship |
Before paying anyone, search the course code on training.gov.au and confirm the provider is listed, because some online colleges aren’t on scope for SIT30222. The reservations system is a fair reason to choose one provider over another, and Amadeus and Sabre are both widely used in Australia.
Where can you study the Cert IV in Travel and Tourism?
The provider with clear published pricing is Holmesglen in Victoria.
| Provider | Price | Length | Delivery | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holmesglen (0416), Victoria only | $5,232 subsidised, $1,047 concession, $13,584 full fee, plus $450 materials, $30 and $85 a semester | 8 months (29 weeks) | Live virtual classes Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 9.30 to 4 | Skills First funded for eligible Victorians (not Free TAFE). Teaches Amadeus and picks the reservations, domestic airfares and international airfares units |
The travel units are electives in the Cert IV, so ask which units a provider delivers before you enrol. Without the reservations and airfares units it won’t prepare you to sell travel.
What subsidies are there for the Cert III in Travel in each state?
Check your own state before you pay full fee, because subsidies change the price more than anything else.
| State | Cert III in Travel | Cert IV in Travel and Tourism | What I found |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | Not subsidised. It isn’t on the 2026 Training Needs List, so no Skills First or Free TAFE place | Skills First funded, including traineeships | The Skills First subsidised Holmesglen Cert IV costs $5,232, or $1,047 with a concession |
| Queensland | Subsidised for QLD residents at TAFE Queensland, from $240, or $85 concession | Not checked | Non-residents can still study TAFE QLD online at $3,145 |
| New South Wales | Smart and Skilled, estimated $0 to $2,550 for eligible NSW residents | Not checked | Standard TAFE NSW fee is $7,250 |
| South Australia | SA trainee rates at Suzan Johnston of $2,750, or $1,755 concession | Not checked | TAFE SA’s listed fee is $9,302 |
| WA, Tasmania, ACT, NT | Not checked | Not checked | Ask your state training department or TAFE about current funding |
Take a Victorian as an example. The Cert III in Travel isn’t subsidised there, so a full-fee Cert III costs at least $3,145 online, while an eligible Victorian can do the Holmesglen Cert IV for $5,232, or $1,047 with a concession, so compare the two before you enrol. VET Student Loans don’t cover Cert III or Cert IV courses, so most providers offer instalment plans instead. If you have an employer, you can also do the Cert III as a traineeship.
Is the Flight Centre Travel Academy worth it?
The Academy’s 10-month Travel Consultant program “combines uni-accredited study with industry-ready skills training and experience”, delivered with Torrens University. Its own blog put the cost at $18,800 in 2020, and I couldn’t find the current fee on the pages I checked, so ask for it in writing.
The Reddit threads mostly say don’t pay for it. The most repeated advice was “Don’t pay to get a job”, and in a November 2024 thread one poster said:
I can’t imaging a universe where doing this course would be beneficial unless Flight Centre are paying you to do it.
If your goal is to work at Flight Centre, apply for a consultant role first and see whether they’ll train you, as they have many new staff. If you want the diploma for its own sake, compare it against a $3,145 Cert III and an entry job before you commit to an $18,000 debt.
Do you need a Cert III or Cert IV to be a travel agent?
Legally, no. In practice, it depends on the route you take.
| Route | Is a qualification needed? |
|---|---|
| Employee at a retail chain | Often not. Chains such as Flight Centre hire without one and train you, often through a traineeship |
| Employee at a corporate travel company | Usually helps. A TAFE graduate on Reddit said teachers had roles lined up with TMCs “looking for fresh out of TAFE consultants” |
| Home-based with Your Travel Centre | Yes. A Cert III in Travel or similar before you can be considered |
| Home-based with Travelglobe | Its pages ask for a Cert III (one FAQ says Cert IV) plus GDS skills |
| Home-based with Connected Travel | Its own non-accredited program instead, Connect to Business, at $4,990 + GST over three months |
| Home-based with experienced-only networks (itravel, Savenio) | Experience matters more than a certificate. itravel asks for 3+ years |
Under the ATIA accreditation Charter, an accredited agency needs 50% of its consumer-facing staff to hold recognised industry training, which may include a Cert III in Travel, or at least two years in a front-line selling role. Two years of selling counts the same as the certificate.
What the Cert III won’t teach you
There’s a big gap between the course and the job. One commenter in an Australian thread wrote in 2026 that it “probably only gives you 5% of the knowledge you need on the job”, and another called its GDS training “very very basic”. A third said:
I can’t even imagine trying to reissue an international ticket with basic TAFE GDS training.
The provider matters, and the certificate gives you the vocabulary while the judgement comes from selling.
Are there shorter or cheaper alternatives?
