How to open a ticket office. How to open an airline ticket office? Air ticket office business plan: necessary documents and equipment

Nowadays, you can purchase tickets by contacting any office of a tour operator or airline. Here they will help you choose best option by price and time. There are no longer such queues as in Soviet times, thanks to a sufficient number of ticket offices.

Air ticket offices are found in large cities much more often than railway ones. This is explained by the fact that the Ministry of Railways is still a monopolist. At the stations there are queues and a lot of resellers offering tickets for more popular flights.

Today in Russia 10-15% of all tickets are sold by travel companies. The percentage increases when it comes to international travel. If you buy a ticket from a travel agency, it is not necessary to have a travel package. 50-70% of the cost of the “package” is tickets. Air travel is much more important and more expensive than booking a hotel and organizing leisure activities.

From the outside it may seem that you just need to rent a room and install a computer to open an airline ticket office. In reality, everything is much more complicated. The most important thing here is information. Organizing access to information sources involves many harsh conditions. To sell plane tickets, you must be an agent or subagent of the airline whose tickets you are going to sell. All companies have their own requirements. In order to become an agent of a foreign company, you need to register as an accredited IATA (International Transport Association) agent. This association places very strict requirements on safe equipment and on the level of training of personnel who will be involved in issuing tickets. In addition, IATA accepts guarantees only from a certain range of foreign banks. For membership in IATA, a deposit of $20,000 is required. For a small agency, these conditions are practically impossible to meet. In this case, you can conclude a subagency agreement.

Agency agreements allow you to issue tickets on the air carrier's forms (stocks). The airline's primary concern is the safety of the effluent. To avoid loss or damage to waste, their owners check the reliability of their potential agent’s safe equipment (and, in general, the conditions for storing and filling out forms) and the qualifications of the personnel. If wastewater is damaged, a fine will be charged to the agency. The amount of the fine depends on the airline. Approximately $200-500 per form. This is to obtain financial guarantees; in case of termination of the contract, the deposit is returned.

However, in order to become an airline agent, it is not enough just to become an accredited agent of IATA or the Transport Clearing House (for agents of Russian airlines).

It is very important to have access to global systems reservations (“Amadeus”, “Gabriel”, “Galileo”, “Star” or “Sirena”, for railway transportation - “Express”). You can connect one-time or permanently. Such systems allow you to book seats on any flight from anywhere in the world. Access to such systems costs $40-60 per month and $40-100 – one-time connection(depending on the operator).

You can become an airline agent only if you have experience in organizing flights and a client base, otherwise you will not be of interest to the carrier. It is not recommended to use “cheap” transportation services. By “playing” on the difference in prices between major airlines, you can save $6,000-10,000 per flight or $30 per ticket.

The bulk of flights occur on holidays: New Year, May holidays. Due to the fact that liners often return empty, ticket prices vary. For example, a ticket to Egypt on regular days costs about $170, on holidays - $260-280.

If a travel agency cannot afford the agency of several major air carriers, they resort to subagency agreements. You can become a subagent of any airline only with its permission and on the terms established by the company. Although these requirements are no longer as severe as agency requirements. There are subagents, as well as commission agents.

They receive approximately 6-7% of the ticket price. The company itself receives 5-7% as a commission. However, many airlines have a bonus system. But because tariff plans are constantly growing, even large companies find it difficult to receive bonuses regularly.

The practice of selling tickets online has long existed. A lot of Internet agencies have appeared and you need to be able to “stand out from the crowd.” Thus, one of these agencies offers booking air tickets for international and domestic airlines, hotels, and car rentals via the Internet. It has a specially developed program that allows you to process a huge volume of applications and make reservations in real time (it immediately reports the availability of seats and the price of the ticket). With such a system, you can see savings in money (booking a ticket without intermediaries), time (filling out a simple form and fast delivery of the ticket by courier), freedom of choice (dozens of flight options and mass special offers). Besides this, this system allows you to get a ticket not only with a courier, but also on your own, at the airport or in one of the cities of Russia (even not a very large one). However, such a service is provided for a fee.

The system allows small travel agencies to serve their clients better. It also provides for commissions for travel agencies.

