I joined InteliTravel as an independent travel agent, paying a monthly subscription, with genuine ambition to build a successful travel business. After nearly a year I have closed my agency. Here is my honest account of why.
Support was virtually non-existent. After a small number of initial onboarding sessions I was essentially left to figure everything out independently. No guidance, no mentorship, no meaningful help building a client base.
The agent website provided to me was not fit for purpose. The homepage featured a palm tree. That was the extent of it. You cannot build a credible travel business or attract discerning clients with a website that looks like it was created in 1997.
The commission structure is deeply disappointing. In nearly a year of genuine effort, creative marketing and real commitment I earned approximately £175 in commission. I should make clear that the majority of this came from hotel bookings I made for my own personal medical trips to London — not from client bookings. I later discovered I could have booked those same hotels cheaper on the open market. My upline was earning commission on the back of my commission without providing me with any support, guidance or value whatsoever.
The business model operates in a way that I can only describe as pyramid-like in structure. Your upline earns commission from your activity. They also earn commission for every new agent they recruit. I was signed up as a recruiter myself — which costs extra on top of the standard monthly subscription — despite never recruiting a single person. I was therefore paying an additional fee for a recruiter status that generated nothing.
On top of the monthly subscription you are also required to pay an additional fee to access their app. The app itself is extraordinarily dated, clunky and so heavily Americanised that it is largely irrelevant to the UK market.
At one point during my time as an agent I became seriously ill and was hospitalised in London. I informed my upline. His response was a brief acknowledgement and then nothing. He slowly withdrew all contact entirely. No check in, no support, no follow up. I was simply discarded into the pile of agents who had not achieved targets — despite the fact that I had been hospitalised and was dealing with a serious medical condition.
When he was actively engaged he would make encouraging comments on the sales posts I created for my personal social media. The moment my circumstances became difficult that contact via WhatsApp dried up completely. When I eventually reached out to raise concerns about the money I was losing and ask how I could change my team structure his entire response was two words: contact head office. As useful as a chocolate teapot.
When InteliTravel subsequently contacted me offering 75% of commission to stay — 75% of almost nothing is still almost nothing.
Fam trips are presented as a significant perk of joining. The reality is that you pay for them yourself at a discounted rate and upon return you are expected to sell the destination aggressively. Three nights in Jamaica was one offering. Three nights.
I qualified as a Disney specialist entirely in my own time, received zero support from the network and generated zero Disney enquiries despite significant marketing effort.
My remaining commission is currently inaccessible in a Hyperwallet I cannot get into. That money is effectively trapped.
If you are a driven, ambitious person considering joining InteliTravel as an agent — please read this carefully. Your time, your energy, your monthly subscription and your entrepreneurial spirit deserve a platform that will genuinely support and reward you. This was not that platform for me.
I would warmly welcome any travel agent who can offer a credible, supportive and properly structured alternative to get in touch. There has to be something better than this.