Atlas Coast FAQs

A host agency is an established travel agency that lets independent agents operate under its accreditation, credentials, and supplier relationships. Instead of building an agency from scratch, a process that takes years and tens of thousands of dollars, you join as an independent agent and get immediate access to everything the host has already built: IATAN credentials, supplier contracts, booking tools, and training. You run your own travel business. The host provides the infrastructure.

No, and this is something we feel strongly about saying out loud.

Most host agencies treat non-booking agents as churn waiting to happen. Atlas Coast is built differently. Your $39 per month is a membership, not a performance threshold. Even in a slow month, you still have access to your professional credentials, your supplier relationships, your training library, our coaching team, the community, and all the travel agent perks that come with being a credentialed professional. Those things have real value whether or not you closed a sale this month.

The honest truth is that not every Atlas Coast member is in full-time booking mode, and that is fine. Some members join primarily to book their own travel at agent rates, learn the industry, or stay connected to a professional community. Others are actively building a client base from day one. Both are welcome here. You do not have to justify your membership with a revenue number, but if you do want to build a real business, everything you need to do that is here too.

Stay because you are getting value. Leave if you are not. It is that simple.

Yes. There is no rule against two people in the same household joining Atlas Coast. Each person signs their own ITA, maintains their own agent account, and is paid separately on their own commissions. You are each your own independent contractor.

In practice, a lot of couples work very well as a travel team. One person may handle the client-facing side while the other manages research and booking logistics. Some specialize in different niches and refer clients to each other. How you divide the work is entirely up to you.

The one thing to keep in mind is that each membership is individual. That means two separate $39 monthly fees, two separate W-9s, and two separate commission accounts. There is no couples plan or household discount. But if you are both actively booking, each membership more than pays for itself.

If you prefer to operate as a single unit, that is also an option. You can share one account, but it must be registered under one person's name. That person is the credentialed agent of record, the one who signs the ITA, the one who receives commission payouts, and the one who is legally and professionally accountable for all bookings made under that account. The other partner can be involved in the day-to-day work, but only the account holder holds the credentials.

The two-membership route gives each of you independent standing, your own credentials, and your own income. The single-membership route is simpler and lower cost. Both are valid. Only you know which fits your situation better.

Atlas Coast is a strong fit if you love travel and want to be part of a community built around it. Whether you want to build a full-time travel booking business, do it part-time around another job, book your own trips at agent rates, or simply have professional access and credentials as someone who travels frequently and loves helping people plan trips, there is a place for you here. We built this for real people across the full spectrum of commitment levels, not just for those who want to replace a salary in 90 days.

It is probably not the right fit if you are primarily looking for passive income. Commissions require bookings. Bookings require clients. Clients require effort. There is absolutely no passive version of this business, and anyone who told you otherwise was not being straight with you.

It is also not the right fit if you want a hands-on manager directing your work, assigning you clients, or "mentoring" you into building a downline. If a host agency is heavy on mentorship language, that is often a sign you are looking at an MLM structure. You are an independent contractor here. The structure, the hustle, and the business development are yours to own. We provide the infrastructure and the support, but we do not run your business for you.

And if you are looking for a quick win, be honest with yourself. Most agents do not earn significant income in their first few months. Building a client base takes time. We would rather you know that now than feel misled later.

If none of that scared you off, you are probably exactly who we built this for.

Yes. Atlas Coast is open to agents located outside the US. You are joining as a US-based travel agent, which means you book through US suppliers and operate under our US host agency credentials. Payouts go out internationally through our payment platform and tax documentation is handled digitally through our global payment processor regardless of where you are located.

The main thing to know upfront: because we are a US agency, our supplier network is US-focused. Most major cruise lines, tour operators, and hotels are accessible, but if you are primarily serving a European clientele and need access to European-market-only product lines, some of those may not be available through us.

You will also want to check whether your country has any local licensing requirements for selling travel. That is on you to sort out, but it is worth knowing before you sign up.

If that setup works for you, we would love to have you.

A few things worth knowing upfront.

We are not an MLM, uni-level, or pyramid scheme. There is no recruiting structure, no upline, no override income from agents you bring in. Your income comes from your bookings, full stop.

You keep 90% of every commission you earn. There are no tiered splits, no volume thresholds to unlock a better rate, and no fine print.

There are no startup fees, no contracts, and no hidden charges. Some host agencies deduct payment processing or administrative fees from your commission payout, meaning you are charged to receive money you already earned. Atlas Coast absorbs all platform and processing costs. What you are owed is what you receive.

Your rate is locked in at whatever you join at and stays there. We do not raise prices on existing members. Ever. Join now and pay that rate for as long as you are a member.

Our training was designed and delivered by university educators and active travel agents. Atlas Academy is built to actually teach, with the structure and rigor you would expect from a real curriculum. It's also optional, so if you're a seasoned pro coming to Atlas, you aren't forced to go through things you already know.

We operate with radical transparency. That means honest answers about what this business requires, clear policies you can actually find and read, the "why" behind everything, and no bait-and-switch on commissions, fees, or expectations. What you see before you join is what you get after.

We do not hide information behind a paywall or require you to sit through a sales call to get straight answers. Our policies, pricing, and commission structure are all publicly available. If you cannot find what you are looking for, email us at [email protected] and we will tell you. No gatekeeping here.

Altas Coast Travel Group has no startup fees, setup fees, or one-time joining costs. Your only ongoing cost is $39 per month, which covers your accredited agency credentials, Atlas Academy training, the Atlas Content Vault, your agent profile, and access to all supplier relationships. No surprises, no add-ons, and no processing fees deducted from your commission payments.

When you are comparing host agencies, always ask about startup costs. Many agencies charge them, and some are substantial, ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars before you have ever booked a trip.

Also worth knowing: some agencies advertise zero monthly hosting fees, which sounds great until you look at the commission split. A host that charges nothing per month often compensates by taking a much larger cut of your commissions, sometimes 30 to 50 percent. If you are booking any meaningful volume, you will lose far more in commissions than you would have paid in monthly fees. Free hosting is not always the better deal. Run the math before you sign.

The Founders Rate is $39 per month and it's available for a limited time at launch. The window closes at whichever comes first: 90 days from our launch date or 1,000 active members. Once it closes, it closes. New members after that point join at the then-current rate.

What makes the Founders Rate genuinely valuable is the grandfathering. If you join during the Founders window, you lock in $39 per month for as long as your membership remains active. We don't raise rates on existing members, ever, and that promise starts from day one. Agents who join during the Founders period and stay will always pay the Founders Rate regardless of what the rate is for new members joining later.