There are difficulties in booking tickets for charter flights. Information about them is available only from the travel agency that organized it. Tickets for “charts” are cheaper than for regular flights. Now a number of Internet sites allow you not only to purchase tickets for “charts”, but also to compare prices from most carriers and choose the cheapest and most convenient option.

The situation is different in the case of booking train tickets, because... MPS is a monopolist. Here tickets are not booked, but issued, which, in principle, is the same thing.

The Moscow Railway (MZD) entrusted the conclusion of contracts to the Moscow Railway Agency (MZA). The agreement concluded by the tour operator with MZhA stipulates that a railway ticket sales terminal will be located in the company’s office and allows the sale of tickets for domestic Russian routes.

The MFA has no less requirements than IATA. There are three stages of accreditation: 1 - accreditation of the agent’s right to have a contract, 2 - accreditation of the point of sale itself, 3 - accreditation of employees who will work at the point of sale in this company.

Travel agencies set their own fees, because... MHA does not provide commissions. The fee for each company is different, approximately 120 rubles. from the ticket.

There is one nuance in the ticket business. During the season there are too many tours and in order to attract clients, travel agencies may not charge the 5% sales tax. The fact is that when purchasing a ticket from an air carrier, the travel company legal entity does not pay this tax. In theory, this tax should be collected from the client, but...

So, to summarize, we can say that it is more profitable to sell air tickets, because... MJA does not make commissions. Also, it is much more profitable to have not a depositary relationship with the airline, but to enjoy the maximum degree of loyalty on the part of the airline.

Based on an article by Oleg Cresp published in the Business Journal

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Form quick search the cheapest air tickets to all destinations may look like this (one of the options):

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We offer the widest selection of air tickets , working with both Russian and foreign partners, as well as directly with airlines, we provide the user with an objective picture of prices for air tickets in leading agencies and airlines, he does not need to look for tickets anywhere else. This means that with a high probability the user will find and buy the air ticket he needs from you.
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Considering the stable demand for transport services, a developed highway network, railways and air corridors, entrepreneurs are actively exploring this profitable source of income.

How to open an airline ticket office from scratch? A business plan, risks and benefits, cost calculations, expected profit of the enterprise - these are the problems a business startup must solve before his idea begins to function effectively as a profitable project.

Business Features

So, is it profitable to open a ticket office and can you make money from it? Transport companies offer a lot of options for air and rail transport different points all over the world, and millions of travelers buy tickets for the desired flights every day.

But not every one of them is ready to risk their planned trip and purchase a ticket immediately before boarding; not everyone has the time and opportunity to pre-visit the ticket office of the airport or train station. Modern technologies allow you to organize the sale of tickets at remote, conveniently located points and build a profitable business on this.

Having asked the question of how to open an airline ticket office, an entrepreneur must realistically assess his financial abilities and carefully study everything “ pitfalls» enterprises.

Launching a “ticket business” is associated with a number of specific problems:

Impressive volumes of start-up investments.
The need for significant advertising costs.
Availability of a wide network of contacts large companies, agencies, tour operators, firms, etc.
Ability to maintain competitive pricing policies.
Possible loss of profit in the first months of operation.

Despite all the difficulties, many owners of successfully operating ticket offices in Moscow and throughout the Russian Federation are confidently developing their projects, outlining the following prospects:

Wide possibilities for expanding activities.
High probability of interaction in related industries.
The opportunity to launch a project not only in a large metropolis, but also in a small town on the periphery, and even in a “home office” format in initial stage development through the use of the global network.

For those who are interested in taking a place in the promising niche of popular ticket sales services, are ready to invest and work “for results,” opening an airline ticket office is an excellent option for a profitable business startup.

You can download and use the data as an example to implement your own project.

Project implementation principle

You can organize and launch a “ticket business” in the following ways:

Concluding an agreement with the carrier company directly as an agent.
Subagency agreement with an airline representative.

The first option is the most profitable, since it involves the direct sale of tickets purchased from the carrier at the lowest cost. But to conclude an agency agreement, an entrepreneur must fulfill a number of high requirements:

Develop a business plan with a sound economic justification.
Organize a cash register facility that meets company standards.
Hire qualified personnel.
Strictly fulfill the sales plan and obligations to purchase a certain volume of tickets from the supplier.

