Lifestyle consultants and travel professionals
Amex Membership Travel Services (MTS)

Lifestyle consultants, and those with experience of the travel industry or servicing premium customers, will find a rewarding career with Membership Travel Services (MTS) at American Express.

The fast-expanding business supports high-net-worth senior executives who are premium card members, taking care of their travel and lifestyle requirements.

Successful candidates will join more than 2,000 colleagues globally who handle about three million calls per annum and who offer a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week service, coming up with ideas for gifts, arranging weekend breaks and longer holidays. They must always offer fresh ideas - and be careful not to make the same suggestion twice.

"We get about half a million requests globally to arrange a happy moment. They have time to enjoy the moment but have no time to arrange it," says Vincent Lai, director and head of MTS in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Successful applicants must be proactive and aware of the latest trends when MTS partners present new products, from dining and resorts to cruises and airline seats. "For people who enjoy talking to an elite group of affluent customers about options for their travel and lifestyle needs, this is the ideal workplace," says Lai.

As well as a passion for servicing customers, they should have an eye for detail. The job is all about problem-solving and requires an analytical and fast-thinking mind, good speaking and listening skills, and preferably a knowledge of several languages.

"We welcome graduates who have a passion for the travel industry and who see servicing as a career," says Lai.

A lifestyle team manager should have at least four years' managerial experience and sound knowledge of entertainment, fine dining, sporting events and the latest trends in luxury products. A lifestyle executive needs four years' experience in hospitality and servicing high-end customers.

Because the service model is telephone-based, experience in a call centre, or at least patience and good telephone manners, are appreciated.

MTS is also hiring travel professionals - at both senior and junior levels - with experience of working in a travel agency and using global distribution systems (GDS).

Fresh hires receive an intensive, four-week training in technical details, such as systems and processes, product knowledge, soft skills and customer understanding, followed by two months' on-the-job training. There are many options for long-term career development.