One thing to know before you cancel for any reason: the Founders Rate is tied to continuous active membership. If you cancel and later decide to rejoin, you re-enter at whatever rate is current at that time. Your original Founders Rate does not come back. This isn't a penalty or a trap. It's simply how grandfathering works. The rate is locked to the membership, not to you personally.

If you're on the fence about joining, the Founders window is a real deadline worth paying attention to. The rate and the grandfathering together are a meaningful long-term benefit that won't be available once the window closes.

Atlas Coast Travel Group operates on a 90/10 split, which is one of the best in the industry. That means you keep 90% of every commission you earn, and Atlas retains 10% to cover operational costs. This applies from day one. There are no tiers, no thresholds to hit first, and no waiting period. Whether you book one trip or one hundred, the split is 90/10.

When a supplier pays a commission on a completed booking, Atlas Coast receives those funds and distributes your share through our payment platform. Suppliers are the companies you book travel through: cruise lines, hotels, tour operators, resort brands, and similar travel providers. You keep 90% of every commission earned. Payouts go out on the 1st and 15th of each month based on funds received from suppliers during that period.

Balances under $25 roll to the next cycle automatically and never expire. There are no fees deducted from your payout, ever. Some host agencies tack on payment processing or administrative fees before your commission hits your account, meaning you are charged to receive money you already earned. We do not do that. What you are owed is what you receive.

Before your first payout, you will complete a quick self-serve setup through our payment platform where you enter your bank details and complete your W-9. Atlas Coast never touches your banking information directly. Once that is done, all future payments are automatic. Our payment processor supports multiple payout methods so you can receive funds in whatever way works best for you.

If your annual earnings meet the IRS reporting threshold for independent contractors, our payment processor will issue a 1099-NEC to you automatically at year end. For agents located outside the US, international tax documentation is handled digitally through the same platform. You just need to make sure your tax information is on file before your first payout.

No. With Atlas Coast Travel Group, there are no annual contracts, no renewal fees, no startup fees, no payment processing fees, no transaction fees, and no fees to access supplier systems or training. Your $39 per month covers everything included in your membership.

If you are in a Seller of Travel state, California, Florida, Hawaii, or Washington, there may be a small state registration fee depending on how your business is structured, but that is paid directly to the state. It is a government requirement, not an Atlas Coast charge.

Travel agent commissions are paid after the client travels, not when they book. This is standard across the entire industry. A client who books a cruise in January for a sailing in September won't generate a commission payment until after they return. This lag is the most important thing to understand about travel agent income, because it means it can take 6–12 months from your first booking before money actually hits your account. But Atlas never holds your commission payment. Once we receive a commission for travel you booked, we distribute it to you.

You are not required to, but many agents choose to for liability protection and potential tax advantages. As an independent contractor, your business income flows through however you are structured: sole proprietor, LLC, or otherwise. This is a personal financial and legal decision, and we encourage you to consult a CPA or attorney who works with self-employed clients before deciding. For agents just starting out, operating as a sole proprietor is a perfectly reasonable place to begin.

This depends entirely on how much you book and what you specialize in. A part-time agent who books travel for friends and family might earn a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year. A full-time agent with a focused niche and an active client base can earn a full-time income. We will not give you inflated numbers or present this as a quick path to financial freedom. It is a real business that requires real effort and time to build.

The data backs this up. According to Host Agency Reviews (HAR), which publishes the most comprehensive annual income study in the industry, full-time hosted advisors with three to five years of experience earn an average of $44,127 per year. Those with fifteen or more years average $79,701. Part-time advisors earn between $20,900 and $30,951 on average. New advisors with under three years of experience average around $12,057. Most agents do not replace a full-time income in their first year, and often not in their second either. That is the honest picture.

The agents who earn the most tend to have a defined niche and have been building their client base for several years. If that is the path you want, the infrastructure to get there is here. We just will not pretend it happens overnight and we'll never portray the travel agent life as a get rich quick scheme.

Your client relationships are yours. If you leave, you take your book of business with you and are free to move it to any host agency you choose.

There are no contracts at Atlas Coast and no notice period required. Cancel when you need to cancel. We want you to stay because you find genuine value in the membership, not because you are locked in. If that value is no longer there for you, we are not going to make it difficult to leave. Your membership remains active through the end of your current billing period and we do not issue refunds for unused days, but there are no hoops to jump through and no exit interview required. You cancel at the click of a button.

On pending commissions: commissions are paid on travel that has completed during the period your membership was active. If your membership ends before a supplier has released payment on a booking, that commission is not disbursed. This is standard practice across the host agency industry. Commissions flow through the hosting relationship, and that relationship ends when the membership does. It is not a penalty. It is simply how the payment infrastructure works.

The practical takeaway: if you are planning to leave and you have bookings with upcoming travel dates, time your exit thoughtfully. Completed travel that has not yet paid out is the main thing to think through before you cancel.

Yes. Atlas Coast operates on a non-exclusive basis, meaning you're free to affiliate with more than one host agency if that's what your situation requires.

The most common example is agents who are mid-transition from another host agency. If you're switching to Atlas Coast, it often makes financial sense to keep your old membership active until commissions in your existing pipeline have cleared, and we encourage that as we don't want you to lose out on that income. That kind of overlap is completely normal and expected.

Whatever your reason for dual hosting, the practical rules are straightforward. All bookings must run through the correct agency's credentials for that booking. You cannot use Atlas Coast's CLIA or IATAN credentials for a booking being processed through another agency. Commissions follow the booking, so keep your records clean and know which agency each booking belongs to.

Atlas Coast Travel Group carries a $2 million Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance policy, with a $500 deductible. Your work falls under this coverage when your bookings are made through Atlas Coast Travel Group, your marketing includes the independent contractor disclaimer that identifies you as an independent affiliate of Atlas Coast Travel Group, you don't bring on your own employees or sub-agents booking under you, and a claim is brought in the United States or Canada.

E&O insurance, also called professional liability, protects against claims that a mistake or omission was made while booking or advising on travel, and legal defense costs along with any covered settlement or judgment.

Atlas Academy is our in-house training program, built by university educators. It is not a collection of recycled YouTube videos, low-quality Zoom recordings, or a folder of PDFs. It is a real curriculum, with professionally edited videos to accompany written content, structured the way a real course is structured, and it is included in your membership.

The program covers 11 modules and 76 lessons spanning the full arc of what a new travel agent needs to know: how the travel industry actually works, how commissions are structured and paid, how to use booking tools, how to build supplier relationships, how to market your agency, how to find and keep clients, how to handle bookings from inquiry to completion, destination knowledge, sales skills, and how to run your business professionally and legally.

