I wanted to say how much I am enjoying the Travel and Tourism Program. Travel has always been a passion of mine and I have always wanted to work in the field of Travel and Tourism. The Penn Foster Program really suited my needs especially after the economic downturn we experienced. I have a BA in Liberal Studies, Assistive Technology Certificate(Technology for individuals with disabilities) and a Masters in E-Learning. My hope is to combine all of my skills and transfer them to my new career in Travel and Tourism.
I was researching various Travel and Tourism Programs over the years and I kept hearing from people "Oh Travel Agents are a thing of the past people don't need them and they don't make money". Well thats far from the truth with Internet Travel Agencies. A lot of agents now work for online host agencies or at major agencies like American Express for corporate and personal travel. A lot of the programs wanted more money and they were a brick and mortar school.
When I came upon the Penn Foster online program and after reading through the literature knowing that they have Computer Reservation System training in either Sabre or Apollo I knew this was the program for me. I started the program this past July.
I really enjoy reading the textbooks and they are straightforward and easy to follow if you devote enough time for it. I set up my schedule to study for 2 hours max per day and I found that by doing the Self-Checks and then going to the answer key to tweak them really helped me to prepare for the end of the Module Exams. Most exams have 40 questions. So what I would do is type all of my answers for the Self-Checks and Exams on my computer and even write out the questions to help me to process the questions and to think about the answer while writing the questions.
I also took advantage of the Test Re-take policy and got high scores as a result. The motivational e-mails from the Penn Foster Student Services after passing each test really helped me to see that my success is noticed not only by myself but by my instructors and the Penn Foster Student Academic Department as well.
Learning Sabre is like learning a new language. For me it was challenging with entering in the answers to the Exam Questions. But the challenge was well worth the effort. There are many commands that you will learn over your 4 Sabre lessons and do be prepared to buy more time. The first 48 hours given by Penn Foster went by so quickly and I ended up buying more because I was trying to learn Sabre at a slower pace. There will be so many commands and having notes on the commands and features really will help you in preparing for the Exam. Be aware that you need to answer the commands on the Exam exactly or else it will mark it down as being incorrect.
Penn Foster has an amazing team of Student Services Staff and Instructors so if you have any questions they will do their best to answer them within 48 hours whether by phone or e-mail. Please be sure you use all the resources given to you.
What I like about Penn Foster is that there is no specific due date of when an assignment is due just a Program End Date. They give you enough time if you plan your study schedule out right you can complete your program at a pace that is right for you.
I worked from anywhere that has a reliable internet connection and only used the internet to download my Study Guides, Take my Exams and Access Sabre. The rest was done off-line.
If you feel that you are getting tired when reading then take a break. There is no race to finish the course and I urge you to pace yourself and have fun with the material. Just imagine when you work in the industry that you will need to reference back to the material presented so don't remember every detail. Even with Sabre or Apollo you will have access to reference guides both via the Computer Reservation System and at your agency. When applying for a job tell them that you are familiar with Sabre and that you know how to use reference guides and other resources if you forget a command.
On Sabre if you enter an improper command it will tell you and then give you the proper command you should have entered. Penn Foster is teaching you how to use the resources made available to you. I highly urge you keep all of your resources that you used in this program for your future career.
Don't worry about the outdated information. What my Instructor told me is that the Travel Industry is constantly changing. For instance yesterday American Airlines and US Airways merged some airlines charge for bag fees and others charge for meals. You just need to know where to go for the information as opposed to memorizing all of the Airport Codes, Ticketing Policies etc. It's better to research the information and give your client the right answer than it is to give them an answer form rote memory that could be wrong and cost them extra money as a result.
The TAP Exam is my next challenge but I know I will do well on it thanks to Penn Foster's resources.
Happy Holidays to all of you.