If you’re weighing up host agencies, put them side by side on what you’ll pay in dollars at your sales volume, the contract and exit terms, who owns your clients, the booking technology and the support you’ll actually use. And before you sign, make sure the business pays you for selling travel and never for recruiting other people.
I’ve run a host agency since 2013 and now run Niftrip, so I’ve sat on the other side of a lot of these conversations. Below are the questions I’d ask any host, mine included.
What is a host agency in Australia?
A host agency is an accredited travel agency that lets independent advisors run their own travel businesses under its accreditation, supplier agreements, client account and systems. You’re a contractor with your own ABN, and the host earns from a share of your commission, a fee, or both. In Australia they’re usually called home-based or mobile travel agent networks, and a few big groups own most of them. What is a host agency? goes through what a host does and how it compares with a franchise.
What’s the difference between a travel agency and a host agency?
A travel agency employs consultants who sell under its name and keep its clients. A host agency supplies the accreditation, supplier access and back office, and you run the business: you find the clients, set your hours and, on most Australian networks, keep your client list if you leave.
Can I be a travel agent without joining a host agency?
Yes. Australia has had no travel agent licence since 2014, so you can set up your own accredited agency, with ATIA accreditation, a separate client account, insurance and, for airline ticketing, IATA accreditation. The detail is in Do you need a licence to be a travel agent in Australia?. Most people starting out, or just leaving an employer, join a host first.
What should you compare between host agencies?
1. The total cost at your volume
Work out the cost in dollars. Depending on what you sell, a low split with a low fee can cost more than a high split with a higher fee. These are the published terms, ex GST unless noted:
| Network | Split you keep | Monthly fee | Joining fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| TravelManagers Business Pro | 90% | $370 + GST | Induction, amount not published |
| TravelManagers Lifestyle Plus | 80% | $170 + GST | Induction, amount not published |
| Global Travel Network | 90% or 85% | $200 or $150 + GST | $200 + GST |
| Travel Crafters | 90% or 80% | $350 or $250 | Not published |
| Your Travel Centre | 80% (90% for top achievers) | $100 or $200 incl GST | $695 incl GST (1+ years’ experience), $1,495 incl GST (new) |
| Go Tours | 72% | $75 | $600 |
| itravel | 90% | Not published | $0 (“No onboarding fees”) |
| MTA | Not published | $150 + GST, waived above $61,000 commission a year (its FAQ says $58,000) | $495 + GST |
| Niftrip | 100% of at-source commission | $99 + GST, plus 1% + GST of turnover | $0 |
The full working, with take-home at different sales levels and commission rates, is in 100% commission vs a split.
2. What the split applies to
TravelManagers and Your Travel Centre apply their split to service fees as well as commission, which matters if you charge planning or air fees. Ask every host what its split or fee applies to, and get the answer in writing.
3. What the host keeps besides your split
Hosts generally keep supplier overrides, the incentive payments suppliers make to the agency in arrears based on performance against targets, and Niftrip keeps them too. Look for a host that says so up front and shows you the commission rate you’re earning on every booking.
4. Entry requirements
| Network | Experience required (own pages) |
|---|---|
| TravelManagers | At least three years in the travel industry |
| itravel | 3+ years of retail travel experience |
| 1000 Mile Travel Group | At least three years of industry experience |
| MTA | Minimum 2 years of travel advisory experience (application form) |
| Your Travel Centre | Takes newcomers with a Cert III ($1,495 incl GST joining fee) |
| Connected Travel Academy | None; its Connect to Business program ($4,990 + GST) is for complete beginners |
If you’re new, I’ve covered which networks take beginners in host agencies for beginners.
