Reservations agent vs guest services agent

The differences between reservations agents and guest services agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a reservations agent has an average salary of $31,591, which is higher than the $29,063 average annual salary of a guest services agent.

The top three skills for a reservations agent include reservations, customer service and booking. The most important skills for a guest services agent are reservations, computer system, and hotel services.

Reservations agent vs guest services agent overview

	Reservations Agent	Guest Services Agent
Yearly salary	$31,591	$29,063
Hourly rate	$15.19	$13.97
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	198,023	94,858
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	45	37
Years of experience	-	-

What does a reservations agent do?

Reservation agents, also known as travel clerks, are responsible for helping clients plan and book their reservations. They are often employed by hotels, resorts, airlines, car rentals, and travel agencies. A reservation agent may help clients online, over the phone, or in person. The agent's duties include making reservations, answering customers' questions, and selling additional products and services. Also, the agent processes payments and sends receipts and confirmation of the booking to clients. Individuals who aspire to this job must have excellent customer service and communication skills.

What does a guest services agent do?

Guest services agents are the ones who communicate with hotel guests who want to reserve or cancel bookings. Their job includes welcoming guests upon arrival, assigning them their rooms and suites, issuing their room keys, and collecting payment information. They organize housekeeping, transport providers, porters, and kitchen staff to meet the requirements of guests. They also resolve issues and deal with disappointed guests' complaints and coordinate third party services, including taxis, rental cars, tour guides, and airport transfers.

Reservations agent vs guest services agent salary

Reservations agents and guest services agents have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Reservations Agent	Guest Services Agent
Average salary	$31,591	$29,063
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $38,000	Between $23,000 And $36,000
Highest paying City	Urban Honolulu, HI	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Washington
Best paying company	HEI Hotels & Resorts	East-West Center
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Hospitality

Differences between reservations agent and guest services agent education

There are a few differences between a reservations agent and a guest services agent in terms of educational background:

	Reservations Agent	Guest Services Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Reservations agent vs guest services agent demographics

Here are the differences between reservations agents' and guest services agents' demographics:

	Reservations Agent	Guest Services Agent
Average age	45	37
Gender ratio	Male, 23.0% Female, 77.0%	Male, 33.6% Female, 66.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 23.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 7.0% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 10.3% White, 50.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6%
LGBT Percentage	12%	13%

Differences between reservations agent and guest services agent duties and responsibilities

Reservations agent example responsibilities.

Utilize OpenTable to take and manage reservations both from incoming calls and ones request online.
Manage computerized bookings and reservations, corporate and private account management, credit card authorizations, billing, and discrepancy resolutions.
Provide exceptional level of customer service to incoming callers while focusing on sales by booking reservations consistently and correctly.
Used signature sales techniques to determine needs of guests, rates, and upsell.
Book reservations for hotel rooms, cabins, RV areas, tent sites, and bunk house rooms.
Discuss financial data and clarify information to ensure correct data entry relative to the individual booking.

Guest services agent example responsibilities.

Train new associates to Hyatt standards and the most efficient way to accomplish the day's tasks.
Assist customers with booking hotel rooms and handling on-site complaints about rooms, service or billing issues.
Execute strong customer service by facilitating reservations, room amendments on an individual and corporate level, including agencies.
Process special reservation requests in the LMS database.
Maintain room booking lists and directly provide guests with the requested information concerning the facilities locations and surrounding area.
Operate the PBX equipment by accepting incoming calls, assisting outgoing calls, scheduling wake-up calls and supporting room service departments.

Reservations agent vs guest services agent skills

Common reservations agent skills

Reservations, 51%
Customer Service, 7%
Booking, 6%
Data Entry, 3%
Front Desk, 3%
Telephone Calls, 3%

Common guest services agent skills

Reservations, 24%
Computer System, 10%
Hotel Services, 9%
Cash Handling, 7%
Room Reservations, 7%
PBX, 5%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Reservations Agent
Reservations Agent vs Guest Services Agent

Updated January 8, 2025

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