Specific topics include how to book cruises and all-inclusives, how airfare commissions work and when to book air at all, how to run FAM trips and ship inspections, how to charge planning fees, how to handle credit card authorizations, how to protect yourself from fraud and scams, when to form an LLC, and how to build a real client base without feeling like you are bothering people.

It is self-paced, with no live sessions required and no schedule to follow. You move through it on your own time, in whatever order makes sense for where you are in your business.

Completing Atlas Academy is optional. Experienced agents who are already comfortable with the fundamentals are not required to go through it. That said, agents who complete the full program earn a graduate badge on their public agent profile, which signals credibility to prospective clients. Academy graduates are also eligible to apply for Atlas Coast Partner and Coach roles, which are not open to non-graduates. If that path interests you, information is available at atlascoasttravel.com/partner.

The Atlas Content Vault is a done-for-you marketing library included in every membership. It was built by Melissa and licensed to all Atlas Coast agents, and it covers everything you need to show up professionally without spending hours creating content from scratch.

The Vault contains hundreds of assets across every category you'll actually use: business setup templates including a new agent launch checklist, a SMART goals tracker, a client inquiry form, a travel quote template, a client onboarding template, and a travel budget spreadsheet. Branding assets including logo templates, brand boards, and a library of 51 travel icons and illustrations. Client communication templates covering every stage of the booking journey from first inquiry through post-trip follow-up. Trip planning resources including itinerary templates, cruise guides, and checklists. Traveler guides for specific audiences including solo travelers, families, travelers with toddlers, travelers with pets, and road trippers. And a full social media and marketing section with Instagram post templates, 50 Reels templates, 100 vertical post templates, over 200 vertical travel photos and videos, a social media planner, and an analytics workbook.

Most assets are built in Canva and fully customizable. A few are Google Sheets or downloadable PDFs. You copy the Canva templates to your own account, add your branding, and they are ready to use. No design experience required.

Yes. Every Atlas Coast agent gets a custom agent profile page that functions as a fully built, professional website. You can see an example of what it looks like at myatlasgo.com/melissa-newman.

For many agents this profile is all the web presence they need. It is not a placeholder or a stripped-down directory listing. It is a real, polished page where you can showcase your specialties, share your story, display your credentials, and give prospective clients a way to contact you and book with you directly.

Setup and updates are instant. There is no waiting on a developer, no submitting a ticket, and no delay between making a change and seeing it live. You control it yourself and it reflects your updates immediately. You can customize it to match your own agency brand so it feels like yours, not ours.

Agents who have a profile are also listed in the Atlas Coast public agent directory, which gives you additional visibility beyond your individual page. If you already have your own website and prefer to use that, the profile is optional. But if you do have one, you are in the directory.

Atlas Coast has established relationships with suppliers across cruises, resorts, tours, and more, including major cruise lines, all-inclusive brands, and tour operators. You set up your own individual accounts with each supplier after joining, but you do so under the Atlas Coast umbrella. That means preferred agent rates, dedicated BDM contacts, and access to supplier training and FAM trip eligibility that independent agents without a host typically cannot access on their own.

One thing worth noting when comparing host agencies: some agencies advertise strong preferred supplier relationships and slightly higher supplier commission tiers as major selling points, and those relationships may be real. But gaining a couple of percentage points of extra commission on the supplier side does not mean much if the agency is taking 20 to 40 percent of your total commission on the back end. Always run the full math. A 90/10 split on a standard commission rate, which is what Atlas Coast offers, will almost always beat a slightly elevated supplier rate paired with a 70-80 percent split.

If there is a supplier you want to work with that is not already in our portfolio, there is a very good chance we can add them. You just need to submit a supplier request and we will look into it.

You are not on your own, and this is actually an area where Atlas Coast is meaningfully different from others in the industry.

At MLM-style and uni-level host agencies, your support typically comes from whoever recruited you. This is often dressed up as "mentorship," and if you hear that word used heavily during a host agency pitch, pay attention. It is frequently a signal that the support structure is built around a recruiting relationship rather than a professional one. In theory it sounds appealing, and the idea of having a built-in guide when you are just getting started is genuinely attractive. In practice it is a coin flip. Your recruiter might be brand new themselves, might specialize in a completely different type of travel than you, might simply not be available, or frankly, might just not know all the ins and outs of being a travel agent. Your access to real support ends up being entirely dependent on the luck of who signed you up and you just have to hope that you get timely and accurate information. 

At Atlas Coast, support comes from the agency itself, not from a random upline or "mentor." You have access to a dedicated support team, a community of fellow agents, Atlas Academy training, 1:1 support at critical moments, and ongoing resources that do not depend on any single person's availability or expertise.

Whether you book cruises, all-inclusive resorts, or something else entirely, you are getting support that is built around what you actually need, consistently and reliably, regardless of how you found us or who told you about us.

Your membership includes a full client management and commission tracking platform at no extra cost. It is where you manage your client relationships, track your bookings and pending commissions, store trip details, and run the operational side of your travel business. Actual bookings are made directly through each supplier, but this platform, called MyAtlas, is the hub where everything is organized and tracked on your end.

Two features in particular are worth calling out because they are not standard across the industry and some agencies either do not provide them or charge separately for them.

The first is secure credit card authorization. When a client gives you a credit card to book travel, you need a documented, legally sound way to capture that authorization. Without a proper system, agents are exposed to chargebacks and fraud with no paper trail to protect themselves. Your platform handles this with a built-in, PCI-compliant authorization workflow. You are not left to cobble together a Google Form or take card numbers over email (which puts you and your client at risk) and hope for the best.

The second is travel insurance waivers. When a client declines travel insurance, that declination needs to be documented. If something goes wrong and they did not have coverage, an undocumented declination can expose you to serious liability. Your platform includes a built-in waiver process so that declination is on record every time.

These are not glamorous features, but they are the kind of infrastructure that protects you professionally and legally as you build your business. Some host agencies leave agents to figure this out on their own or sell it as a premium add-on. At Atlas Coast it is just included.

No, especially not when you are starting out. A well-written email or a clean, branded document is a completely professional way to deliver a proposal or trip summary to a client. The content matters far more than the container.

For agents who want something more polished right away, the Atlas Coast Content Vault includes free itinerary templates, cruise guides, trip planning documents, and proposal templates built in Canva. They are fully customizable, included in your membership, and good enough for the vast majority of bookings at any stage of your business.

