Meet our #TravelHeroes – Interview with Natalia Semrał, Airline Cashier at WorkTrips.com

Step into the world of WorkTrips.com as we unveil yet another captivating interview in our #TravelHeroes series. This time, we have the pleasure of introducing Natalia, our Airline Cashier who brings a unique perspective to our travel realm.

Join us in this conversation as we delve into Natalia’s professional journey, the challenges she embraces, and her connection with the fast-paced world of travel. Discover how her role as a Airline Cashier involves not only managing flight bookings but also being a crucial part of our clients’ travel experience. We’ll explore her daily tasks, dive into the coordination of travel logistics, and lear about the passion for travel that fuels her dedication to providing exceptional service.

MATEUSZ: What was your first job?

NATALIA: I used to engrave jewelry during the holidays.

MATEUSZ: That’s quite an unusual profession. Where did you learn jewelry engraving?

NATALIA: I hadn’t done it before, but I can draw, and it turned out that engraving is similar, or at least requires the same skills 🙂

MATEUSZ: What was your first encounter with the travel industry like?

NATALIA: I worked in a hostel.

MATEUSZ: So, you came to WorkTrips.com with experience already :). When and how did this professional journey begin?

NATALIA: The experience from the hostel didn’t fully translate into working at WorkTrips.com, but indeed, it was my first experience in the travel industry. When did this journey start? A long time ago (laughter), I’ve been working for over 5 years now.

MATEUSZ: In that case, you know the company inside out. How did you come to WorkTrips.com?

NATALIA: At that time, I was actively looking for a job that would align with my interests. I sent my CV, participated in interviews, and even though I had another offer before joining WorkTrips.com, the opportunity to work in the travel industry was something that attracted me 🙂 That’s why I eventually decided to join WorkTrips.com, back when it was still Hotailors.

MATEUSZ: What position do you work in?

NATALIA: I’m an Airline Cashier, but I started working here as an Office Assistant. I handled office tasks, but I quickly managed to join the Customer Support team.

MATEUSZ: An interesting career path :)! How did you end up working as an Airline Cashier?

NATALIA: For this, we need to go back to the time when we didn’t purchase airline tickets at WorkTrips.com because we didn’t have access to the Amadeus platform, which allows this operation to be done on a large scale. At that time, we cooperated with an external Airline Cashier who supported us in making reservations. However, together with the team, we concluded that it would be faster and easier to do it internally. We delved into the subject and found that there were training courses available that teach how to independently buy airline tickets using the Amadeus platform. We got the green light to create a team of Airline Cashiers. I was one of the people who participated in the training. It turned out that the topic wasn’t easy, and working with the Amadeus platform, to put it gently, isn’t the simplest task :).

MATEUSZ: But I assume you succeeded?

NATALIA: Indeed, I managed to pass the exam, and we gained access to the platform. However, there was a lot of work ahead of us. Organizing processes, changes in teams, and most importantly, further deepening the knowledge related to working on the system. Booking tickets in Amadeus is completely different from what we deal with when buying a ticket on the WizzAir or Ryanair website. We work in the console using specific commands (cryptic) through which we can manage the reservations. You have to familiarize yourself with a huge number of abbreviations that signify specific airports, and every action we take requires entering the appropriate command.

MATEUSZ: I had the opportunity to see how it works sometime in the past. This interface looks more like a developer’s console, where they write code, rather than an easy and pleasant way to choose seats on a plane. In summary, you took a course and started working in your new position.

NATALIA: That would be a fantastic scenario, but that’s not how it was :). Access to Amadeus wasn’t enough for the entire ticket purchasing process for clients to be conducted internally. We had to meet a few more requirements. In the meantime, a pandemic broke out worldwide, which greatly disrupted the development plans of both the newly emerging team and the entire travel industry.

MATEUSZ: Indeed, for the industry we work in, the pandemic was a blow that couldn’t be avoided. Fortunately, the pandemic is behind us now, and the industry is recovering. So, let’s talk about your position, specifically about the daily tasks you perform. How does it look?

NATALIA: It’s a process. It starts with buying airline tickets, sending offers, but also providing a sort of advisory service, suggesting how to speed up parts of the journey or choose better connections.

MATEUSZ: How does your workday start?

NATALIA: I start by checking my email and Teams to stay up to date with any messages that have appeared. Additionally, I check the dedicated platform for Airline Cashiers, Amadeus, where I can review what has happened since my last shift. This includes reservations, cases that have arisen, or tasks that need to be taken over from people who are finishing their shift. This helps me understand the cases I’ll be working on. I try to prioritize everything, but often there are things that can’t wait, so there’s a lot of ad-hoc work with the “URGENT” status 🙂

MATEUSZ: Are there many tools you use in your work?

NATALIA: Not for me. In the Customer Support department, there are many more tools.

MATEUSZ: What would you say is the biggest challenge in your work?

