Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks


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. They also may arrange travel accommodations.

Related news articles
E-ticketing to be used on all internal flights - 16 Oct 2006
China Daily,..."We haven't received notice from the CATA that paper tickets for international flights will be stopped," said He Hua, a ticket agent in Beijing. ...

OC woman puzzled why her name appears on watch list - 16 Oct 2006
OCRegister,So she approached a ticket agent at the Southwest Airlines counter, where she learned her name had apparently been red-flagged. ...

On-line Lotto ticket agent loses court battle - Oct 6, 2006
Independent Online,The Pretoria High Court on Thursday interdicted On-Line Lottery Services from infringing and passing off its business by using the trademark LottoFun. ...

Air Traveler's Name Is Extra Baggage - Oct 15, 2006
Los Angeles Times,Two weeks ago, when she flew to Wichita for her 50th high school reunion, McCabe said, a ticket agent asked if she was Mary McCabe from Burlingame but did not ...

Future is hanging up on the state's payphone industry - Oct 15, 2006
NewsOK.com (subscription),While pay phone use may be dwindling at other locations around the state, the phones at the bus station get constant use, said ticket agent Robert Bocock. ...

High and dry at KCI and beyond - Oct 15, 2006
Lawrence Journal World,...rules, I left my water bottle in the car and packed all my lotions, potions and gels in a small suitcase that I surrendered to the ticket agent, even though I ...

Doug Moe: 'No-Fly List' snares average Joes - Oct 7, 2006
The Capital Times,Nelson said his problems began early at LAX. At the check-in counter, the ticket agent seemed to be taking an inordinately long time. ...

City works to stop train station vandalism - Oct 14, 2006
Rocky Mount Telegram,The panic doors will allow the ticket agent to monitor all incoming traffic into the train station, which may deter some people from entering, Varney said. ...

Frequent Flier Miles Problem Investigated - Oct 9, 2006
WSBtv.com,...partner airline, Alitalia. They cancelled her first flight, and news from the ticket agent in Shang Hai only got worse. "I said ...

Security Upgrade for Rochester Airport - Oct 10, 2006
WROC,You are going to go up to your ticket counter, you are going to hand your ticket agent your bag and it's going to go on a conveyer behind there and you're not ...

A's fans treasure memorabilia - Oct 10, 2006
San Jose Mercury News,...the room. "I'm not the rah-rah-type fan out in public. I just love baseball," said Davis, an Amtrak ticket agent. "It's more meaningful ...

Greyhound employee labeled man "thug," suit says - Oct 6, 2006
West Virginia Record,Mark Blanks filed the suit Sept. 28 in Kanawha Circuit Court and says a ticket agent he believes named "Rose" called him a "thug.". ...

Montenegro: An emerging Balkan understudy to the Riviera - Oct 1, 2006
Inside Bay Area,The ticket agent gave me the name of a travel agency in Montenegro — Luminalis — that arranged my airport transfers and accommodations. ...

Medan airlines raise prices ahead of Idul Fitri exodus - Oct 12, 2006
Jakarta Post,...navy officers and 20 policemen. A ticket agent at Polonia Airport, Johan, confirmed the increase in airfares. He said Lion Air's ...

COUNTDOWN TO GRADUATION: A first and final homecoming - Oct 10, 2006
Detroit Free Press,..."It's important to put some responsibility on the kids and not always give, give, give," says Cano, who also works part time as a ticket agent for Northwest ...

Is that THE 'Joe Johnson'? - Oct 12, 2006
Times-Standard,Don Johnson, 67, said that when he and his wife Lou, 70, scheduled the trip with their son, Joe Johnson, 34, they were told by their ticket agent in San ...

Europe in a nutshell: respect culture & earn respect in return - Oct 3, 2006
Reno Gazette Journal,In Vienna, we bought tickets for a tram to Old Town. We asked for a round trip. “We don’t sell round trip,�? said the curt ticket agent. ...

Roommate pays for sins of a light-fingered guest - Sep 30, 2006
Houston Chronicle,...player. Q: A friend and I were returning from Paris. An Air France ticket agent offered me a free upgrade to business class. I refused ...

Satire: Flustered Bush misses Air Force One flight - Oct 4, 2006
CNNA ticket agent did eventually arrange an itinerary to get the president to Boise, first putting him on a shuttle flight aboard Marine One to Pittsburgh, where ...






More information on Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks from The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook
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Working conditions for Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks
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Training requirements for Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks




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