Travel agent: a guide for pros
What customers ask, how to win the job, and what to put on your profile.
Offering travel agent
You plan and book trips for travelers, comparing flights, lodging and tours and handling changes along the way. Your job is to make the itinerary correct and the rules clear before the customer pays.
What customers ask
- Can you find a flight that gets me there by a set time without a long layover?
- What happens to my hotel if my flight is delayed and I arrive late?
- Can you book the whole family on the same flight with seats together?
- Which parts of this trip can I cancel, and what would I lose?
- Do you charge a fee, and do you also get paid by the hotel or airline?
How to win the job
- On the first call, get the dates, the number of travelers, the must have items and the budget limits, then repeat them back to confirm.
- Send a one page itinerary draft before booking, with each leg, time and a field for the confirmation number, so the customer can check it.
- Show the cancellation and change rules next to each item in the draft, not at the bottom of the page.
- Put every fee, including your own, in the written quote with the date it is due.
- Check each traveler's name against their ID exactly as printed, and note the date you checked it.
- Call the airline or hotel to confirm special requests such as an accessible room or seat pairing, and record who confirmed it and when.
What to put on your profile
- List the trip types you book, such as family travel, group trips, cruises or business travel.
- Post a sample itinerary with personal details removed, showing how you lay out connections and deadlines.
- Name the suppliers and the routes or regions you know best.
Follow-up that helps the customer
- Check in before the trip to remind the customer of document deadlines, check in times and any booking that needs action.
- Offer to watch for flight changes during the trip if the customer wants that, and say clearly what you will and will not do.
- After the trip, ask what worked and what to fix, and save the preferences for the next booking.
Licenses and permits
Travel agent work is usually not licensed. Have your business registration, a written fee and commission policy, and professional liability insurance in place, and check your state or local rules for any business requirements.
Questions
Do I need a certificate to start?
Usually not for travel agent work, though some suppliers and booking networks have their own training and account requirements. Check with each supplier you plan to book through.
How do I make sure a customer understands the rules?
Put every cancellation and change rule in writing next to the booking, and ask the customer to confirm they read it before you take payment.
What if a customer blames me for an airline change?
Keep a record of what you booked, when you booked it and what the supplier told you. Explain what you can do and what the supplier decides.
Pro reviewers
Pros who offer travel agent remotely can improve this guide, like Wikipedia. We check every edit before it goes live. Every approved edit is credited in the edit history and on the pro's profile.
Edit history
- Oct 29, 2026: Drafted by infinibell to our content guidelines.
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