Each year, millions of Americans travel by plane, train, ship, bus, and automobile. Many of these travelers rely on the services of reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks, who perform functions as varied as selling tickets, confirming reservations, checking baggage, and providing tourists with useful travel information.
Most reservation agents work for large hotel chains or airlines, helping people to plan trips and make reservations. They usually work in large reservation centers, answering telephone or e-mail inquiries and offering suggestions and information about travel arrangements, such as routes, schedules, rates, and types of accommodation. Reservation agents quote fares and room rates, provide travel information, and make and confirm transportation and hotel reservations. Most agents use proprietary networks to obtain, as quickly as possible, information needed to make, change, or cancel reservations for customers.
Transportation ticket agents are sometimes known as passenger service agents, passenger booking clerks, reservation clerks, airport service agents, ticket clerks, or ticket sellers. They work in airports, train, and bus stations, selling tickets, assigning seats to passengers, and checking baggage. In addition, they may answer inquiries and give directions, examine passports and visas, or check in pets. Other ticket agents, more commonly known as gate or station agents, work in airport terminals, assisting passengers boarding airplanes. These workers direct passengers to the correct boarding area, check tickets and seat assignments, make boarding announcements, and provide special assistance to young, elderly, or disabled passengers when they board or disembark.
Most travel clerks are employed by membership organizations, such as automobile clubs. These workers, sometimes called member services counselors or travel counselors, plan trips, calculate mileage, and offer travel suggestions, such as the best route from the point of origin to the destination, to club members. Travel clerks also may prepare an itinerary indicating points of interest, restaurants, overnight accommodations, and availability of emergency services during a trip. In some cases, they make rental car, hotel, and restaurant reservations for club members.
Passenger rate clerks generally work for bus companies. They sell tickets for regular bus routes and arrange nonscheduled or chartered trips. They plan travel routes, compute rates, and keep customers informed of appropriate details.
Applicants for reservation and transportation ticket agent jobs are likely to encounter considerable competition, because the supply of qualified applicants exceeds the expected number of job openings. Entry requirements for these jobs are minimal, and many people seeking to get into the airline industry or travel business often start out in such positions. The jobs provide excellent travel benefits, and many people view airline and other travel-related jobs as glamorous.
Employment of reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2012. Although a growing population will demand additional travel services, employment of these workers will grow more slowly than this demand because of the significant impact of technology on productivity. Automated reservations and ticketing, as well as “ticketless” travel, for example, are reducing the need for some workers. Most train stations and airports now have satellite ticket printer locations, called kiosks, that enable passengers to make reservations and purchase tickets themselves. Many passengers also are able to check flight times and fares, make reservations, and purchase tickets on the Internet. Nevertheless, not all travel-related passenger services can be fully automated, primarily for safety and security reasons. As a result, job openings will continue to become available as the occupation grows and as workers transfer to other occupations, retire, or leave the labor force altogether.
Employment of reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks is sensitive to cyclical swings in the economy. During recessions, discretionary passenger travel declines, and transportation service companies are less likely to hire new workers and may even resort to layoffs.
.For information about job opportunities as reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks, write the personnel manager of individual transportation companies. Addresses of airlines are available from:
Most reservation agents work for large hotel chains or airlines, helping people to plan trips and make reservations. Reservation agents quote fares and room rates, provide travel information, and make and confirm transportation and hotel reservations. Transportation ticket agents are sometimes known as passenger service agents, passenger booking clerks, reservation clerks, airport service agents, ticket clerks, or ticket sellers. They work in airports, train, and bus stations, selling tickets, assigning seats to passengers, and checking baggage. Other ticket agents, more commonly known as gate or station agents, work in airport terminals, assisting passengers boarding airplanes.
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They are employed by bus and railway companies, steamship lines, boat cruise operators, and other public transit establishments and by travel wholesalers. Employment requirements Completion of secondary school is usually required. Up to ten weeks of training is provided. Additional information Progression to supervisory positions is possible through experience. Ticket agents and cargo agents may perform the same duties depending on the size and location of the operations.
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Many of these travelers rely on the services of reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks. These ticket agents and clerks perform functions as varied as selling tickets, confirming reservations, checking baggage, and providing tourists with useful travel information. Most reservation agents work for large hotel chains or airlines, helping people plan trips and make reservations. Transportation ticket agents are sometimes known as passenger service agents, passenger-booking clerks, reservation clerks, airport service agents, ticket clerks, or ticket sellers. Passenger rate clerks generally work for bus companies.
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Travel Agent Travel Agent What does a Travel Agent do. Travel Agents provide travel information and make travel arrangements which meet the client's budget, interest, and time. They use timetables, travel manuals, and rate books to plan routes, compute ticket costs, verify arrival and departure times, as well as seating space. They spend a great deal of their time talking on the telephone and using a computer terminal. Some employ Travel Clerks to handle travel arrangements for their employees.
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Who are these people working tirelessly to find you the best deal. How do they know which vacation package is right for you. Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks are masters at helping people complete their travel plans. They make sure everything about a vacation is a go. Satisfied customers who keep coming back for more.
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Most reservation agents work for large hotel chains or airlines, helping people to plan trips and make reservations. Reservation agents quote fares and room rates, provide travel information, and make and confirm transportation and hotel reservations. Transportation ticket agents are sometimes known as passenger service agents, passenger booking clerks, reservation clerks, airport service agents, ticket clerks, or ticket sellers. Other ticket agents, more commonly known as gate or station agents, work in airport terminals, assisting passengers boarding airplanes. Passenger rate clerks generally work for bus companies.
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Industry consolidation and increasing use of the Internet to book travel will result in a decline in the employment of travel agents. To sort out the many travel options, tourists and business people often turn to travel agents, who assess their needs and help them make the best possible travel arrangements. Also, many major cruise lines, resorts, and specialty travel groups use travel agents to promote travel packages to millions of people every year. More than 8 out of 10 agents worked for travel agencies. Experienced travel agents can take advanced self-study or group-study courses from the Travel Institute that lead to the Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) designation.
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Will they survive. Air 2000 to be renamed First Choice Airways. As the chartshows if you think that the large travel agents are in business to give the widest possible choice and unbiased advice. HIGH STREET AGENTS Many of the counter staff will be inexperienced, poorly paid computer clerks. If you really want a wider choice and compare prices you will be forced to visit their other three high street rivals yourself.
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Amateurs who have attempted to arrange their own airfare, hotel accommodations, or vacation schedule know that can be frustrating and fruitless without the insider savvy of a travel agent. But travel agents don't just book reservations. At their fingertips, they possess computer-based airline codes to determine departure and arrival times and have often traveled to the same resorts and cities that they recommend to their clients. The training required to become a travel agent is highly specialized; many agents have certifications from six- to twelve-week college or continuing education courses. This is something that is never stable for agents entering the job market, since the travel industry is easily upset by economic fluctuations and international political crises.
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