5. The contract
No Australian home-based network publishes its full advisor agreement, so ask for it before you commit and read these clauses:
| Clause | What to look for | Published examples |
|---|---|---|
| Term | How long you’re committed | MTA’s FAQ: five-year term, free to give one month’s notice after the first 12 months (its benefits page says “Contract agreement 12 months”). Your Travel Centre: month to month. ETG: fixed 12-month membership year |
| Notice | How much notice you must give | MTA and Your Travel Centre: one month |
| Restraint of trade | Whether you can compete or contact clients after you leave | None of the Australian networks publishes a restraint position |
| Clients | Whether your client list is yours | MTA: “Your client database will always remain yours and yours alone”. TravelManagers: you “take your client database with you”. Global Travel Network: “Your client base is yours”. Go Tours, Savenio and Frontier say the same |
| Data export | How you get your client records out | None publishes a right to a full export |
| Bookings in progress | Who services them and who gets the commission after you leave | Mostly not published. MTA says you “retain any commissions” |
| Fee changes | Whether the host can change fees on you | ETG’s terms (written for agency members) say it “may make changes to these terms at any time by giving written notice” |
| Set-off | What can be deducted from your commission, and for how long after you leave | ETG: early leavers pay errors and ADMs for 12 months |
| Exclusivity | Whether you can also work elsewhere | MTA: other work is fine “as long as there’s no conflict of interest”. ETG requires weekly ticketing through its system |
Since November 2023, unfair terms in standard-form contracts with small businesses are prohibited in Australia. If a clause lets the host change anything at any time, or keeps your commission if it ends the agreement, ask about it, and have a lawyer read the agreement before you sign.
6. Your brand or theirs
MTA advisors trade as MTA, and TravelManagers advisors as personal travel managers. Your Travel Centre lets you trade under your own name, and Niftrip gives you your own email address, branded client itinerary and client portal. If you might one day sell the business or take it independent, your own brand and domain are worth a lot.
7. Technology
Ask to see the tools working on a real booking, end to end, and ask how long it takes to turn a supplier confirmation into an invoice and itinerary, what you pay for GDS access and ticketing, and whether your data can be exported.
8. Support and training
This is where the big networks earn their fees, with training programs, famils, emergency support and holiday cover. If you’ll use that support, include its value when you compare costs. If you won’t, you’re still paying for it.
9. Accreditation
Check which accreditations you’ll sell under (ATIA, IATA) and what the host needs from you to keep them.
10. Track record
Look at awards, and at how long advisors stay.
What questions should you ask a host agency before you sign?
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A good host will answer every one of these in writing, and I’d be wary of any that won’t.
How do you spot a travel MLM?
Some “home-based travel” businesses make most of their money from people joining rather than from travel sold to the public. These are the red flags I’d look for:
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Is InteleTravel an MLM?
InteleTravel is a US company whose FAQ says it is “absolutely not” a scam. Its own sign-up page says the program “is available exclusively through our enrollment partner, PlanNet Marketing”, which publishes a compensation plan and an income disclosure statement, the documents multi-level marketing companies publish about how members are paid. Its website lists the countries it’s authorised to sell travel in. Australia isn’t on that list.
My view: for an Australian, the authorisation list settles it. If you want to sell travel to Australians, join a host that is set up to do that here.
Can Australians join Fora or other US host agencies?
Some US hosts accept advisors outside the US, with pricing in US dollars and terms written for US law. One Australian on Reddit reported that cruise lines wouldn’t let them book non-US clients through their US host. If your clients are Australian, you’ll want Australian supplier agreements, Australian booking terms and fees in AUD.
Are there independent reviews of Australian host agencies?
Not many, and most replies about networks in Australian travel groups come from their own members or recruiters. Do your own checking: ask each host for current and former advisors to talk to, read whatever terms they publish, and compare their answers to the 16 questions above.
How would I choose?
I’d start with the money and the exit: the dollar cost at the sales you’ll realistically do in year two, then how you leave. If you’re newer and want people around you, the bigger networks’ training and support are worth paying for. If you’re experienced, comfortable with technology and selling at good margins, you should be keeping most of what you earn, owning your brand and your client list, and able to leave on a month’s notice.
