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Travel Agent

$50,160
median / year
$34,610 – $76,660
what most earn per year (10th–90th percentile)

What the job actually is

Plan and book travel for clients, comparing flights, hotels, and tours and handling the details and changes.

You may also see this posted as: Destination Specialist, Travel Consultant, Travel Counselor, Auto Travel Counselor, Beach Expert, Corporate Travel Consultant.

Where you work

Agencies and home offices

The hours

Full-time, some part-time

The day to day

What you'd actually spend time doing

  • Collect payment for transportation and accommodations from customer.
  • Plan, describe, arrange, and sell itinerary tour packages and promotional travel incentives offered by various travel carriers.
  • 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.
  • Record and maintain information on clients, vendors, and travel packages.

Good fit if you like…

Enterprising

leading, persuading, selling, or turning an idea into action

Conventional

organizing information, following systems, and getting details right

Social

helping, teaching, caring for, or supporting other people

O*NET job zone 3 of 5

Medium preparation—often vocational training, an associate degree, or substantial experience—is usually needed.

Work styles that matter most

Social OrientationDependabilityAttention to DetailCooperation

Software that shows up in the work

Examples employers report—not a checklist you must already know.

Amadeus CRSMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookSabre Central CommandIntuit QuickBooks

By the numbers

May 2025 BLS wage & employment data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$50,160
per year
Hourly median
$24.11
per hour
What most earn
$34,610–$76,660
yearly, 10th to 90th percentile
Openings a year
~7,100
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
+2.2%
About average
Working in the U.S.
55,110
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

BLS estimates 11.2% of workers in this occupation are self-employed.

What it pays in your state

Statewide medians are a better starting point than the national number. Your city and experience still matter.

BLS state wage tables

How you get in

Typical starting education

High school / no degree

Training path: On-the-job training, paid.

Related work experience: None.

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training.

License or certification

No license required to start in most places.

You can earn while you train. This field has a genuinely paid pathway in — an apprenticeship, a paid academy, or employer-funded training — so you draw a paycheck instead of taking on debt to learn it.

Check the path where you live

Licensing rules and available programs change by state. These federal tools take you to the current official listings.

What it takes

PlanningCustomer serviceBooking systemsAttention to detail

The honest take

Online booking hollowed this out, but specialists in complex trips and groups still find a niche.

Standard Occupational Classification 41-3041. Pay and employment from the BLS May 2025 OEWS survey; outlook and openings from the 2024–34 employment projections; job context from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; tasks, interests, work styles, software examples, and job zone from O*NET 30.3. See something off? Tell us.