It is practically impossible to implement such conditions at the start of a business without having a developed customer base and experience built up over the years. Therefore, entrepreneurs prefer to cooperate with existing supplier agents and build a business according to the following step-by-step scheme:

Conclusion of an agreement - before submitting an application for an agreement on the provision of services as a subagent, the entrepreneur is obliged to prepare a set of documents, which includes the constituent papers of the company, a certificate of state registration and registration with tax control authorities, written confirmation of the right to operate the cash register premises. You also need to make a list of employees and attach documents confirming the qualifications of the personnel, obtain a conclusion on the compliance of the technical equipment and arrangement of the point of sale of air tickets with the prescribed requirements of the carrier.
Preparing the cash register premises - when arranging the interior, special attention should be paid to the interior - it is better to decorate it in an unobtrusive light color, select comfortable furniture, provide open access to information about flight schedules, install a ventilation and air conditioning system. It is also necessary to take care of the safety of the premises, clients, employees and data - organize security, an alarm system, fire safety and video surveillance, install a button to call the police.
Purchase and installation of equipment for organizing sales - the cash register room needs to be equipped personal computers, MFPs for printing documents and maintaining records (printers, scanners, copiers), telephones, devices for printing on tickets. Required condition supplier - availability of a reliable floor safe for storing stock (air ticket forms) and financial assets. You also need to take care of special stands with up-to-date information for visitors and clients about the agency, the outlet’s operating schedule, and air transportation rules.
Selection and training of personnel - the entrepreneur must not only hire qualified employees, but also ensure that the personnel attend special skill development courses that are conducted by companies or their agents in order to train employees in effective sales and use of current software products.
Organizing access to the seat reservation system is carried out using the programs “Amadeus”, “Selena”, “Gabriel”, “Galileo”, the use of which is paid and ranges from 3 to 6 thousand rubles monthly.
Accreditation – necessary procedure as part of the registration and launch of a point of sale of air tickets - accreditation of the ticket office. To do this, it is necessary to submit documents confirming the professional qualifications of the personnel to the commission.
Promotion of an enterprise - you can expand the audience of consumers by placing information about the agency on pillars and billboards, in offices, subways, gas stations, etc. BTL marketers and outdoor advertising specialists will help you organize an effective promotional campaign.

Entrepreneurs for whom the question of how to open an airline ticket office is relevant can take advantage of this step by step instructions to effectively launch your project.

Video: how do ticket offices work?

Financial calculations

Opening a ticket sales office requires significant investment at the start.

Subagent points operating with high performance, receive a reward for cooperation of up to 12%.

If we take into account payments to tax and other organizations, we can talk about the amount of net monthly income in the amount of up to 70,000 rubles.

But do not forget that the payback of this enterprise occurs no earlier than 6-8 months of its operation and depends on the level of competition in the location and the solvency of the city’s population, the cost of fuel, and the influence of the tourist segment.

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Transport is one of the most sustainable sectors of the economy. The demand for passenger transportation is stable throughout the year, and with the onset of a certain season, the flow of passengers increases several times. Therefore, the sale of railway and air tickets as a business turns out to be very attractive for entrepreneurs.

But this activity is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. Only a thorough study of the topic will allow you to create a successful business in the field of ticket sales.

Selling air tickets - how to organize

You can now find a flight ticket sales office everywhere: in shopping and office centers, in travel and insurance companies. Such an abundance of sales outlets generates interest among novice entrepreneurs. At first glance, it seems that to organize an air ticket office it is enough to rent a small room and establish trade relations with carriers. However, securing access to tickets is not so easy.

How to open an airline ticket office from scratch? Today it is possible to work in two directions: as an agent or subagent. Both options allow you to sell air tickets, but the requirements for the seller for each type of cooperation are significantly different.

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Opening an airline ticket office under an agency agreement

To conclude an agency agreement you must:

be accredited by the International Transport Association - IATA or the Transport Clearing Company;
conduct professional training for employees in accordance with the requirements of airlines and accrediting companies (personnel are also required to have work experience in the transportation industry);
prepare the office in accordance with regulatory requirements for ticket office premises;
gain access to ticket booking systems - “Gabriel”, “Amadeus”, “Galileo”, “Sirena”, “Start”.

In addition, each airline has its own additional requirements for possible agents. For example, an agency agreement may provide for conditions for the agent to open a certain number of sales points, or for the mandatory purchase of a certain number of tickets, including by flight.

