Travel Agents
Plan and sell transportation and accommodations for customers. Determine destination, modes of transportation, travel dates, costs, and accommodations required. May also describe, plan, and arrange itineraries and sell tour packages. May assist in resolving clients' travel problems.
- Median pay
- $50,160
- Doing it now
- 61,500
- By 2035
- Up 0.2%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
5,900 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Collect payment for transportation and accommodations from customer.
- Converse with customer to determine destination, mode of transportation, travel dates, financial considerations, and accommodations required.
- Compute cost of travel and accommodations, using calculator, computer, carrier tariff books, and hotel rate books, or quote package tour's costs.
- Book transportation and hotel reservations, using computer or telephone.
- Plan, describe, arrange, and sell itinerary tour packages and promotional travel incentives offered by various travel carriers.
- Provide customer with brochures and publications containing travel information, such as local customs, points of interest, or foreign country regulations.
- Print or request transportation carrier tickets, using computer printer system or system link to travel carrier.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing OperationsSee 93 colleges that teach it
- General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing OperationsSee 88 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Leading and persuading
Organised and precise
Helping and teaching
Careers like this one
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel$69,990
- First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers$87,520
- Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents$78,660
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers$69,500
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants$76,590
- First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers$48,520
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $50,160 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.