A Secretary's Duties of Making Travel Arrangements

A secretary's duties typically include making travel arrangements for her boss and/or other employees. Since secretaries are usually responsible for keeping the schedule for busy executives, they also take care of their travel plans and ensure the arrangements are taken care of, including hotel reservations and car rentals.

Planning to Make Travel Arrangements

Once a secretary discovers that her boss has to travel for business, she must learn the exact dates of the anticipated trip. If you are responsible for making travel arrangements for everyone in your department or office, you must determine if other staff members are traveling at the same time as well. Depending on the company you work for, you may have to determine the budget for the travel expenses or contact the accounting department to see if the money is in the budget for the trips. You must find out what hotels are in the area where your boss will be traveling, if she has any preferences, and get the costs and availability of rooms.

Making Travel Arrangements

Now that you have confirmed the days and number of people traveling, you must make the actual travel arrangements. A secretary's duties may include going online and making the reservations herself or contacting a travel agency with all of the details. Larger companies may have a travel department where the secretary only has to provide the proposed itinerary and the travel staff has the responsibility of actually making all of the arrangements. Your responsibility will also include reviewing the confirmation of the arrangements and ensuring they are correct. You must know if your boss has any seating preferences on the airplane, how many pieces of luggage will be taken and if any must be checked. The meeting or conference your boss is attending may require reserving her seat and you will probably be responsible for sending the RSVP on her behalf.

Completing the Arrangements

Another part of making travel arrangements includes taking care of the travel needs for your boss while she is away. You must know if your boss needs transportation to the airport or if she will be reimbursed for the cost of parking her car at the airport. You should provide a printed copy of the itinerary for your boss to use when she arrives at her destination so she will know her daily schedule and include the addresses of the hotel and the location of the meeting or conference. You can reserve a rental car in advance that will be available upon her arrival or arrange for the hotel shuttle to take her to the hotel. A secretary's duties when making travel arrangements includes ensuring that every aspect of the trip is covered.