Important! Agents are subject to serious requirements in terms of sales volumes in the form of monthly plans, as well as the presence of an active client base.

An air carrier can advise a businessman on how to open an airline ticket office directly, but it rarely comes to the conclusion of an agency agreement, since airlines need large operators who can organize large-scale sales and have serious financial resources.

Opening a point of sale of air tickets under a subagency agreement

A more acceptable option for many entrepreneurs for organizing the sale of air tickets is to become a subagent. Almost all airlines allow their agents to have sub-agents. They are also subject to certain requirements, but not as strict as in the first case.

To conclude a subagency agreement, you must contact the agent and fulfill all the conditions imposed by his partner airline, as well as the agent himself. Most often, these conditions provide for the obligations of the subagent to equip a point of sale office equipment, conduct training for staff on working with special programs, provide advertising support.

All this should reflect the air ticket office that some airline agencies require from their potential partners. Subagents are rarely required to meet sales volume requirements, and a mandatory ticket purchase quota is not established. Working under a subagency agreement is the most attractive option for creating your own business selling airline tickets, which does not require major investments.

More details about what types of airline ticket offices there are, and how such enterprises make money, are described in the following video:

How to organize the sale of train tickets

An equally interesting area of the “ticket business” is the sale of railway tickets. Here the situation is somewhat different from the air transportation sector. Russian Railways is a monopolist, and therefore dictates very strict conditions for organizing ticket sales.

Today, Russian Railways has several dozen direct agents, as the company conducts a serious selection of partners. To cooperate with a company on an agent basis, you must pass three levels of accreditation:

accreditation of the right to conclude a contract;
confirmation of compliance of each point of sale with established requirements;
accreditation of each employee selling tickets.

In addition, Russian Railways reserves the right to monitor the activities of the agent, including conducting periodic certification of the partner’s sales offices and personnel.

The requirements for subagents are also quite high, but are more feasible for specialists who know the specifics of Russian Railways.

When opening a railway ticket office, it is important to know how to make money selling railway tickets, since neither the carrier nor the agents pay a commission on sales. In this case, the profit is generated through a service fee for issuing a ticket, the amount of which the subagent sets independently or in agreement with the agent. Ancillary services, such as ticket delivery, hotel booking, etc., can bring additional income.

Selling tickets online is a real business

Having an idea of how to open a railway and air ticket office, you can plan to create your own business in this direction. One of interesting options is the sale of tickets on the Internet. In this case, there is no need to organize an office or hire staff, all costs are minimal.

To do this, you need to enter into a subagency agreement and set up sales channels. This could be a specialized website, message boards, social media.

IN lately appeared on the network specialized services And affiliate programs, which allow you to sell tickets without leaving your home. The organizers of such resources regularly conduct training webinars on the topic: how to make money by selling railway and air tickets on the Internet, which allows even a person who is not familiar with the peculiarities of transportation to start a business in this area.

Buying and booking tickets online is gaining popularity among consumers. Potential entrepreneurs who are thinking about it should take a closer look at this area. This is one of the few working business ideas with minimal investment and great prospects.

Currently, one can observe a trend of increasing popularity of air and rail transportation services. Of course, organizing a service that allows you to sell both air and train tickets is clearly not a new idea, but modern conditions has good prospects, as experts note that in the future the demand for tickets will most likely continue.

The demand for railway tickets is also growing due to the introduction of new services by Russian Railways, in particular, the possibility of online ticket booking. Such a service became possible as a result of the influence of scientific and technological progress, when it began to be created remote access end users to many services and goods. However, it is worth noting that the official online booking service is still imperfect in cases where it is necessary, for example, to send luggage in a baggage car or transfer pets. Also problems with electronic registration may also arise for employees of companies going on a business trip, since in order to prepare an advance report it is necessary to present a paper ticket. Of course, the control coupon provided when purchasing a ticket online, in accordance with Order No. 322 of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated August 21, 2012, is a document of strict accountability, but for now many company accountants may refuse to accept it based on conservative images. Naturally, the service will gradually improve and subsequently online booking will be a complete 100% replacement for purchasing paper tickets. Actually, therefore, when opening a ticket office for the sale of railway tickets, it is worth thinking about further expansion of services, in particular, the introduction of sales of air tickets, as well as cooperation with travel companies.

