Reservations agent vs travel agent

The differences between reservations agents and travel agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a travel agent has an average salary of $33,128, which is higher than the $31,591 average annual salary of a reservations agent.

The top three skills for a reservations agent include reservations, customer service and booking. The most important skills for a travel agent are reservations, booking, and AAA.

Reservations agent vs travel agent overview

	Reservations Agent	Travel Agent
Yearly salary	$31,591	$33,128
Hourly rate	$15.19	$15.93
Growth rate	-	20%
Number of jobs	198,023	34,166
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	45	51
Years of experience	-	2

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 travel agent do?

Travel agents help plan, choose, and organize travel schedules. Generally, they ensure that clients can efficiently process their travel plans and get the best travel experience possible. Primarily, they assist individuals, groups, and business travelers in booking their flights and hotel accommodations, buying tickets to events, and arranging their transport from one place to the other. They also provide recommendations for itineraries and offer travel packages from different airlines, hotels, or cruise lines. Travel agents can work as freelancers or mostly be employed by travel agencies.

Reservations agent vs travel agent salary

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

	Reservations Agent	Travel Agent
Average salary	$31,591	$33,128
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $38,000	Between $26,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Urban Honolulu, HI	Madison, WI
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Wisconsin
Best paying company	HEI Hotels & Resorts	Perkins Coie
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Technology

Differences between reservations agent and travel agent education

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

	Reservations Agent	Travel Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Reservations agent vs travel agent demographics

Here are the differences between reservations agents' and travel agents' demographics:

	Reservations Agent	Travel Agent
Average age	45	51
Gender ratio	Male, 23.0% Female, 77.0%	Male, 21.9% Female, 78.1%
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, 7.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 8.7% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	12%	17%

Differences between reservations agent and travel 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.

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Travel agent example responsibilities.

Manage corporate travel arrangements for business accounts, including passport and visa documents.
Book hotel reservations; recommend and cross sell hotel rooms for availability within the Marriott brand of hotels and resorts.
Service inbound calls using Sabre system by setting itineraries and booking new reservations, also including billing reversals or accommodations.
Create PDFs prior to being send to print vendors and edit sell sheets for product introduction mailings.
Assist all travelers with acquiring passport, passport renewals, and visa requirements on any international travel itineraries.
Create scripts to help agents process long driven formats in Worldspan, Sabre, and Amadeus for quickness and accuracy.

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Reservations agent vs travel agent skills

Common reservations agent skills

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

Common travel agent skills

Reservations, 30%
Booking, 12%
AAA, 8%
Credit Card, 7%
Travel Itineraries, 4%
Reservation System, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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