So, you’re thinking of joining Travel Quest? That’s great to hear! My name is Angie and I’m typically the main point of contact at Travel Quest for agents new to TQ. I thought it would be helpful to do a little write up on the typical process of signing up with TQ.

Researching and Interviews

Starting way at the beginning, the best piece of advice I can give you is to research and compare host agencies. That way when you make your decision, you know it is the right one for you! If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend reading the Tips on How to Find the Best Host Agency post from HostAgencyReviews.com. It is full of really great advice and even has a nice Excel spreadsheet of questions to ask a host agency.

We think interviewing host agencies is so important that we actually have an ‘interview’ stage with agents looking to join TQ. It isn’t nearly as daunting as it sounds—we just want to make sure that all of your questions are answered on us and, if you’re a newbie, the travel industry in general!

Registering Your Business & Getting an EIN

Registering a business name in the state you reside in is a good place to start setting everything up for your business. It is also something Travel Quest requires in order to sign up with us! We often get asked is it best to register as a Sole Proprietorship, DBA, or LLC. Any one of them works for us. To make sure you are doing what’s best for your business, we suggest consulting with a tax professional or accountant. Each state has different costs and processes set in place so be sure to check with your State Agencies for what you need to do! The Small Business Administration has a great list of filing requirements for each state.

After you register your business, you’ll also need to get an EIN (Employee Identification Number) through the IRS. This is super easy to do online at IRS.gov.

Travel Quest’s Sign Up Process

Alright, you’ve been researching and interviewing host agencies and have made your final decision. I know that once you make that decision you want to get started right away so our sign up process is streamlined to get you set up in a jiffy.

We send all of our documents via an online signature program to make things super-fast and easy to track. Once you let us know you want to sign up there are just 3 stages:

1. TQ Contract and background check
   First up, we’ll send you the TQ Contract and background check. Before it allows you to open either documents, it will ask you some questions to verify your identity.

2. Sign up form
   Once we get those back, you get to choose what plan you want and pay the one-time start-up fee.

3. TQ Manual, W9 and direct deposit form
   After we get the OK from the background check (usually takes 1 business day), we send the last set of documents! The Independent Agency Owner (IAO) Manual just needs your signature that you’ve read it, the W9 is where you’ll put your registered business name and EIN number, and the direct deposit is for the bank account you want your TQ account to be hooked to.

And that’s it! Once we have received all of the required paperwork from you we email out your login sheet which opens up TQ to you! It gives you access to Travel Quest’s Portal, Commission Manager and trainings; Travel Leaders’ intranet & Learning Management System; and some of the most commonly used supplier websites.

The length of time it takes from start to finish depends mostly on how fast we get the documents back. Typically you receive your log in sheet 3-5 business days after you fill out the TQ Sign Up form! If you have any questions along the way, everyone at Travel Quest is there to help! Now that you know the sign up process, I hope we get to chat soon!