Statistics show that today a considerable number of people agree to buy train tickets at a slightly more expensive price at commercial ticket offices, as this will allow them to avoid long standing in queues, that is, in fact, people are willing to pay extra for more comfortable conditions, since many ticket offices offer a ticket delivery service the address specified by the client.

Methods for opening a railway ticket office

In principle, there are two main ways to carry out the activity of selling railway tickets:

Concluding an agency agreement with JSC Russian Railways;
Concluding a subagency agreement with an existing agent.

For a young company, it is extremely difficult to conclude an agency agreement due to high requirements in terms of equipping the box office, training employees, providing reports, and the mandatory purchase of a certain number of tickets. The cost of the organizational stage will be about 6.5 thousand dollars, while this stage will include:

Accreditation;
Purchasing a specialized printer;
Completion of training courses for cash desk employees.

Concluding a subagency agreement for a start-up company is more preferable, since the requirements of agents, although also mandatory, are much easier to fulfill. The price of the organizational stage in this case will be approximately 5 times less than when concluding a direct agency agreement. It is worth noting that today some agents provide the opportunity to register online.

Working with agents is possible in two formats:

Depository settlements;
Line of credit.

Naturally, with unfamiliar partners who do not have a significant business reputation, most likely, cooperation will take place in a depository format, when the money will need to be transferred to the agent before making a purchase, so it is necessary to provide for the availability cash on the organization's account.

Point of sale equipment

In fact, to open a railway ticket office you will need a room with an area of 45-50 square meters. m. It is more expedient to place a cash register in central urban areas with high traffic, since in this case it will be much easier for couriers to work and cover more districts.

In addition to purchasing standard office furniture, you will need to install a grill on the cash register window, buy a safe for storing cash, and also equip the office with an alarm system. To organize a cashier’s workplace, you will also need to buy desktop computer with the ability to access the Internet.

Staff

The staffing table of an organization engaged in the sale of railway tickets must include the following positions:

Cashier – 2 people;
Accountant – 1 person;
Security guard - 1 person;
Advertising manager – 1 person;
Courier – 3-5 people.

During seasonal periods, it will be necessary to hire more couriers and additional cashiers. At the initial stage, the functions of an accountant can be assigned to third party organization, in the future, when expanding the business and opening additional points of sale, it will be more advisable to hire a separate specialist.

Expenses

To open a ticket office for selling railway tickets, you need about 23.8-33.5 thousand dollars:

Providing services of a law firm during registration – $1 thousand;
Conclusion of an agreement with a subagent – 1.3-1.5 thousand dollars;
Purchase of office furniture – 3-4 thousand dollars;
Renovation of the premises - 5-6 thousand dollars;
Purchase of office equipment – 3.5-5 thousand dollars;
Working capital – 5-10 thousand dollars;
Website creation – 1.5-2 thousand dollars;
Advertising – 2-2.5 thousand dollars;
Other expenses – 1.5 thousand dollars.

Monthly expenses

Employee salaries – 5-7 thousand dollars;
Rent – 1.5-2.5 thousand dollars;
Advertising - 1.5-2 thousand dollars.

Total: 8-11.5 thousand dollars.

Prospects

In the first months of operation of the ticket office, due to the small client base, most likely there will not be very many sales. During this period important role plays the correct holding advertising campaign. Placing advertising on large posters and banners in such projects, as a rule, does not bring the most best results. You can focus on submitting advertisements to thematic print publications and reaching out to corporate customers. Advertising on the Internet can bring good returns, especially if the site has the ability to book the necessary seats.

Taking into account the fact that the client base is by no means quickly formed, it is best to open a cash register and conduct an advertising campaign 1-2 months before the start of the season. To achieve a stable cash flow, it seems advisable to enter into contracts with several companies whose employees often have to travel around the country.

Currently, there is a trend according to which many services become available to users without the need to visit real cash desks. Therefore, if we consider the prospects for the railway ticket office, we must count on a gradual transition to working remotely. The big advantage of this format of work is that in this case it is possible to combine the sale of both train tickets and plane tickets. After such an expansion, you can begin to provide services for selling not only tickets, but also for booking hotel rooms.