BootsnAll Travel Community

If you had a high-level connection in travel/tourism, and therefore had a really good shot at getting any job you wanted, what would you do?

For example, would you work in a hotel to get hotel discounts? Would you work in management/corporate or something more front-lines like front desk or reservations?

Would you work in an airline to get their discounts, even though the industry is a bit unstable? Same question as above - management or front lines?

Would you pick something that has international locations so you can live abroad?

Or would you pick something at home that requires traveling abroad?

Would you be a tour guide?

What other options can you think of?

Work at the CVB/Tourist Inof for a city you love?

National parks?

Non-profits? (Yes, they exist, I work part-time at one now...)

Volunteer abroad company/guide?

This is all assuming experience, qualifications etc don't come into play - I want to know your IDEAL choice!

I keep thinking I would like to be a tour guide here in SF. Especially walking tours. If you've ever been out here, you know are hills are something else, and I would be in the most awesome shape. But just talking about a place I love once or twice a week would be fun.

My friend's sister does something in the industry, and she gets to travel all over and check out hotels to recommend to her customers. I think that would be pretty awesome. (in my experience planning events and doing site checks, the hotels totally pamper you while you are there...free, nice rooms, good meals, spa treatments).

I think it would also be fun to lead kids to different parts of the country and world. The more well-off kids get a new perspective of what life is really like, and the less well-off get to see things they may not otherwise.

If $$ and experience were no object, the fun that could be had would be immeasurable!

I'd want to do something where I could meet people and help people. I'd probably want to be a librarian someplace else, which is what I hope to do someday. Okay, maybe that didn't answer your question. I'd be a travel writer. I freelanced before, but maybe in a different sort of way.

I just got an e-mail from a friend who said she got a new job as....Director of Marketing for AAA Travel.

!!!

And she used to be my secretary! (For those outside the US, AAA is the Automobile Club of America....but they also have a huge Travel Services/Travel Agency division that includes all things travel and isn't limited to driving.) Haven't talked to her yet, but I can only imagine the friggin' perks.

Does she have any other marketing openings, NTFT?

Haven't talked to her yet Annie--and actually she's in SF--but you'll be in line behind me...........waaaaaaay behind me. I am by no means too proud to work for a former secretary.

Wow, what a question! I want to be a university professor, and ideally live abroad, though at the very least (since I'm studying Medieval Literature) I should be able to take holidays and sabbaticals in interesting places!

I wouldn't want to do something that involved changing locations too often, because I love travelling, but hate flying...

Kit

Senior Management at a major international airline.

That's actually one of my goals after I get my CA... I think it would be a really exciting job.

international airline pilot - actually working on getting hired at the moment, it's a long process though.

quote:

Senior Management at a major international airline.

oh, my new best friend.

traveling courtesan. actress. flight attendant.

I wish I could just suck it up and be a prof... but after 15 months of being a TA for these brats I've had enough!!!

I'd much prefer high school kids to college kids, but I'm not qualified to teach any high school subjects... doh.

Anyway, back to the discussion at hand...

I used to work as an accountant for an airline, the problem is the pay sucked so yes I could fly around for free but I couldn't afford to do anything.

Same problem here in the Outdoor Industry. We all get our gear for less than 1/2 price, but we don't make enough to buy any.

I forgot what post I saw this on, but there was a discussion about how awesome it would be to open a Bootsnall Hostel. I think that would be one of the coolest ventures ever!

Jen

NTFT-- AAA's office is actually right down the street from me... I pass it every day on my way to work.

How stable are any of these positions in the travel industry right now? Agents, pilots, flight attendants? Seems like a volatile place.

quote:

Originally posted by anniebanannie:
NTFT-- AAA's office is actually right down the street from me... I pass it every day on my way to work.

How stable are any of these positions in the travel industry right now? Agents, pilots, flight attendants? Seems like a volatile place.

Well, if you work for the nation's best airline (Frontier Airlines), who I worked for, you really don't have to worry.

I'd like to manage/own/run a hostel. Preferrably a seasonal one that I can close for 2 or 3 months of the year and hit the road.

quote:

Originally posted by anniebanannie:
NTFT-- AAA's office is actually right down the street from me... I pass it every day on my way to work.

How stable are any of these positions in the travel industry right now? Agents, pilots, flight attendants? Seems like a volatile place.

Maybe it's an age difference (though Annie, I'm not entirely sure how old you are) but I've been having this convo with people a lot lately. I was looking into an airline job and people were like "are you nuts?! they're all going out of business! blah blah" and I'm thinking... "so? Then I just get a new job..." Is this just my young non-life-committment frame of mind, or are there other people out there who don't think you should avoid a job you might like/be good at just because you might lose it a couple of years down the road. My thought at this point is that no matter what job I get right now I won't be there for more than a couple of years, so what difference does it make if I am out of a job because I quit or b/c the company went bankrupt?

Annie and Tracy,

The airlines are a volatile business. But my opinion is that's no reason to avoid them, if you really like the industry, your company, and the work. There will always be jobs for good people. Obviously if helps to do really well, have good reviews and great recommendations and contacts. So, if you go work for airline X for five years and are then dumped on the street, get up, take your good track record and contacts and go find a better company.

I have a number of airline pilot friends in their 40s who've been through some amazing ups and downs. One was with TWA for a number of years, was promoted to Captain and figured he was set for life. Then a year later TWA merged with American, and through that shake-out he found himself jobless after one more year. He then went to work for a charter airline, and within two years was laid-off yet again. He spent last summer in training, gaining new qualifications, and job-hunting and networking like mad. He was just hired this fall by World Airways, and is off and running again with a good company. Humbing? Yes. This is cliche, but with enough persistence and hard work, anything is possible. Takes a certain personality and resilience to deal with the ups and downs though. Some pilots do throw in the towel after a number of lay-offs and go be insurance salesmen and the like. That's just their persona.

Best quote about being an airline pilot: "A great job, but a shitty career."

Regarding airline companies: There are a number of good, strong, growing airlines out there. The strongest being jetBlue and Southwest. Cathay Pacific and many, many international airlines in Europe and Asia are doing quite well, too, so don't forget about them. The legacy US carriers (United, American, Delta, etc) are just set in their stodgy old ways and are not keeping pace with the changes in the industry. Similarites can be drawn with the PC industry in the early/mid 90s -- IBM was the leader, then Dell and Gateway among others moved in with a new, more efficient business model and almost put IBM out of the PC market because they were set in their ways as well.

Bottom line: get into it because you like it - not for money or stability - and have fun!

quote:

Originally posted by Tracy Ann:

quote:

Originally posted by anniebanannie:
NTFT-- AAA's office is actually right down the street from me... I pass it every day on my way to work.

How stable are any of these positions in the travel industry right now? Agents, pilots, flight attendants? Seems like a volatile place.

Maybe it's an age difference (though Annie, I'm not entirely sure how old you are) but I've been having this convo with people a lot lately. I was looking into an airline job and people were like "are you nuts?! they're all going out of business! blah blah" and I'm thinking... "so? Then I just get a new job..." Is this just my young non-life-committment frame of mind, or are there other people out there who don't think you should avoid a job you might like/be good at just because you might lose it a couple of years down the road. My thought at this point is that no matter what job I get right now I won't be there for more than a couple of years, so what difference does it make if I am out of a job because I quit or b/c the company went bankrupt?

I wouldn't worry about it, it's a fun thing to do but you're never going to be paid much. THe flight benefits are awesome. I've worked for three airlines and loved it.