ChooseField
Quick answer · Balanced priorities

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks vs Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks: what changes?

Consider Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks if you want to accommodate hotel, motel, and resort patrons by registering and assigning rooms to guests, issuing room keys or cards, transmitting and receiving messages, keeping records of occupied rooms and guests'…. Consider Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks if you would rather make and confirm reservations for transportation or lodging, or sell transportation tickets. Both list high school diploma or equivalent; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks and Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences
What this means in practice

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Start with earnings, the route into the job, training, available openings, and a day-to-day reality.

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks

National median pay (2025)
$35,070
Route into the job
High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate
Greet, register, and assign rooms to guests of hotels or motels.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
35,500
Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks brief

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks

National median pay (2025)
$44,390
Route into the job
High school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience
No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing
One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate
Examine passenger documentation to determine destinations and to assign boarding passes.
Annual openings (2025–2035)
11,800
Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks brief
See scores, detailed data, and how the comparison works

How the national numbers differ

1

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks has the edge on annual openings

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks is at 35,500 annual openings, compared with 11,800 annual openings for Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks.

2

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks has the edge on median pay

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks is at $44,390, compared with $35,070 for Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks.

3

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks has the edge on projected growth

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks is at 2.5% projected growth, compared with 1.8% projected growth for Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks.

47.9/ 100

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks

vs
48.8/ 100

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks vs Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks

DimensionHotel, Motel, and Resort Desk ClerksReservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks
Median pay (2025)$35,070$44,390
Pay percentile2.3 percentile16.9 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)1.8%2.5%
Annual openings (2025–2035)35,50011,800
2025 employment264,600120,100
How you qualifyHigh school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensingHigh school diploma or equivalent; One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation groupJob Zone 2Job Zone 2
Related work experienceNo prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job trainingOne month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.One month or less of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks briefRead Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks brief

Try another comparison

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks vs Receptionists and Information Clerks

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
$35,070 · 1.8% growth
Receptionists and Information Clerks
$38,010 · -1.7% growth
Compare careers →

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks vs Court, Municipal, and License Clerks

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
$35,070 · 1.8% growth
Court, Municipal, and License Clerks
$48,700 · 3.4% growth
Compare careers →

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks vs Couriers and Messengers

Compare pay, growth, education, and the tradeoffs that affect the decision.

Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks
$44,390 · 2.5% growth
Couriers and Messengers
$39,200 · 8% growth
Compare careers →
ChooseField compares fields using public labor-market and professional sources.