Travel Agents, create fun times & earn $$ by offering show tickets

Dear Travel Agent Friends

Looking back over my 44 year career as a ticket broker, selling tickets for Broadway, London and Las Vegas shows, the one thing I know for sure is that I’ve made a lot of good friends in the travel agent community. Travel agents are a very special kind of people. They work extremely hard, especially the last two years when many in our industry made bookings, cancellations, re-bookings with more cancellations, and often lost money at every turn. Although I have to say, business seems to be looking up lately and that’s a good thing. People are traveling again and booking live entertainment just like they did prior to the pandemic setting in. Broadway shows collectively are selling up to 85% of their capacity these days. And London Theater and shows and concerts in Las Vegas are on the rise once again.

In my early days and my experience in offering show tickets in the travel agent GDS computer systems and by phone, where we offered show tickets to travel agents and their clients, I feel like I really understand what travel agents go through on a daily basis. Clients call up wanting to go on vacation, whether inquiring to book a cruise, USA land package or go on an overseas adventure. Travel agents have to put together many different ingredients in a trip to ensure a client's vacation will be a great one. And by offering show tickets, travel agents decided to get even more involved in yet another area to assist their clients in making memories that are very special. By offering show tickets in cities like New York, London and Las Vegas. 

Who doesn’t love to talk about a concert they’ve seen recently or a huge star like Hugh Jackman playing in The Music Man selling out on Broadway in New York. Or maybe seeing Paul McCartney’s new tour, still playing great music at 80 years old. The list goes on and on. Live entertainment, whether a Broadway Show, West End show in London or one of the dozens of live entertainment options in Las Vegas has always been a fantastic way to ensure clients have a great time.

Travel agents have been offering clients to secure live entertainment event tickets for these memorable shows for over forty years now, starting in the old SABRE travel agent reservation system, and earning money at the same time. We have travel agent clients that secure one show and sometimes up to seven or eight shows during a client's trip to New York, London or Las Vegas. And those commission checks really add up.

By offering show tickets in the major cities where entertainment is a key ingredient to people having a good time, not only do travel agents help make memorable experiences and fun times for their clients, but they often manage to bring in more incremental revenue than they probably thought they would. 

Applause-tickets.com has been paying travel agent commissions on tickets sold in New York, London and Las Vegas for a very long time now. We send our commission checks right after the performance goes in and clients have enjoyed the show of their choice. And believe it or not, travel agents at times do not get involved in offering show tickets but simply give out our company name, my name and our 800 number so the clients can book themselves. If I can determine who their travel agency is and where they’re located, I even send a commission check to the travel agent, simply for referring their clients. To show our appreciation of course. We still think the travel agents should handle the booking for the clients directly as it is a very positive thing to do.

In any case, I’m writing this post today because if I look back on my career, and as we are all getting used to the ups and downs of the pandemic, Broadway, London and Las Vegas shows have started once again. And I can attest to the fact that there is an enormous pent-up demand of travelers wanting to go see a show. In fact, Applause-Tickets.com is selling more premium seats than ever. And these premium seats tend to be considerably more expensive than the average ticket. Travel agents will always be doing their utmost to ensure clients have the best vacation possible but why not make money selling show tickets in these great cities? Clients will thank you for it, they will have a great time and commission checks will come rolling in.

If you’re interested in learning more about offering show tickets to your clients, consider calling me at 800-451-9930 to discuss. Many travel agents have been booking show tickets for a long time now but there are lots of travel agents that might not know about our service, and we sure would appreciate an opportunity to be of service.

Respectfully Yours In Travel,