When you are ready to level up, there are three dedicated itinerary builder platforms that consistently come up as category leaders in the travel industry: Travefy, Tern, and TravelJoy. All three offer polished, client-facing itinerary portals, branded proposals, day-by-day trip documents, and tools designed specifically for travel agents. Pricing runs roughly $25 to $49 per month depending on the platform and plan. None of these are included in your membership, but you are welcome to add any of them independently.

There is also a more affordable and easy upgrade path worth knowing about. Your included client management and commission tracking platform is powered by JourneyFuse, one of the travel industry's dedicated back-office systems. JourneyFuse offers a full product suite beyond what is included in your base membership, adding a complete itinerary builder, a private client-facing portal, advanced CRM features, and supplier integrations. Because it runs on the same platform your commission tracking and client records already live in, everything integrates seamlessly with no exporting or copying between tools.

That upgrade is available directly through your account for just $16 per month, billed through JourneyFuse.

Atlas Coast provides structured support at every stage through a combination of live sessions, milestone check-ins, and an active agent community.

Agent Success Coaches are experienced travel professionals within the Atlas Coast community whose role is specific and structured. They are not assigned personal mentors, and there is no one coach attached to your account. Instead, coaching is available in three formats designed to meet you where you are.

Office Hours is a weekly open drop-in session where any agent can show up, ask questions, and get real-time answers from a coach. There's no registration, no agenda, and no set topic. If you're stuck on something, unsure how to handle a situation, or just want to hear how other agents are approaching a problem, Office Hours is the place. Sessions run weekly and the current schedule is posted in your Agent Dashboard.

Class Is In Session is a monthly topical training hosted by Atlas's founders. Each session covers a specific subject relevant to building your travel business, with time for real-time questions and discussion. Topics are announced in the Atlas Coast community in advance and there's no required attendance or sequence. Join when the topic is relevant to where you are in your business.

Milestone Calls are private, scheduled one-on-one calls with a coach at key points in your journey as an agent. These aren't open-ended mentoring sessions. They're structured checkpoints designed to make sure you're set up correctly and ready to move forward. You self-schedule through the agent platform at your own pace.

Beyond the coached sessions, the Atlas Coast community inside the platform is where day-to-day questions get answered, wins get shared, and agents connect with one another. It's active, moderated, and built for professional use, not social scrolling.

Yes. As a credentialed travel agent, you get access to agent rates across a wide range of suppliers including cruise lines, hotels, resorts, and tour operators. These are wholesale-level rates reserved for industry professionals, not loyalty points or discount codes, and for many people this perk alone is what first draws them to becoming a travel agent. It is very real and it is one of the most immediately tangible benefits of having professional credentials.

That said, it is worth being honest about how it actually works in practice. Agent rates do not automatically beat the best publicly available rate every time. Suppliers run sales, flash deals, and promotional pricing that occasionally match or even undercut agent rates. Timing matters. The supplier matters. The type of travel matters. You will find meaningful discounts on many things, especially cruises, certain hotel brands, and all-inclusive resorts, but you should not join expecting a guaranteed price advantage on every trip you want to take.

What you do get consistently is access. Access to rates that are not publicly advertised, access to FAM trips and reduced-rate industry travel designed specifically for agents, access to ship inspections and site visits that let you experience properties firsthand, friends and family rates, and access to supplier contacts who can sometimes do things for you that no public booking engine can. And when you book your own travel through your agent credentials, you also earn a commission on that booking, which effectively reduces your out-of-pocket cost further regardless of what the rate comparison looks like.

That combination of price access, commission earnings, professional recognition, and industry-level experience is what makes the credentials genuinely valuable for someone who loves travel, even when a specific rate does not come out ahead on a given trip. If the travel perks are your primary reason for joining, you are in good company. Just go in with clear eyes about what it realistically is, and you won't be disappointed.

FAM trips, short for familiarization trips, are heavily discounted or sometimes complimentary travel experiences offered by suppliers to travel agents so they can experience the product firsthand. Cruise lines, resorts, tour operators, and destinations offer them regularly. The idea is straightforward: suppliers want agents who have actually been on their ships or stayed at their properties, because those agents sell with confidence and authenticity. A cruise agent who has sailed the ship can describe the cabin, the dining, and the experience in a way no brochure can replicate.

As an Atlas Coast agent operating under our CLIA credentials, you are eligible to apply for FAM trips. They are not guaranteed, they require an application process, and most suppliers look for an active booking history before approving an agent. The more you book, the stronger your standing when FAM opportunities come up.

FAM trips are one of the most talked-about perks in the industry and for good reason. They are also one of the areas where the gap between a credentialed agent and someone booking on their own is most obvious. You simply cannot access these experiences without professional credentials, and the travel you get to experience while building your business is a genuine quality-of-life benefit that is hard to put a dollar value on.

Yes, with some nuance. You can book travel for yourself and earn the agent commission on it, which is one of the most genuinely loved perks of being a travel agent. You are doing something you were going to do anyway and getting paid for it.

You also have access to agent rates, which are often lower than what the public can book directly, so you are getting the benefit on both ends: a better rate going in and a commission coming back.

One specific scenario worth knowing about: if you sail on a complimentary casino offer from a cruise line, most suppliers do still pay a commission on those bookings, though the amounts tend to be modest given that the sailing itself is comped.

A ship inspection, sometimes called a vessel inspection or ship tour, is when a cruise line invites travel agents to board a ship in port and tour it before it sets sail. You walk the cabins, see the dining venues, explore the amenities, and get a real feel for the product firsthand.

This matters because clients can tell when an agent has actually been on the ship they are recommending. There is a difference between describing a cabin from a brochure and describing it because you stood in it. That kind of firsthand knowledge builds the kind of client trust that turns a one-time booking into a long-term relationship.

Most ship inspections are free or very low cost and are coordinated through cruise line BDMs or agent portals. Your active CLIA credentials through Atlas Coast make you eligible to participate, and as you build your booking history and supplier relationships, these opportunities become more accessible.

Most perks become available as soon as you are an active Atlas Coast agent with your credentials in place. Some perks, particularly FAM trips and higher-tier agent discounts, may require a demonstrated booking history. Suppliers want to extend these benefits to active, producing agents. The best approach is to start booking, build your history, and the doors open as your activity grows.

One thing worth saying plainly: the perks are real and they are genuinely enjoyable, but they should not be the primary reason you become a travel agent. The agents who build sustainable businesses do so because they love helping people travel and are committed to growing a real book of clients. The perks are a bonus that comes with doing the job well, not a substitute for doing the job at all.

