Becoming a Travel Agent

A travel agent acts as a travel advisor, working with clients to plan trips and make reservations. They serve as travel consultants, helping both business and pleasure travelers plan routes, schedules, accommodations, and performing various other travel-related tasks.

Education, Training & Degrees for Travel Agents

A high school diploma or an equivalent certification is usually the minimum requirement to qualify for an entry-level travel agent position such as a reservation and transportation ticket agent or travel clerk. There are several college majors which can prepare an individual interested in a career as a travel agent with a useful background in this occupation, including languages and liberal arts, which often includes courses in history and geography.

Some travel agencies give preference to applicants possessing a certificate or an associate's degree in management or business. Others require a bachelor's degree in a suitable discipline, such as business, management or liberal arts. There are a number of colleges offering online bachelor's degrees in these areas, making it easy for aspiring travel agents to obtain the proper qualifications.

In addition to an associate's or bachelor's degree, computer experience is often a prerequisite, as most reservations are booked online.

Other skills are typically acquired through on-the-job training and experience. For example, new hire airline reservation and ticketing agents are frequently required to attend official company training programs where they are taught such skills as ticketing procedures, relevant computer software, reservation procedures, passenger itinerary planning, and many more specific detailed skills. Travel clerks working for automobile clubs, bus lines, and railroads are generally trained via in-house classes as well.

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Job Responsibilities and Desired Skills for Travel Agents

The responsibilities of a travel agent usually depend on the type of position. For example, a travel agent working as a travel consultant will have entirely different tasks than an airline travel agent involved in booking. The basic responsibilities of a travel agent, however, usually include discussing travel plans with a client to determine the destination, travel dates and itinerary, preferable mode of transportation, financial considerations and constraints, and required add-ons, such as accommodations and car rentals. The travel agent who works in a travel agency will also most likely provide customers with brochures and publications, describe tour packages and promotional travel incentives offered by various travel carriers, make the appropriate bookings via computer or telephone, and collect payment for the transportation and accommodation reservations.

Some travel agents physically visit key travel destinations to assess the quality of the service for purposes of recommendation. Many larger companies outsource their travel reservations to a travel agency to save their employees the time-consuming details of researching and booking transportation and lodging for business travel, and to take advantage of discounts available to frequent users.

Travel agents can include ticketing agents, passenger booking clerks, reservation clerks, airport service agents, ticket clerks, and ticket sellers. They can work in independent agencies or for large hotels chains or airlines, and might be stationed in an office, airport, or train or bus station. Some agents work in storefronts and deal with clients face-to-face; others operate solely through phone, fax and Internet contact; and some agents operate their own freelance businesses, working electronically from their homes.

The successful travel agent must be sincerely interested in assisting people get the most from their travel experience with the least inconvenience, the fewest complications, and the lowest expense. Travel agents need to possess excellent communication skills in order to determine their clients' needs and to explain complicated travel, package, and discount restrictions. They should enjoy problem solving and should be adept at interpreting complicated and frequently changing transportation schedules. Flexibility and persistence are vital traits, as are basic computer skills. Personal knowledge of frequently-visited travel destinations is an additional bonus.

Travel Agent Salary Range and Employment Outlook

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 100,000 individuals were employed as travel agents in 2004, but employment prospects are expected to slow down over the next few years due to the automation of many functions typically handled by travel agents. These include "ticketless" travel, self-service ticketing machines at airport and railroad stations, and the increasing trend of individuals to book their own transportation and accommodation reservations through Internet travel sites.

However, not all travel-related passenger services can ever be fully automated. In addition, many people prefer to forego the time-consuming and often frustrating effort of arranging their own travel details, choosing instead to collaborate with an intelligent, concerned travel expert who is experienced and adept at solving problems. Because of these and other reasons, such as corporate outsourcing of travel booking to dedicated travel agencies, the role of the travel agent will continue to exist in the foreseeable future, however competition is expected to be strong.

Figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that the median annual salary of travel agents was about $27,640 in 2004, with a range running from less than $17,000 to a high of more than $44,000. These salary figures are often supplemented by bonuses and with free travel, which is a significant draw to some people.


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