The details
Where these figures come from
Where I quote a network’s fees or terms, they come from that network’s own website, checked on 20 October 2026. Envoyage, Travel Associates at Home, ITA, Travelglobe, 1000 Mile Travel Group and Entourage didn’t publish a split or fees when I checked.
What Australians call host agencies
- home-based or mobile travel agent networks (MTA, TravelManagers, itravel);
- “own brand” hosting, where you trade under your business name on the host’s back end (Your Travel Centre);
- franchise models (MTA says its agreement complies with the Franchising Code of Conduct);
- co-operatives and buying groups for owners of their own accredited agency (Travellers Choice, ATAC), which are a different thing from a host for individual advisors.
Who owns the networks
| Group | Home-based network | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Helloworld | MTA | About 450 advisors |
| Helloworld | ITA (through Express Travel Group) | Not stated |
| Flight Centre Travel Group | Envoyage | About 1,800 Australian advisors and agencies in FY25 |
| House of Travel | TravelManagers | 480 personal travel managers in the year to March 2025 |
Smaller and independent hosts include itravel, Your Travel Centre, Global Travel Network, Travel Crafters, Go Tours, Travelglobe, Savenio, Connected Travel, 1000 Mile Travel Group and Niftrip.
Your own agency
ATIA accreditation costs from $750 + GST a year plus a $250 application fee, and you’d also need accountant-prepared financial statements.
Who the client’s contract is with
People often miss this. Envoyage’s and Travel Associates’ booking terms name the independent advisor as the seller. Connected Travel’s and 360 Private Travel’s name the host. Neither is wrong, but it changes who carries the consumer liability, and it should match what your advisor agreement says about who owns the client.
Brand, technology and support on specific networks
Your Travel Centre’s wording is “your name on the website, your logo on the invoice”. MTA, Your Travel Centre and Global Travel Network offer a choice of GDS. Travel Crafters uses Tramada. Envoyage has its own “Home” platform.
TravelManagers ran 126 virtual training seminars and 174 famils in 2024, and reports about one head-office staffer for every seven advisors. MTA includes 24/7 emergency support, an assistance team that covers your clients for 10+ days a year, and Virtuoso membership. Your Travel Centre offers up to four weeks’ holiday cover.
InteleTravel in more detail
- It was founded in 1991, says it has more than 60,000 home-based advisors and describes itself as “the world’s oldest and largest travel host agency”.
- PlanNet Marketing’s compensation plan and income disclosure pages didn’t load in a readable form when I checked, so I can’t quote their figures.
- It charges a one-time enrolment fee of US$179.99 and US$39.95 a month, with “no sales quota or qualifications required”.
- It pays new advisors 70% of the commission it receives, rising to 80% “by achieving certain goals”.
- It offers a full refund of enrolment fees if you cancel in writing within 30 days, and says it will refund the difference if you don’t earn or save more than you pay in fees in your first year.
- Its website says it is authorised to sell travel in the United States, Mexico, the UK, Ireland, Jamaica and the Caribbean, and the UAE.
- One person who joined described being steered toward the recruiting side and training that was mainly videos. That is a single account on Reddit, not an audited figure.
Track record
ATIA’s Most Outstanding Mobile Advisor Network went to MTA in 2023 and 2025 and to TravelManagers in 2022 and 2024. TravelManagers says 40% of its advisors have been with it for 10 to 20 years.
Overseas hosts
WorldVia, for example, requires US residency. Fora charges US$299 a year and quotes in USD.
Reviews
When someone asked on Reddit for real experiences of one Australian host, they said they couldn’t find any independent reviews at all. In the main Australian travel jobs group on Facebook, most replies about networks come from their own members or recruiters, and product review sites only cover the consumer side.
Next step
If you’d like to put Niftrip through the same questions, the FAQ answers them, and how it works sets out the terms.