Here is exactly what happens when you join Atlas Coast Travel Group.

You complete the join form with your basic information and pay your first month's membership fee. Your Atlas Academy, Agent Dashboard, and community access are granted immediately. No waiting, no manual review, no phone screen.

Shortly after joining, you will receive an invitation to register for your onboarding session. This is a simulive webinar, with sessions running multiple times weekly, or pre-recoded on demand options, so you can pick a time that works for you. Live chat support is available during scheduled sessions. On-demand options (without live chat) are also available if you need to get started right away without waiting for the next session. 

You'll also be asked to verify your identity. This is a quick, secure process that requires a valid government-issued ID and takes just a few minutes.

Once you complete both your onboarding session and your identity verification, your access to the MyAtlas client management platform unlocks automatically and you will receive your login credentials and access to suppliers. From there you're ready to start training and booking, with a support team and coaching resources available to help you along the way.

The whole process is designed to be fast and self-directed. No gatekeeping, no waiting weeks to get onboarded, no callbacks, no waiting to get started.

Once you join, your Agent Dashboard includes a link to the Atlas Coast Supplier Directory, which lists all of our preferred supplier relationships along with direct links to their agent portals. These are the cruise lines, tour operators, resort brands, and travel providers we work with most frequently, and where you will have the strongest access to commission rates, BDM support, and booking tools. It is the right place to start when you are figuring out who to book with.

If a client asks about a supplier we do not currently have a formal relationship with, do not assume the answer is no. Smaller and niche suppliers can almost always be added. Submit a supplier request and we will look into it for you and try to make it happen.

Most agents are ready to book within a few days of completing their onboarding session. The session itself covers what you need to know to take your first booking, including how to access supplier portals, how to submit a reservation, and where to go if you have questions.

The honest answer is that readiness depends more on you than on us. Your training and platform access are available immediately after joining. Experienced agents who are already familiar with the industry can get set up and start booking almost immediately. The main variable on their end is supplier account setup, which is handled directly with each supplier and outside of our control in terms of timing.

For newer agents, the path to that first booking runs through training first, and that timeline is entirely self-directed. Some agents move through it in a few days. Others take a few weeks. There is no deadline, no pressure, and nothing on our end holding you back once you are ready.

The onboarding session covers what is included in your membership, a walkthrough of your Agent Dashboard, how supplier relationships work and how to register with suppliers, what your first days as an agent look like, how to log bookings into MyAtlas, and how to get support when you need it.

Scheduled sessions run several times per week and include a member of the Atlas Coast team answering your questions in real time. On-demand sessions are also available if you want to get onboarded without delay, though those do not include the live chat and Q&A function.

After completing your session, your access to MyAtlas, the Atlas Coast client management and commission tracking platform, unlocks automatically and you are directed back to your dashboard to continue your training and get set up. You are never just dropped into a portal with no guidance and expected to "just figure it out."

We take you through everything step by step.

No prior experience is required. Atlas Coast is designed to welcome agents at all levels, from people who have never made a professional booking in their lives to veteran agents who have been in the industry for years.

What we do ask is that you complete your onboarding session before you start taking client bookings. This is not busywork. It covers the things that protect you and your clients: how to set client expectations, how commissions work, how to avoid common first-booking mistakes, and how to operate professionally from day one. It's required of all agents, but only takes an hour.

Your home base as an Atlas Coast agent is the Atlas platform, accessible from any browser on any device at atlascoasttravel.com/login. There's also a free mobile app so everything is available wherever you are.

Once logged in, you'll land on your Agent Dashboard, which is home to all of your tools and resources: Atlas Academy, the Content Vault, Supplier Directory, the Agent Resource Guide, booking resources, training and support options, and access to the Atlas Coast community.

Your login credentials to the Atlas platform are issued automatically when you complete your purchase, so there is no waiting and no complicated setup. If you ever forget your password or need to change it, you can do so at atlascoasttravel.com/login.

Access to suppliers and the MyAtlas booking entry and client management platform unlocks once you complete both your onboarding session and your identity verification.

Your CLIA credentials come from Atlas Coast's agency membership, which means you don't receive a separate personal CLIA card right away. What you do receive is access to book under Atlas Coast's CLIA Agency ID (00810443), which is what suppliers require to recognize you as a legitimate travel professional.

In practical terms, when you contact a supplier, access a supplier portal, or book a trip, you use Atlas Coast's agency credentials. Suppliers verify the agency, not the individual agent, so this is all you need to book professionally and access trade rates and commissions.

If you want your own individual CLIA card, you can apply for one, and some agents do, particularly those who attend trade shows or industry events where individual identification is useful. Individual cards do have their own annual fee, and regardless of whether you have one, all bookings still need to be submitted under Atlas Coast's credentials. Your personal card doesn't override the agency affiliation requirement.

No. You don't need a separate website, LLC, or business license to operate as an Atlas Coast agent. You're an independent contractor affiliated with Atlas Coast Travel Group, which is the licensed entity. Our credentials and agency registration cover your bookings from day one.

Every agent also gets a customized public profile page, included at no cost, that functions as a professional web presence. For many agents it's all they ever need. You can see an example at myatlasgo.com/melissa-newman.

While it's not required, many agents do eventually build their own branded presence, create social media accounts, or develop a niche identity within the broader Atlas Coast umbrella. That's entirely your call and something you can build over time. Atlas Coast provides you with the training and tools to do these things if you'd like, but it's optional. 

Most agents start with people they already know: friends, family, coworkers, and people in their communities. Word of mouth and personal referrals are still among the most effective client sources in this industry, and there's nothing wrong with starting there.

Beyond that, social media is one of the most powerful tools available to independent agents. Agents who build an audience around travel content, whether on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, or a blog, can generate consistent inbound interest over time. Melissa has built an entire audience this way, and the Content Vault is stocked with done-for-you social media templates, photos, and videos to help you do the same without starting from scratch.

Atlas Coast does have a Booking Partner program where leads can be routed to qualifying agents, but we want to be upfront: leads from us are a supplement, not a business plan. Agents who build sustainable businesses do so through their own channels and their own client relationships.

And when you're vetting host agencies, push back hard on any lead promises. Ask where the leads actually come from, what the commission split is on those leads, and how many leads you can realistically expect given the size of their agent network. The math usually tells the story.

No. There are no booking quotas, no minimum sales requirements, no contracts, and no performance reviews. You book as much or as little as you choose.

