Travel Ops Specialist at Hopper | GDS & Fintech Growth in Columbus
Career & Market Insight
This role sits at a mid-senior level within travel operations, requiring 3+ years of hands-on GDS experience (Sabre primary) and the ability to navigate complex multi-ticket itineraries, NDC products, and high-pressure escalations. For travel industry professionals, this is a strong career move into a fast-scaling travel fintech company.
Skills developed & market value:
- Deep GDS proficiency (Sabre, Amadeus, Apollo) — highly transferable and in demand across airlines, TMCs, and OTAs
- Escalation management and SOP writing — builds operations leadership credentials
- Experience with fintech travel products (Cancel for Any Reason, Price Freeze) — a niche, growing skill set as travel-fintech converges
- NDC/portal-based ticketing — increasingly critical as IATA's NDC standard expands
Company signals: Hopper is a well-funded late-stage startup ($750M+ raised), with 75%+ of revenue now from B2B (HTS). This signals maturity and stability, but the "entrepreneurial culture" and "small dynamic teams" language suggests it still operates with startup agility — expect ambiguity and autonomy in equal measure.
Green flags: Unlimited PTO, full health coverage from day one, strong company growth trajectory, and exposure to a global partner ecosystem (Capital One, Air Canada, Uber).
Watch for: Real-time queue monitoring implies shift-based scheduling — confirm hours and on-call expectations before accepting. Salary is listed as "competitive" without specifics, so candidates should benchmark against Philippine BPO/travel agency senior specialist rates during negotiation.
Travel Operations Specialist
About the Role
Hopper's Travel Operations Specialists sit at the intersection of customer advocacy and operational expertise — the go-to resource for CS teams and travellers navigating complex, high-stakes situations. In this role, you'll own escalation management across air, hotel, fulfillment, and rapid response channels, ensuring every customer interaction upholds the trust and loyalty Hopper is built on. It's a role that demands deep travel knowledge, sharp judgment, and a genuine commitment to getting the right outcome for every user.
What Would Your Day-to-Day Look Like
- Document and manage internal escalations, acting as the primary intake representative for incidents and drafting SOPs to prevent recurring disruptions
- Monitor multiple queues simultaneously — from automation errors to same-day voids and cancellations — adjusting priorities in real time as conditions shift
- Interpret travel advisories and coordinate workflows that process high volumes of schedule changes driven by disruptions or disasters
- Communicate directly with airlines, hotel providers, HTS partners, and Hopper customers via phone, email, and chat to gather the information needed to resolve escalated concerns
- Service complex bookings — including net fares, multi-ticket itineraries, and commission-based arrangements — often within the same PNR
- Support Hopper-specific products like Cancel for Any Reason and Price Freeze, applying sound judgment to unconventional scenarios
- Go beyond the playbook when needed — if a customer needs something you haven't handled before, you find a way
An Ideal Candidate Has
- At least 3 years of experience in a customer-facing or back-of-house airline or travel agency role
- Hands-on proficiency with native Sabre as primary GDS, with working knowledge of Amadeus and Travelport (Apollo)
- Solid understanding of fares, airline contracts, ticketing rules and regulations, and NDC/portal-based products
- Strong written and spoken English communication skills; French bilingualism (CEFR B2+) is a meaningful asset
- Familiarity with ticketing procedures across air, hotel, and ground transportation
- North American geography knowledge, with the ability to apply it to real booking and routing decisions
- The composure and empathy to handle difficult customer conversations professionally under pressure
- A learning mindset — you treat new challenges as opportunities and actively seek to grow your expertise
- Preferred: 3+ years at a leisure or corporate travel agency, with experience in complex exchanges, refunds, and both domestic and international reservations
Perks and Benefits
- Well-funded and proven startup with large ambitions, competitive salary
- Hopper covers 100% of the cost for employees, and up to two dependents, for employer-sponsored health insurance
- Hopper covers 100% of premiums for supplemental accident and life liability insurances, from day one
- Unlimited PTO
- Monthly internet utility allowance
- 13th month salary for Philippines (PHL) employees, paid in December
- Carrot Cash travel stipend
- De Minimis benefits: dependent medical, rice subsidy, uniform/clothing, medical assistance, and laundry allowances
- Entrepreneurial culture where pushing limits and taking risks is everyday business
- Open communication with management and company leadership
- Small, dynamic teams with massive impact
More About Hopper
At Hopper, we are on a mission to become the leading travel platform globally — powering Hopper's mobile app, website, and our B2B business, HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions). By leveraging massive amounts of data and advanced machine learning algorithms, Hopper combines its world-class travel agency offering with proprietary fintech products to bring transparency, flexibility, and savings to travelers globally.
The Hopper platform serves hundreds of millions of travelers globally and continues to capture market share around the world. The Hopper app has been downloaded over 120 million times and has become largely popular among younger travelers — with 70% of its users being Gen Z and millennials.
Through HTS, our B2B division, the company supercharges its partners' direct channels by integrating our fintech products on their sites or powering end-to-end travel portals. Today, our partners include leading travel brands like Capital One, Nubank, Air Canada, and many more.
Recent Growth Highlights:
- Billions of dollars worth of travel and travel fintech sold through Hopper and HTS channels every year
- Fintech products (Cancel for Any Reason, Flight Disruption Assistance) receive exceptionally strong CSAT scores
- Almost 30% of app customers purchase at least one fintech product when booking; consumers are 1.6x more likely to repurchase when fintech is added
- HTS now represents more than 75% of the business; partners include Capital One, Air Canada, Uber, CommBank, Nubank, and Flair Airlines
- Named the #1 most innovative company in travel by Fast Company
- #3 largest online travel agency in North America
- Raised over $750 million USD in private capital
Come take off with us!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this Travel Operations Specialist role fully remote?
What GDS systems are required for this role?
Does Hopper provide health insurance from day one?
Is French language ability required for this position?
What kind of bookings will I handle in this role?
