Meet Ruth Rittmeister: 50 Years Selling Travel & Not About to Quit

When Ruth Rittmeister began her career as a travel agent more than 50 years ago, fam trips often lasted a month or longer; top agents were regularly flown in first class, and airline commissions could be substantial. Yes, times have changed, but she has no regrets.

Originally from Norway where she worked in atomic energy, Rittmeister, now 89 years old, came to the U.S. in her late 20s to spend the winter and ended up working for a Scandinavian travel agency.

“I told them I had no idea about the travel business, but took the job and soon realized I was born to be a travel agent,” she said.

Trip to the end of the world
Determined to see Hawaii before returning to Norway – “at that time it seemed like the end of the world” – she travelled to Honolulu, and never left. She married the general manager of the Halekulani, before it became a high-rise, and lived in one of its bungalows from 1955 to 1980. “It was a wonderful life,” she said.

Her Hawaii travel career began with setting up the worldwide division of Inter-Island Resorts, which merged with International Travel. She eventually launched her own business, A Touch of Class Travel, and later sold it.

Today Rittmeister works for HNL Travel Associates, a Virtuoso affiliate in Honolulu.

7-week fam
The experiences she has had as a travel agent seem almost unimaginable by today’s standards. “I once had a fam trip that lasted seven weeks. We went to Tahiti, Fiji, Tonga, Burma, Indonesia and Hong Kong, and I didn’t pay a cent for it,” she said.

Those extensive fams helped Rittmeister collect destinations. By 1962, she had qualified as a charter member of the Century Club, whose members have visited 100 countries. She now has 250 countries under her belt.

A changed business
Rittmeister has nothing good to say about the changes in the travel agency business that she’s seen over the years.

“It used to be wonderful to be in this business, and if you were a good agent you were spoiled. If I sold first class tickets to Europe and a few hotel nights I would get $900 commission. Today you don’t make a cent on air.”

That hasn’t stopped Rittmeister from continuing to sell travel. Her clients hail from across the U.S. She originally met many of them when they were guests at the Halekulani. Most are older, and many have passed on. Rittmeister also has some middle-aged and a few younger clients.

She no longer solicits business but gets everything through word of mouth.

And she leaves the air arrangements to others. “I do everything myself but no longer do air. I have someone here doing it for me. I don’t want to worry about the fare being one thing today and something different tomorrow. I pick out flights but do not check prices,” she said.

Her favorite type of travel to sell is cruises, because it’s the easiest. But she also loves selling safaris and booking trips when her clients let her decide where they should stay. “Then I create tailor-made itineraries with castles and villas and manors and they come back so happy,” she said.

“I have a beautiful pile of letters that I will read when I retire at 100. No, I want to change what I just said. I won’t retire until my brain doesn’t function anymore. I want to work as long as I can.”