A few, none of which is a nationally recognised Cert III. Connected Travel’s Connect to Business is a three-month program at $4,990 + GST that leads into its network, and Cornerstone Learning and Development launched a 12-week Independent Travel Consultant Program as a micro-credential in July 2026. The details are below.
Which should you choose?
- You’re outside Victoria and want the qualification at the lowest cost: TAFE Queensland online at $3,145, or less if you’re a Queenslander or eligible for Smart and Skilled in NSW.
- You’re in Victoria: check your eligibility for the Skills First subsidised Cert IV at Holmesglen, and confirm it includes the reservations and airfares units.
- You want to go home-based with a network that requires a Cert III: use the provider that network recommends, or any provider on scope with Amadeus or Sabre training.
- You learn better with structure and a classroom: Holmesglen’s live virtual classes, or a campus course at TAFE Queensland or TAFE NSW.
- You want a job at Flight Centre: apply for a consultant role before paying for the Academy, and ask in the interview what training they fund.
- You already have two years of front-line selling: you probably don’t need either certificate.
Course details
Provider prices are the ones I could verify on 20 October 2026.
Course codes
The Cert IV replaced SIT40122 in August 2025 and isn’t equivalent to the old version, so check which code a provider is enrolling you in. The SIT30125 Certificate III in Tourism covers visitor information and tourism operations, with a reservations unit only as an optional elective.
Providers on scope
Twenty-three registered training organisations had SIT30222 on their current scope on training.gov.au on 20 October 2026. Inspire Education, Upskilled and Travel Industry Training aren’t on scope for SIT30222, so don’t enrol with them expecting this qualification.
Every Cert III student must complete at least five reservation tasks on a computerised system (availability, booking, fares, ticketing and changes, for example), though assessment can use “industry-realistic simulations”.
Seventeen providers had SIT40125 on scope on 20 October 2026. Other Cert IV providers on scope include TAFE NSW, iTFE, National Skills, South Metropolitan TAFE, Academies Australasia and Cornerstone Learning and Development.
Traineeships
Flight Centre has run national traineeships for new consultants since about 2017 through TAFE partners, with South Metropolitan TAFE delivering in WA. iTFE, National Skills and TAFE Queensland also run Cert III traineeships.
Travel Consultant is on the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List as at 1 April 2026, so employers and apprentices may be eligible for incentive payments. The summaries I found disagree on the amounts, so confirm them with an Apprentice Connect provider before you count on them.
VET Student Loans are only for diplomas and above.
The Flight Centre Travel Academy
The Travel Consultant program starts with four subjects in business, marketing and travel. The Academy also runs other programs, such as Work, Study + Fly and Canada Winter.
| Source | What it said |
|---|---|
| The Academy’s own blog, September 2020 | $18,800 in total, or $2,350 a subject, taking nine months full time or 18 months part time |
| Posters in a February 2024 Melbourne thread | $18,000 for a diploma “which you pay off when you’re employed and earning over $42,000 a year, similar to HECS” |
| Another poster | Flight Centre “wanted $20,000+” |
Posters in the November 2024 thread said that if Flight Centre hires you, you complete your Cert III in your first year as part of your training, with the Cert IV and diploma optional and also paid for by Flight Centre, though Flight Centre can claw costs back if you leave within six months. A member of an Australian Facebook group described the diploma as about $18,000 and refundable after two years’ service. These accounts don’t fully agree, and I haven’t verified them with Flight Centre.
More on the gap between course and job
The commenter who called the Cert III GDS training “very very basic” was replying to a Cert IV question, and suggested either working in an established agency first or working “through every online course the GDS would give you access to after receiving a login”.
A supporter of the course put the other side in an Australian Facebook group: the Cert III “has its detractors largely due because it depends on the content which can differ vastly depending on the training provider”, but it is “still the best course to start in the industry”. I agree with both.
The qualification is being rewritten. SaCSA, the industry’s skills council, is reviewing SIT30222, with public consultation planned for February to March 2027 and finalisation around September to October 2027. If you start now you’ll finish on the current version, which remains recognised.
Alternatives in full
- Connected Travel’s Connect to Business is a three-month, 12-plus module program covering GDS, airfares, compliance and business coaching for people starting their own home-based business, at $4,990 + GST. It’s a pathway into Connected Travel’s network.
- Cornerstone Learning and Development, an RTO, launched a 12-week Independent Travel Consultant Program as a micro-credential in July 2026, alongside a nine-week New to Travel Foundations program. Prices aren’t published.
- Some people look at international IATA courses. A Reddit poster in 2025 priced one at around US$800, but it isn’t the Australian qualification employers and networks ask for.
Where to next
If you’re new to travel and want help choosing a course and getting started, read our new to travel page. We run a program for advisors new to travel. We’ll talk you through it when we meet.