NATALIA: In this job, it’s hard to know everything. The systems we work with are very complex. The amount of information to absorb is immense, and they’re not intuitive platforms where everything just “clicks.” Perhaps those with 15-20 years of experience have that freedom and certainty in their actions. Even though I’ve been in this role for a while, I’m still learning many things, and there are still many things I don’t know. Thanks to Gosia, who is the coordinator of our team, I’m constantly learning the intricacies of this job. So, to answer your question, I think a big challenge is continuous learning and facing situations I haven’t encountered before.

MATEUSZ: As I listen to what you’re saying, I have a vision of what you do, what tasks look like, but I also have an image of a person who is our customer. I expect there are moments when, on the other side of the world, a customer’s flight has been canceled. They’re frustrated, stressed, and want to quickly get out of the airport. I understand that some of their negative emotions might fall on you. I wonder, how stressful is this job?

NATALIA: Yes, that’s true. This job can be stressful for me. It’s probably an individual approach, and we know that everyone experiences stress differently and at different levels. There are situations where our clients have a layover somewhere and need to switch to another flight or change their mode of transportation. We often do their online check-in, and there’s a lot of time pressure, along with uncertainty about whether everything will go well, whether the check-in will go as planned, or if the flight will be delayed. I experience all of this together with them :)! There are also cases where we can’t do much more. In problematic or crisis situations that our travelers face, we have no influence on the decisions of the airlines or the airport service on the other side of the world. In such moments, I try not to take it personally because I know I can’t do anything about it.

MATEUSZ: So, how do you cope with this stress?

NATALIA: Our team is a big support for me. I can always discuss these stressful situations with them, analyze them, think about what could be done better. I try not to keep these situations to myself. Sharing them gives me a kind of release.

MATEUSZ: Does the idea of work-life balance resonate with you?

NATALIA: It varies, but I’m usually quite absorbed by work. I’m a person who has a strong sense of responsibility, and often, when I should be letting go, I open my computer in the evening and check what’s happening, whether the tasks I worked on during the day were done well.

MATEUSZ: So, more work than balance?

NATALIA: Currently, maybe more balance, because vacations in the business travel industry aren’t as “hot,” but during peak times, like the turn of the year, it’s more like work :).

MATEUSZ: Is there an aspect of your work that frustrates you?

NATALIA: I think the human factor is an element that can sometimes be frustrating. I also don’t like repetitive and monotonous tasks.

MATEUSZ: What do you value most in the travel industry?

NATALIA: Personally, I’m fascinated by the topic of travel, so working in this industry is a great fit for me :)!

MATEUSZ: Your best memory from WorkTrips.com?

NATALIA: Probably the time when we were developing the team of Airline Cashiers. Both the course itself and the people who participated in it. It’s something I will definitely remember for a long time.

MATEUSZ: Changing the subject and moving away from work topics. Tell me how you develop your passions and what you dedicate the most of your free time to?

NATALIA: If I’m not traveling, I spend most of my free time meeting with friends. I know it might sound unoriginal, but I genuinely have a great group of acquaintances that I love spending time with. I recently returned to photography and try to read books. Currently, I’m finishing Kapuściński’s biography. And as soon as I manage to find more time, I travel without hesitation.

MATEUSZ: Yes, we all at WorkTrips.com know that you’ve explored half the world! Tell me which directions you choose for your vacations? Share your latest journey.

NATALIA: What directions? It strongly depends on how much time I have 🙂 If we’re talking about a real vacation, not just a city break, I try to fly as far as possible. These trips, which I plan for 3-4 weeks, allow me to get to know and immerse myself in a different world. I can feel the atmosphere of a place, learn about the culture, and visit places that wouldn’t be possible during a one-week trip. Besides, when you’re in a country like Brazil or Argentina, you really feel the distance. You have this thought in your head – I’m far from home! That’s cool! My last trip was an expedition to Panama and Costa Rica.

MATEUSZ: Tell me, where have you been so far, which countries have you managed to visit? I’m thinking about these long distances. Not Czechia or Spain, because for you, that’s just a stone’s throw away :).

NATALIA: Oh, should I list them? Let me look at a map! Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Jordan, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Thailand, Georgia, Brunei, Egypt, Israel.

MATEUSZ: That’s impressive! Tell me, how do you do it!? Is it one planned trip per year?

NATALIA: No, not really. I always plan it so that I can visit more than one country on a given continent. For example, during one trip, I was in Panama and Costa Rica. Previously, Mexico and Guatemala, or Brazil and Argentina. If you’re already spending 12-14 hours on a journey, sometimes even more, it’s worth exploring more than just one all-inclusive hotel – that’s what I think 🙂

MATEUSZ: Of course! So, what do you have planned for this year?

NATALIA: Japan and South Korea.

MATEUSZ: So, you’re not slowing down, quite the opposite!

NATALIA: Yes, I’m moving forward! 🙂

MATEUSZ: I wish you all the best on your travel conquests. And, to wrap up, I’d like to ask you a question from the science fiction category. What would you say to yourself from 2005? 🙂

NATALIA: More courage, self-confidence, and distance.