What we do want to reframe: your $39 per month isn't just a hosting fee that needs to be offset by commissions. It's a membership. Even in a slow month where you're not actively booking, you still have access to your CLIA credentials, your supplier relationships, your training library, coaching resources, the community, and all the travel agent perks that come with professional status. Those things have value independent of whether you closed a sale that month.

That said, be honest with yourself about your goals. If you're going months without engaging at all, not booking, not learning, not using the perks, that's worth reflecting on. Not because we'll penalize you or terminate your membership, but because you deserve to get something out of what you're paying for.

The agents who stay active in the community during slow seasons, even just showing up and engaging, tend to come back to booking mode much faster than those who go completely dark or who quit and come back.

There's no single typical day, which is part of the appeal. On any given day you might be researching itinerary options for a new client, following up on a pending quote, checking in on a booking that's about to travel, or answering a question from someone who just got home from a trip. Some agents work a few focused hours per week around a full-time job. Others build it into a full-time business.

What you won't be doing: sitting in a call center, working a set schedule, or waiting for a manager to tell you what to do. You set your own hours, define your own niche, and grow at your own pace.

The tradeoff is that nothing happens if you don't make it happen. Atlas Coast gives you the infrastructure, the training, the credentials, and the community, but the hustle is yours. This is a self-directed business, and that's exactly what draws most people to it. If you need a lot of external direction and structure to stay motivated, it's worth being honest with yourself about that before you join.

When a supplier pays a commission on a booking you made, Atlas Coast receives that payment first. We retain 10% as our agency fee to cover operations, credentialing, platform costs, and other agency expenses. You keep 90%.

A 90/10 split is one of the strongest in the industry. Many host agencies offer 70/30 or 80/20 as their standard split, and some offer less. A small number of agencies advertise 100% commission retention, but those models typically come with very high monthly fees or other costs that make up the difference. At Atlas Coast, 90/10 is the standard split for every agent from day one, with no volume thresholds to unlock it, no waiting period, and no tiers to climb through.

So if a cruise line pays a $500 commission on a booking you made, you receive $450. There are no additional deductions, no platform fees, and no payment processing charges on your end. Atlas Coast absorbs those costs. What the math says you're owed is what hits your account.

Commission payouts run on the 1st and 15th of each month based on funds received from suppliers during that period. Balances under $25 roll to the next cycle automatically and never expire.

Commissions are paid on the 1st and 15th of each month based on funds received from suppliers during that period. There are no fees deducted from your payout. What you're owed is what you receive.

The main source of delays is on the supplier side, not ours. Most cruise lines and tour operators pay commissions after travel is completed, not when the booking is made. A trip booked today for next year won't generate a payout until after your client travels and the supplier releases the funds. Some suppliers move faster than others, and that timeline is outside our control. This is standard across the industry and something every travel agent navigates regardless of which host agency they work with. When we get paid, you get paid, and Atlas Coast never holds commissions.

If your balance in a given cycle is under $25, it rolls to the next cycle automatically. It never expires and never disappears.

If a commission appears to be missing after a trip has completed, there's a process to submit a missing commission request. Details are in your Agent Dashboard once you're a member.

Atlas Coast has a Booking Partner program where travel leads generated through Atlas Coast's own channels are routed to qualifying agents. When a lead is assigned to you, the commission split shifts to 80/20 in your favor instead of the standard 90/10, reflecting the fact that the lead came from us rather than from your own marketing.

If you receive a Booking Partner lead, you're required to follow up within 24 hours. If you don't, the lead gets reassigned. This keeps the client experience consistent and the program worth running for everyone involved.

The program is application-based and open to experienced, active agents. It's not automatic at signup. You can find full eligibility details and how to apply at atlascoasttravel.com/partner.

Absolutely, and many of the most successful agents do. Luxury river cruises, Disney vacations, adventure travel, honeymoons, group trips, ocean cruises, destination weddings, all-inclusive resorts. Picking a lane makes marketing easier, builds expertise faster, and tends to generate stronger client loyalty than trying to be everything to everyone.

You're not required to be a generalist. The Atlas Coast platform and supplier access support a wide range of niches, and there's no rule that says you have to take every type of booking that comes your way. If you have a clear focus in mind, lean into it from day one rather than waiting until you feel established enough to niche down. Most agents find that niching down earlier accelerates their growth rather than limiting it.

Start with the Atlas Coast agent support team. For most situations, they can help you navigate a supplier issue, a client complaint, or a booking error. Support is reachable at [email protected] and through your Agent Dashboard.

For escalated situations, the Atlas Coast team can get involved directly, and in many cases your supplier's BDM can be a valuable resource as well. A good BDM relationship pays for itself most when something goes wrong.

You're not on your own when a client's trip goes sideways. That said, you are the agent of record and the primary relationship holder with your client. Clear communication, good documentation, and getting ahead of problems before they escalate are your first line of defense. The agents who handle issues well are the ones who keep clients for life.

Yes, and many agents do. As an independent travel agent, you're free to charge clients a planning fee or service fee for your time and expertise. It's especially common for complex itineraries, honeymoons, group travel, or multi-destination trips where the research and time investment genuinely justify it.

How you structure it is up to you. Some agents don't charge any planning fee at all. Some charge a fee but apply it as a credit toward the booking once it's made. Others charge a non-refundable fee regardless of whether the client books. All of these are legitimate approaches, and Atlas Academy covers the pros and cons of each model in depth so you can make the right call for your business.

A few things you need to know before you start charging fees.

Florida clients are the exception. If your client has a Florida address, you cannot charge them a separate service fee. This is Florida state law, not an Atlas Coast policy, and it applies regardless of where you are based. If your client lives in Florida, no fee.

Booking Partner leads are also off the table for fees. If Atlas Coast refers a client to you through the Booking Partner program, you cannot charge that client a planning fee. Your own clients are your own business and you can charge as you see fit, but referred clients are not eligible.

Always disclose upfront. If you charge a fee, tell the client before they commit to working with you. Surprise fees damage trust faster than almost anything else in this business.

There's a public Atlas Coast Facebook page where we share content, travel inspiration, and updates for a general audience. But the actual agent community lives somewhere better.

Atlas Coast agents connect, ask questions, and get support inside the Atlas platform itself, where your training and tools already live. Here's why we made that call.

Facebook doesn't work for a private professional community. The algorithm controls what shows up in your feed, which means important announcements and updates can simply not appear for you. That's not acceptable when your business depends on staying informed.

Facebook groups also drift toward noise over time. Off-topic posts, self-promotion, and negativity are hard to moderate at scale, and the most useful conversations get buried. The signal-to-noise ratio degrades fast.

