Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Check baggage and cargo and direct passengers to designated locations for loading.
• Provide customers with travel suggestions and information sources, such as guides, directories, brochures, or maps.
• Plan routes, itineraries, and accommodation details, and compute fares and fees, using schedules, rate books, and computers.
• Make and confirm reservations for transportation and accommodations, using telephones, faxes, mail, and computers.
• Contact motel, hotel, resort, and travel operators to obtain current advertising literature.
• Provide clients with assistance in preparing required travel documents and forms.
• Assemble and issue required documentation, such as tickets, travel insurance policies, or itineraries.
• Maintain computerized inventories of available passenger space and provide information on space reserved or available.
• Keep information facilities clean during operation.
• Provide boarding or disembarking assistance to passengers needing special assistance.
• Prepare customer invoices and accept payment.
• Assemble and issue required documentation, such as tickets, travel insurance policies, or itineraries.
• Examine passenger documentation to determine destinations and to assign boarding passes.
• Check baggage and cargo and direct passengers to designated locations for loading.
• Announce arrival and departure information, using public address systems.
• Trace lost, delayed, or misdirected baggage for customers.
• Determine whether space is available on travel dates requested by customers, assigning requested spaces when available.
• Plan routes, itineraries, and accommodation details, and compute fares and fees, using schedules, rate books, and computers.
• Confer with customers to determine their service requirements and travel preferences.
• Answer inquiries regarding information, such as schedules, accommodations, procedures, or policies.
• Inform clients of essential travel information, such as travel times, transportation connections, or medical and visa requirements.
• Open or close information facilities.
• Contact customers or travel agents to advise them of travel conveyance changes or to confirm reservations.
• Promote particular destinations, tour packages, and other travel services.

Skills

• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.

Abilities

• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.

Knowledge

• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Education

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

47110/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

22.65/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

3,210

Yearly Projected Openings

430

Personality

Conventional: People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines. They do well at jobs that need:

• Social Orientation
• Cooperation
• Attention to Detail
• Dependability
• Self-Control
• Integrity

Tools

• Airline ticket or boarding pass ATB printers
• Cash registers
• Desktop computers
• Magnetic stripe readers and encoders
• Notebook computers
• Personal computers
• Premise branch exchange PBX systems
• Public address systems
• Special purpose telephones
• Ticket dispensing machines

Technology

• Calendar and scheduling software
• Data base user interface and query software
• Electronic mail software
• Financial analysis software
• Internet browser software
• Office suite software
• Point of sale POS software
• Presentation software
• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software