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THE DAILY LIFE OF THE HUMBLE TRAVEL AGENT

We've all seen that meme floating around the internet that shows the difference between the image and reality of being a travel agent. And as it rightly points out, travel agents DO NOT get to travel all the time...

We’ve all seen that meme floating around the internet that shows the difference between the image and reality of being a travel agent. And as it rightly points out, travel agents DO NOT get to travel all the time…

In case you haven’t seen it, I’m talking about this one:

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So if agents aren’t travelling around the world and getting paid for it, what is it that they actually do?

Well, a stock-standard day in the life of a travel agent kinda goes a little like this…

 

9am to 10am

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Most agents will rock up to the office during this time, still a little sleepy and boozed up from the night before.

With a coffee in hand from their local cafe, they’ll instantly open up Gmail and scan the inbox for important emails. Important can mean both good and bad: good if it’s from a prospect confirming they’ll like to go ahead with the booking; bad if it’s from a client saying that they’ve just rocked up to their Bangkok hotel only to find no booking under their name…

 

10AM TO 12PM

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Officially the start of the work day, many agents will actually be spending the initial part of this work period checking Facebook, making personal calls or going for another coffee run.

But by about 11am they’ll be stuck into their bookings. Follow-up calls will be made, emails will be responded to, and by about 12pm they’ll be under the pump as clients on lunch break will start calling or dropping by to finalise their bookings.

 

12PM TO 3PM

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This is the busiest period of the day for the travel agent. Most of this time will probably be spent waiting on hold with wholesalers, sitting down with walk-in prospectives, responding to email and phone enquiries, and trying to somehow get away from the office for a well desereved lunch break.

Unfortunately, most agents won’t be able to tear themselves away from the conveyor belt of inquiries for a lunch break until about 2pm or 3pm. And even if they do, they’ll most likely have to scoff down their panini or Chinese stir-fry in the backroom before sitting back on the chair and serving another customer.

 

3PM TO 5PM

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Around this time, visions of an afterwork drink will begin flooding the mind, and travel agents will have trouble concentrating without another coffee run.

This period of the day will see agents finalising quotes, processing payments, calling wholesalers to confirm bookings, and dealing with the odd tyre-kicker killing time before their partner finishes work or the kids need to be picked up from school.

 

5PM TO 6PM

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As the day wraps up for the day, agents will most definitely be making plans for an after-work beer with their colleagues and joking around about the walk-in earlier that day who honestly thought the sign for “Los Angeles, 3 nights for $149” included flights.

The final minutes of the day will be spent frantically trying to solve issues that inevitably arrise during the day. Hopefully everything gets resolved before the official end of the day, but usually the agent has to stay back to fix everything.

If it’s been a good day, agents will kick back in their chair, calculate the day’s commissions, and start making jokes around the office. But if the day’s been bad, you often won’t hear from them as they struggle under a mountain pile of work.

 

6PM TO ???

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The work day is now officially over, and it’s time for agents to do what they like to do best: drink!

Of course, there are other activities that fill up the agent’s after work schedule, but most involve alcohol, and after another stressful day in the office it’s totally to be expected.

During this time it’s also common for agents to check, and re-check, their work emails.

Most agents aim to be in bed by 11pm or midnight and chug at least a litre of water before entering the covers. Depending on how the day went, their dreams will either be of that sexy agent they met at the industry event they just attended, or they’ll have a Flightmare – poor things!

What does an average day look like for you? Let us know in the comments below!