And practically speaking, your training, your community, and your support tools should all live in one place. Jumping between platforms to get a question answered creates friction that doesn't need to exist.

We also don't want to build something this important on infrastructure we don't control. If Facebook changes its algorithm, restricts groups, or shuts down access, the community disappears overnight. We're not willing to take that risk.

Inside the Atlas platform, the community is integrated with your training, accessible without an algorithm standing between you and the content, and moderated by Atlas Coast team members. It's private, professional, and built for agents, not for an ad platform's business model.

Yes, in most cases. When you access supplier portals, request agent rates, or book using agency credentials, you're identifying yourself as a travel professional. This is both an industry norm and an ethical standard, and misrepresenting your status to access trade rates you're not entitled to is the kind of thing that gets credentials revoked industry-wide.

For friends and family bookings, the same rules apply as any other booking. Everything goes through Atlas Coast's credentials and the proper booking process. You can absolutely use your agent status to book for the people in your life, and many agents do, but it has to go through the system the same way any client booking would. You can't use your credentials to access trade rates and then book outside the process.

You use your own, always. Atlas Coast never issues, owns, or controls your email address.

This matters more than it sounds. Some host agencies put their agents on an agency-controlled email, something like [email protected]. It looks professional, but the day you part ways, or the day they decide to, they can shut it off. Your clients, suppliers, and booking threads all run through an inbox you don't actually own, and your business can be paralyzed overnight.

At Atlas Coast, your email is yours. You set it up on your own domain or a free account you control, and it goes with you no matter what. We can't lock you out of your own clients, because we never had the keys. Atlas Academy walks you through setting it up the right way.

One thing you should add to your list when vetting any host agency: do I use my own email, or one you (the agency) controls and can shut off?

Yes, and agents converting from another host agency make up a meaningful part of our community. If you're already in the industry, you know how this works. You have existing supplier relationships, a client base, and a sense of what you need from a host. What you don't need is to sit through training that explains what a travel agent is.

Atlas Academy is optional for experienced agents, and the onboarding process is designed to be fast. Most converting agents are fully operational under Atlas Coast's credentials within a few days of joining. The main variables are supplier account setup, which is handled directly with each supplier on their own timeline, and identity verification, which is a one-time step that takes about two minutes.

No, and we strongly recommend you don't cancel prematurely. Most agents run both agencies simultaneously (dual agency) for a period during the transition, and that's completely normal.

Here's why it matters: commissions from bookings made under your old agency will continue to pay out after you leave, sometimes for months. If you cancel that membership before those commissions clear, you risk forfeiting money you've already earned. That's not a position we want to see you in.

The practical approach is this. New bookings go under Atlas Coast from the day you join. Existing bookings already in your pipeline stay under your old agency until those commissions are paid out. Keep your old membership active until your pipeline is clear, then cancel.

Yes, paying two hosting fees at the same time is not ideal. But it's the financially smart move and it's the nature of transitioning between agencies in this industry. Atlas Coast will never pressure you to close your old account faster than makes sense for your situation.

Your clients are yours. In most cases, client relationships belong to you as the agent, not to your host agency. When you move to Atlas Coast, you bring your clients with you.

The standard approach is a simple personal note to your existing client list letting them know you've moved agencies, sharing your updated contact information, and noting that all future bookings will be handled under Atlas Coast Travel Group. Your clients follow you, not the agency name on your paperwork. Keep it warm and personal and most clients won't skip a beat.

New bookings for existing clients go under Atlas Coast from the day you join. Any trips already in progress under your old agency stay there until those commissions clear.

You won't lose your supplier relationships, but you will need to re-register with suppliers under Atlas Coast's credentials. Supplier access is tied to agency affiliation, not to you individually, so a fresh registration under the new agency is required.

The good news is that for most preferred suppliers, this is a fairly easy self-registration process and any training or certifications you've already completed will transfer over. You won't have to start from scratch on the learning side. For a smaller set of suppliers that require agency-level submission, Atlas Coast handles that on your behalf. But don't worry because we walk you through all of this, on a supplier-to-supplier basis, in our Supplier Directory.

Your BDM relationships and any rapport you've built with supplier reps carry over personally. Those relationships belong to you, not to the agency you were affiliated with. A quick introduction email letting your BDMs know you've moved to Atlas Coast is usually all it takes to pick up where you left off.

The credentials themselves belong to the agency, not to you. When you leave your old host agency, your access to their CLIA and IATAN numbers ends. That's standard across the industry and applies when you leave any agency, including Atlas Coast.

At Atlas Coast, you immediately have access to book under our CLIA Agency ID and our IATAN credentials. For most day-to-day booking purposes, that's all you need.

If you had your own individual CLIA card, that's yours to keep and renew independently. It goes with you regardless of which host agency you're affiliated with. That said, all bookings must still run through Atlas Coast's agency credentials once you're a member, regardless of whether you hold a personal card.

Many host agency contracts include non-solicitation language. The specifics vary, but a common version prohibits directly soliciting fellow agents from your old agency to join a competing one, typically for a period of time after you leave. This does not prevent you from leaving or from switching agencies.

It's worth reading your current ITA carefully before you make any moves. Non-solicitation clauses are generally about direct, targeted outreach to specific individuals. They typically don't prohibit you from making a public announcement that you've joined a new agency, posting about it on social media, or responding if someone reaches out to you first.

As for Atlas Coast specifically, we're not an MLM and we don't have a recruiting structure, so we're not asking you to go out and recruit agents from your old agency anyway. If someone you know asks about Atlas Coast and you refer them, you're welcome to do that and you'd earn a one-time referral bonus if they join and stay active. But there's no downline, no override income, and no pressure to build a team. That's not what this is.

When in doubt about what your current agreement permits, consult an attorney before reaching out to former colleagues.

You are an independent contractor, not an employee. Atlas Coast Travel Group is the legal entity, operating under Atlas Coast Ventures LLC, and you operate under our umbrella as an affiliated independent travel agent.

This means you set your own hours, find your own clients, and run your business independently. Atlas Coast doesn't control how or when you work. In exchange, you don't receive employee benefits, workers' compensation, or guaranteed income. Your earnings come entirely from commissions on the bookings you make.

Before you can access the platform or begin booking, you'll be required to sign an Independent Travel Agent (ITA) Agreement. That agreement covers your compensation structure, credential use, cancellation policy, and how the relationship ends if either party decides to part ways. Read it carefully before you sign. It's a real contract and you should understand what's in it. 

And because we pride ourselves on being transparent, the Atlas Coast ITA is publicly available for viewing any time at atlascoasttravel.com/ITA.

