TRAVEL AGENT

A travel agent may help someone book a flight or get a rental car for a trip to Disney World. Or he or she may help a traveler book a round-the-world cruise. These agents specialize in leisure (vacation) travel. Other agents specialize in travel for business people. This is called corporate travel. These agents help business people make reservations or plan meetings.

Travel agents may specialize in a particular type of travel. Some may help customers book cruises. Others work on-site for a large company or university, helping them book travel for their employees or students.

If you love to travel, you'll be happy to hear that the best part of the job for most travel agents is that they often get to travel for free. They go on familiarization or “fam” trips that help them get to know a new country, a new hotel, or a new cruise line. Usually these trips are paid by airlines, hotels, or cruise lines. These companies hope that if the travel agent enjoys the trip, he or she will recommend them to their clients. Although these trips are not really vacations, they are a good opportunity to see new places all over the world.