Baggage Porters and Bellhops
Handle baggage for travelers at transportation terminals or for guests at hotels or similar establishments.
Most important skills
- Service Orientation
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Transportation
- Sales and Marketing
- Education and Training
- Computers and Electronics
- Telecommunications
What the work involves
- Transfer luggage, trunks, and packages to and from rooms, loading areas, vehicles, or transportation terminals, by hand or using baggage carts.
- Supply guests or travelers with directions, travel information, and other information, such as available services and points of interest.
- Receive and mark baggage by completing and attaching claim checks.
- Greet incoming guests and escort them to their rooms.
- Assist travelers and guests with disabilities.
- Deliver messages and room service orders, and run errands for guests.
- Explain the operation of room features, such as locks, ventilation systems, and televisions.
- Maintain clean lobbies or entrance areas for travelers or guests.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (41.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (28.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (56.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Baggage Porters and Bellhops is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 52% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 85% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 50% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 68% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 98% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 60% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 87% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 52% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 6.34%
- Contact with others about half the time: 9.6%
- Contact with others most of the time: 20.37%
- Constant contact with others: 63.68%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 8.54%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 10.42%
- Important: 9.6%
- Very important: 21.43%
- Extremely important: 58.55%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 1.06%
- Limited freedom: 2.59%
- Some freedom: 58.56%
- A lot of freedom: 37.79%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 57.39%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.34%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 1.06%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 11.8%
- Every day: 23.42%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 15.34%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 35.28%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 2.11%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 30.43%
- Every day: 16.84%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 5.18%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 47.55%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.77%
- Every day: 27.49%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 8.99%
- Fairly serious: 16.75%
- Serious: 51.64%
- Very serious: 9.6%
- Extremely serious: 13.01%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 39-6011.00 · SOC 39-6011 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8