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Get paid to visit luxury hotels and spas around the world—here’s how

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Get paid to visit luxury hotels and spas around the world—here’s how

Have you ever wanted to make taking luxury vacations your full-time job?

That’s the opportunity available with the newest round of openings at Forbes Travel Guide, which evaluates the best hotels, restaurants, spas and cruises in the world.

FTG dispatches evaluators to luxe properties around the globe, tasking them with remaining incognito as they inspect each destination and grade it on more than 900 standards.

The guide is looking for a number of evaluators in both full time and independent contractor capacities in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Once selected, the FTG inspectors will go through a comprehensive training to teach them to “behave like a normal guest” while carrying out their duties without any hotel employees or management realizing they’re being evaluated.

An important part of keeping up the ruse, says FTG President of Ratings Amanda Frasier, is that evaluators are in charge of planning all their travel to the destinations that they are instructed to visit.

“They make their own bookings, they check their own availability, they make their own reservations and pay on their own credit cards,” Frasier says. “We want our guests to think and behave like an average luxury traveler and carry out this role as if they were actually traveling.”

Evaluators are expected to travel at least 10 days each month, including on weekends, and must have valid passports for international trips. They should also make sure their drivers licenses are up to date.

“Having a clean and current license is helpful because some of the destinations we go to are remote,” Frasier says.

FTG inspectors are required to try food and drinks at the properties they visit in order to create a comprehensive appraisal. Though they don’t need to eat their way through a hotel’s entire menu, they need to have at least one sit-down meal, a drink at the bar and an in-room dining experience during each trip.

Because of the amount of travel and logistics required, the ideal FTG candidate is expected to be detail-oriented as well as located near a major airport. The annual salary begins between $60,000 and $70,000 and can increase with experiences and responsibilities, an FTG representative told Make It.

Being fully comped for each trip isn’t the only perk of the job. Because evaluators use their own cards when booking stays and travel, they accumulate a substantial amount of credit card rewards. For trips where a companion is required, FTG will cover their expenses as well

One thing that will disqualify you right off the bat? Having a robust social media presence. FTG prefers candidates who don’t post on social media, are comfortable maintaining a low profile and are even willing to “possibly reduce their online footprint.”

“It’s really important that every property has earned their way onto that list,” Frasier says, referring to FTG’s annual hotel ranking. “We train our evaluators to notice if things are unnatural and forced.”

You can view all of FTG’s openings here.

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