The Guardian Angels of Travel
by Geri Bain
Clients often praise their travel advisors for their ability to arrange experiences they hadn’t even dreamed possible and to think through every detail so a trip doesn’t get sidetracked with unpleasant surprises like showing up at a museum that’s closed for renovations or learning that the train they’d planned on doesn’t run on Mondays. But it’s when things don’t go to plan—when a flight is canceled, a volcanic eruption shuts down airports or a war breaks out unexpectedly and travel advisors drop everything to jump into action—that they truly earn their status as guardian angels.
Here’s a sampling of interventions large and small, where thanks to their expertise, attention to detail, contacts and creativity, travel advisors saved the day for their travelers.
A PHONE CALL; A FIX
Rob Huie, Owner, Luxury Travel Services by Rob, was at a holiday party when his phone rang. It was his clients calling from a layover in Iceland as they were boarding their connecting flight for Switzerland. He had booked their hotel, but they had booked their own flights and had just realized they’d misread the time change and were arriving a day earlier than they’d thought and needed a hotel room for that night. “Don’t worry,” he told them. “I have all your information on file. Just check your email when you land.”
He was able to extend their stay at their chosen hotel (but had back-ups that they had considered in case it was fully booked). And better still, he reached out to their hotel to ensure that they wouldn’t have to change rooms. “I can only imagine how stressful it would have been to sit on a flight for six hours knowing you had to find a hotel once you landed,” he said.
AVERTING HONEYMOON WOES
Jamie Rumph, Owner and Travel Advisor, Love of the Magic Vacations, had a young honeymoon couple en route to the Caribbean for a Sandals Resort honeymoon when she learned that their resort had closed due to a hurricane warning. While they were flying to Miami, she worked with Sandals to rebook them. As soon as the couple landed in Miami for their connecting flight, she let them know that they’d be taking a different flight to a different Sandals resort on a different island.
“Knowing I had their full trust and that having a Sandals honeymoon was more important to them than the specific island destination, I felt confident rebooking them, she said. “They told me that they were so happy with the choice and even more so, that despite the hurricane, their honeymoon was saved!”
WHISKED FROM A WAR ZONE
Iman Childs, Founder & Travel Advisor, Booked by Iman, was leading a group of 58 church members on a private Globus coach tour through Israel when the October 7th attack from Gaza occurred. On their second to last day, they visited Mt. Scopus and took a group photo with the skyline of Jerusalem in the background.
Shortly after taking that photo, they heard bomb sirens go off and were told to sit on the ground. After about 10 minutes, they returned to their hotels to await news. That evening, Globus officially cancelled the remainder of the tour and they were in evacuation mode.
Childs worked with Globus to successfully get all 58 members of the group to Jordan. Once in Jordan, she made sure each participant secured a flight to the U.S. and coordinated airport transfers with the Globus Jordan team.
One of her clients wrote: “Iman was very professional and prepared our group well for our dream trip to Israel!…I was most impressed with her calm demeanor when war broke out…She worked expeditiously with our tour director to get us all home. I would travel with Iman anytime!!”
QUICK THINKING
When Catherine Addé, CTC, MA, an independent affiliate of TravelStore, heard about the destruction and airport closures due to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, she leapt into action. “My client was attending a workshop in Tokyo and due to come home in two days,” she said.
Addé said she always knows where her clients are when they are traveling and keeps an eye out so she can proactively deal with any problems they might encounter—from f light delays to major issues like this.
She phoned her client and advised her to check out of her hotel “now!” and get on the bullet train to Osaka, where a hotel room would be waiting for her. After booking the hotel, Addé saw that the Tokyo f light had been canceled and booked a new ticket for her to fly out the following day from Osaka via Honolulu to LAX. “The Tokyo Airport had been closed indefinitely and had I waited, seats out of Osaka could have been hard to find.”
The flight through Honolulu meant her client had to overnight there, so Addé booked a hotel room and included a reservation for a massage in the spa. “After all, she needed to unwind after all that travel chaos!”
ADVICE WELL TAKEN
“The night before my clients were set to travel the Caribbean to celebrate their anniversary, they called to tell me his mom was in the hospital and might not live,” said Sharon Strelzer, Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Made Special. “They were understandably distraught. I told them I’d take care of canceling the trip and they should focus on being with his mom.”
Strelzer was able to rebook the trip six months later with no added costs for the resort and less than a $100 surcharge for f lights due to a change in airfares. This was possible due to two factors, she explained. “First, my client took my recommendation to opt for cancel-for-any-reason insurance coverage so they were entitled to a full refund. And second, we had booked with one of my preferred suppliers so we had leverage in terms of holding to the original pricing.”
“My clients said they would be forever grateful that they could focus on his mom, knowing I’d take care of the trip, and also that they’d taken my advice about travel insurance.”
PEACE OF MIND
Amanda Klimak CTC, CTIE, President, Largay Travel, a Virtuoso agency, was about to head to bed when a news alert appeared on her phone that an earthquake had struck the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. She had clients there on a Tauck Tour and knew they were in Christchurch that day. Cell service was out, so she called Tauck for an update and learned that while her client’s hotel had been severely damaged, no guests were in the hotel when this happened.
“Knowing that my client’s loved ones may have heard the news and be concerned, she called their emergency contact, their elderly parents. They had seen the news and couldn’t have been more appreciative to know they were ok,” she said.
Since their possessions and passports were in the hotel, which was unsafe to enter, the Tauck emergency team arranged for a place for their guests to sleep and gave them money to buy toiletries and clothes. Commercial f lights weren’t operating yet, so they chartered a flight to get everyone to Auckland to have their passports reissued and secured flights home.
“The experience was a reminder of why we work with vetted suppliers…that have an emergency plan ready to go when disaster strikes and always have my clients’ best interest in mind,” Klimak said. “It also reinforces the value of monitoring my clients’ journey every step of the way, always thinking about ‘If this was me, what would I want to have happen.’”
A TRAVEL ADVISOR’S SUPER POWERS
Here are some of the tools that help travel pros work miracles.
Leverage with suppliers. Booking trips with “preferred” suppliers, many of whom I have personally met, means they will pay attention when I call with a request or a problem to be solved, said Strelzer.
Insurance: Travel can be a major investment. Having the right travel insurance is the only way to protect that investment. Far beyond actual trip costs, without insurance, expenses for medical issues and other unforeseen events can mount quickly, said Strelzer.
Trip monitoring. When my clients are traveling, I know where they are and what is happening in their destinations so I can proactively help them with any issues that might arise. Nowadays, there are apps and notifications that make it easier, but it’s something I’ve always done, said Addé.
Expertise/Creative problem solving: Expertise sometimes includes thinking creatively. For example, sometimes the answer to a canceled flight or a closed airport is using a different routing or different modes of transportation, said Strelzer.
Compassion. As a travel advisor, I am putting myself in my clients’ shoes journey every step of the way and always thinking about ‘If this was me, what would I want to have happen, said Klimek.
