How To Become A Sandals Travel Agent

It can be confusing on how to become a Sandals travel agent.  So I put together this quick start guide to becoming a Sandals Travel Agent to get you started.

I will cover everything you need to know in depth but I also created a Key Takeaways Section right below with some of the main points you need to know.

Become A Sandals Travel Agent

If you have been to a Sandals or Beaches All Inclusive Resort you already know how fantastic these resort properties are.  Maybe you are now taking the next steps to sharing how wonderful these Caribbean resorts are with friends and family and helping them book a Sandals Resort vacation.  If you are a travel agent not only can you help friends book Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts, you can also get paid commission for booking these for them.  You might already be doing this, but just as a helpful friend.  So now you can be a travel consultant AKA travel agent and book vacations and make actual money.

If you don’t already know, there is no additional cost or fees to use a travel agent, so when you help a friend book a Sandals vacation they are not getting charged more and you are getting commission for helping them with your inside knowledge and tips about Sandals and Beaches.

Next Steps

Again, I am going to go over a great deal of information here on Sandals and Beaches Resorts, but really the fastest way to become a Sandals Travel Agent is to join a travel agency that is a preferred Sandals agency, and then invest your time into the training, FAMS (Trips to Sandals), and marketing to your friends and family about Sandals Resorts.  When you are with a preferred Sandals Travel Agency they will help you with CSS training, let you know about up coming FAM trips to see Sandals Resorts and other events that are happening.  That’s how I would get started.  You can get with Lisa at Pixie Vacations and she can help you.

What are the Different Sandals Certifications?

• Certified Sandals Specialist (CSS)
• Chairman’s Royal Club (CRC)
• Wedding Moons Specialist

There are three main Sandals Certifications or levels.  The one you really need to understand and get is what you will hear people calling CSS, Certified Sandals Specialist.  This is a yearly training.  This class use to be an actual class that you would go to in a city near you.  Then when Covid came the classes had to go away and it was changed to an online class with videos and modules.  The CSS training can be completed in one day if you are dedicated and you can take all the online quizzes and quickly complete it.  I would break it up between a few days, but it’s up to you.

To take the CSS training please contact Lisa at Pixie Vacations first about becoming a Travel Consultant (Lisa@PixieVacations.com) and then we can sign you up for the Sandals training.

The CRC level is more about being a successful travel consultant with Sandals and Beaches Resorts.  If you are a people person and everyone is coming to you to help them plan their vacations, then this should be obtainable for you.  When you become a CRC member you get extra Sandals perks.  To get to CRC you need to sell 100 room bookings in a calendar year.  This can also be 700 room nights or there are other metrics that will qualify you for CRC.  But really just aim for 100 room nights and you will be all set.

The Wedding Moons Specialist is a designation for agents that sell weddings and also take Wendy Whites Wedding training class.  The class is in person and about 4 hours but an online version is in the works and will be shorter.  You also have to sell so many wedding packages in a calendar year (3 minimum).  This also comes with different Sandals perks and higher commissions on future weddings that you sell.

How to be Successful with Sandals Resorts

Again, I would focus on just doing the CSS Sandals Training to start.  The CRC and Weddings will come on their own if you are marketing and putting effort into selling Sandals and Beaches Resorts.

If you are not going to actively sell Sandals and Beaches Vacations then doing this is not for you.  It is a great deal of work and you have to be the type of person that is social, talking with others about travel, posting on social media and have followers that actually engage with you on social media.  You also need to be proactive and constantly call, text, and email people about helping them book their next vacation.  This can be a very successful business for you, or a giant waste of time.  If you are truly going to give this 100% this is a great place to start in the travel business.

If your plan to be successful is to post on social media and you have just a few followers that never comment, share, or like your posts, then this is not going to work for you.  You need to be doing wedding convention shows with a 10×10 booth, you need to be at community events with a booth talking to people over and over.  You need to be the person everyone comes to at church or at school for travel advice.  Then after all that you can post on social media when you are at Sandals or Beaches to show people that you know how great it is.

Sandals Bookings

After you become a travel consultant with a travel agency, and complete your Sandals CSS training online, then you need to make at least one booking to keep your CSS status each year with Sandals.  We book directly with Sandals because it is super easy, and you get bonus commission and also points that you earn for future Sandals and Beaches vacations that you can take.

Once you go to Sandals and Beaches Resorts it becomes very easy to sell because the resorts are all very simular.  The service level is consistant and the overall resort design, up keep, and attention to detail from Sandals to Sandals is very similar.  Some other All inclusive resorts might have a great resort on one island and then really poorly rated resorts on other islands.  Sandals and Beaches have consistency across the brand.  So you don’t have to worry about sending your client to one Sandals resort and it being drastically different than others they have been to.

There are some Sandals Resorts that have lower price points, so some of those room categories are great for newlywed couples that are taking their first vacation outside the USA and don’t have a great deal of money to spend.  So you have to set expectations that the over teh water bungalow they saw on TV is not what they booked for a super cheap price.

But again to keep your CSS status active you just need to sell one Sandals or Beaches Resort vacation a year.  But it’s very easy to sell one a month or more once you understand the destinations.

Selling Sandals Resorts

Marketing yourself is key to selling any travel and of course key for Sandals Resorts and Beaches resorts.  I touched on this earlier.  You can not just post a few posts on Facebook and expect everyone to book with you.  You have to be very pro active and get out there and be top of mind when your friends, family and others think about booking their next vacation.  You can do this many different ways.  All of these marketing ideas require you put in time and effort over and over to slowly build a client base that will book vacations with you year after year.

Sandals Resort Marketing Materials

There is no shortage of Sandals and Beaches marketing materials we can get for you.  Their are physical brochures and booklets that do well when you do community presentations say at a club house or church event.  We have digital ads and images for social media posts, for paid online ads, or for a newsletter that you create to send to your clients.  We have digital brochures also about the reosrts that you can email to clients.

• Print pieces – We have these available
• Digital pieces for social media and emails – We have these also for you.
• Bridal Show brochures and booklets – We have these for you.
• Expo stands – Our Sandals rep can do the show with you and will have all the booth expo stands
• Car Wrap – Yes we can even help you get your car wrapped for free with a Sandals or Beaches Car Wrap.

So once you get started there are loads of marketing materials for you the help you be successful.

Sandals and Beaches FAMS – Familiarization Trips

FAMS are travel agency trips to a destination to see and experience it first hand.  We have Sandals and Beaches Resort FAMS several times a year.  The cost for these is usually just your flight cost.  Once you are at Sandals the resorts are all inclusive.  You should bring some cash to tip the airport transfer people or luggage assistance since they are not Sandals employees.  But really everything else is pretty much covered.

These trips are to learn about the resort and you will see different rooms and venues at the resorts.  You will get to meet with the resort management teams, sometimes the wedding teams, and others at the resort property.  There sometimes is class room time during these trips where you will learn more about booking Sandals Resorts, or maybe a class about social media to help you improve your social media skills.

Once you are set up and have followers on social media and clients that have traveled with you. before that you add to your social media and emails, they will start to watch your vacations when you travel.  This is perfect for these Sandals FAMs.  While you are at the resort you need to make short videos, go live, post photos and engage your followers and then follow up with them to help them book their vacation.  These FAMs are always a great way to get bookings as well as learn more about the destinations.

How to Become a Sandals Travel Agent

If you are interested in learning more and taking the next steps to become a Sandals Travel Agent.  Please Contact Lisa at Pixie Vacations and she can talk with you about how everything works from commissions, training, FAM trips, marketing and more.

Lisa Griswold
Pixie Vacations
Email: Lisa@PixieVacations.com