It depends on your state. Only four states in the US require Seller of Travel registration: California, Florida, Hawaii, and Washington. Atlas Coast holds registrations in all four. Here's how that breaks down for you as an agent.

Florida residents can operate under Atlas Coast's registration by filing a simple exemption form with the state each year, along with a copy of your ITA agreement. Full instructions and a walkthrough of how to get set up are in your Agent Dashboard.

California residents can generally operate under Atlas Coast's registration as well, provided you don't handle client funds directly.

Hawaii is the exception. Hawaii has no independent contractor exemption. Every agent booking Hawaii travel must be individually registered with the state regardless of host agency affiliation. If you're a Hawaii resident or regularly book Hawaii travel for clients, you'll need your own Hawaii registration. We'll walk you through exactly what that requires once you join.

Washington residents typically need their own individual state registration if you're marketing under your own brand name rather than exclusively under the Atlas Coast name. We'll walk you through that as well.

If you're not in any of these four states, there's no state-level Seller of Travel registration required at this time.

It's not required, and newer agents with lighter volume reasonably wait. Keep in mind the agency policy covers your work only when your bookings are made through Atlas Coast Travel Group, your marketing includes the independent contractor disclaimer, you don't bring on your own employees or sub-agents booking under you, and a claim is brought in the United States or Canada.

Once your business grows past those lines, say you bring on your own help, take on work outside Atlas, or serve clients who could bring a claim in their home country, your own policy is what protects you, because it follows you and your business directly. A dedicated travel E&O policy usually runs about $675 to $715 a year.

Two insurers build their policies specifically for travel professionals, Aon and Berkshire Hathaway, and we're glad to point you to either.

The ITA is the Independent Travel Agent Agreement. It's the contract between you and Atlas Coast that defines the terms of your affiliation. You sign it before your platform access is granted, and you can review it now at atlascoasttravel.com/ITA.

The key things it covers: your commission split and how payouts work, the terms for canceling your membership, Atlas Coast's right to terminate for cause including fraud, chargebacks, or a breach of the agreement, what happens to your credentials when the relationship ends, and other standard terms you'd expect in an independent contractor agreement.

The governing law for the agreement is the state of Florida.

Read it before you sign. We wrote it to be straightforward, but it's a real contract with real terms and you should understand what you're agreeing to.

Canceling your Atlas Coast membership is one button click in your account settings. No notice period, no cancellation form, no phone call, no exit interview. We don't believe in trapping people and we want agents here who want to be here.

If you cancel, your membership stays active through the end of your current billing period. We don't issue refunds for unused days, but there's nothing else required from you and nothing to figure out.

On commissions: any earnings on completed trips where Atlas Coast has already received cleared supplier funds will be paid out in your next regular pay cycle. Balances under $25 are paid out in full on exit regardless of the usual minimum threshold.

Commissions on trips that haven't yet traveled or where the supplier hasn't yet paid Atlas Coast will not be disbursed. If your membership ends before those funds arrive, that commission is forfeited. This is standard across the host agency industry and worth factoring in when you decide on your timing.

We want you here because you're getting value, building your business, and feel like part of something worth being part of. Not because the exit door is hard to find. If it's time to go, we'll make it easy.

If your annual commissions meet the IRS reporting threshold for independent contractors, our payment platform will issue a 1099-NEC to you automatically. This is standard for independent contractors and the threshold can change, so consult a tax professional if you have questions about your specific situation. Regardless of whether you receive a 1099, you are responsible for reporting all income on your own tax return.

Before your first commission payout, you'll be required to complete a W-9 through our payment platform. It's a simple, self-serve process that takes a few minutes. Atlas Coast never handles your bank details directly.

For agents located outside the US, international tax documentation is handled through the same payment platform. Make sure your tax information is on file and up to date before your first payout regardless of where you are located. Atlas Coast does not provide tax advice. Consult your own tax professional about how to handle self-employment income in your country or jurisdiction.

You're affiliated with Atlas Coast Travel Group and can identify yourself as an Atlas Coast travel agent in your bio, on your website, and in your marketing materials. Many agents lead with the affiliation and others build their own brand identity alongside it. Both are completely fine.

What you may not do: represent yourself as an employee of Atlas Coast, use Atlas Coast's branding in ways that imply ownership or authority you don't have, or continue using the Atlas Coast name after your membership ends.

One thing worth noting: because you're an independent contractor, Atlas Coast is not able to provide employment verification. If you need documentation of your professional status, your CLIA credentials and your ITA are the appropriate references.

Building your own brand alongside your Atlas Coast affiliation is encouraged. Many agents develop a personal brand or niche presence that complements their agency affiliation. There's no conflict as long as your bookings are running through Atlas Coast's credentials.

One disclosure you are required to include on all client-facing communications is: "I am an independent travel agent affiliated with Atlas Coast Travel Group." This applies to your website, your social media bios, your email signature, and anywhere else you represent yourself professionally as a travel agent.

The reason is both legal and practical. Several states require affiliation disclosure by law. Beyond that, clients have a right to know who they are working with and under whose credentials their booking is being made. It protects them and it protects you.

When your membership ends, your access to the Atlas platform is revoked immediately. The CLIA and IATAN credentials issued under Atlas Coast's agency affiliation are also revoked, and you may not continue using Atlas Coast's accreditation numbers after your membership ends.

Training materials, courses, templates, and Content Vault assets are licensed to you for the duration of your active membership only. That license ends when your membership does.

Your clients are yours. Atlas Coast has no claim on the client relationships you built during your time with us You take your book of business with you and you're free to move it wherever you choose.

We built Atlas Coast to be a place agents genuinely want to stay, not a place they feel stuck in. No contracts, no exit penalties, and no hard feelings if it's not the right fit. We hope it is. But if it's not, we wish you well and we mean that.

Before receiving their first commission payment, all Atlas Coast agents are required to complete identity verification. This is handled through a secure, independent third-party verification platform and Atlas Coast never stores your ID documents directly.

Beyond that, we're accountable for everything that happens under our host agency umbrella. When you book travel under Atlas Coast's credentials, you're representing our agency to suppliers, clients, and the broader travel industry. That means we need to know who we're working with.

ID verification protects everyone in the ecosystem: our agents, our suppliers, and the clients who are trusting a credentialed professional with significant travel purchases. It also protects you. A verified agent network means the people you're working alongside have been held to the same standard.

It's a one-time step, takes about two minutes, and applies to everyone without exception. You'll be prompted to complete it when you log your first booking.