Although the eruption appears to be subsiding, airborne ash could still result in airspace restrictions. Passengers are still advised to remain in close contact with their airlines and travel agents for the most up to date news on the status of their flights and bookings, which may be subject to short notice timetable changes. As [...]

Maidstone based Travel Counsellor, Saffron Tennant, is flying high after being recognised for her outstanding customer care during the ash cloud crisis. Saffron was presented with the Penny Akam Unsung Hero in Travel Award at the 2011 Globe Travel Awards held at London’s prestigious Grosvenor House hotel on Tuesday night (18th Jan). During the ash [...]

A relatively new TC myself I was lucky not to have too many of my own clients stranded. However, I ended up coming to the rescue of a young family with a 19-month old baby who had booked themselves a low-cost flight and accommodation in Lanzarote online. The husband of the family books all his [...]

My customers of six years were due home on Sunday 18 April; I first contacted them on the Friday to update them on the situation. We text/phoned each other several times a day. I kept a constant eye on the airline’s schedule and relayed the information back to them. They met another family who had [...]

What a week and a half! I couldn’t believe it when I realised that my large group of 47 passengers were going to be stranded in Khartoum. The group were in Sudan to monitor the country’s elections and some had already experienced emergency flights out of trouble spots in Sudan….so the last thing anyone would [...]

Thursday 15th April 8am Receive email from head office that an ash cloud from a volcano in Icelend means UK airspace is closed. How bizarre! Need to contact my clients 10.30am Watch TCTV webcast for the latest news from head office. I’ve run a report in my Contact Centre and have a list of clients [...]

I went over to Calais yesterday morning to pick up a client of mine who had been stranded in Milan since Thursday. While he had been queuing at Milan Train station he met a lady who was in Milan for business, they managed to get tickets to Paris arriving on Saturday night but I was [...]

My customer’s were on one of the first flights which was stopped from leaving New York. They were actually sitting on the aircraft ready to take off when they were asked to leave the plane. They were rescheduled for the 17th back to Manchester. The airline managed to get them as far as Lisbon. I was really anxious [...]

5 Mums from Essex went on a 2 night break and it was extended by 3 nights after their flights were cancelled…I didn’t book them but they were referred to me by a long standing client. After being away from their husbands and young children for too long, they were so pleased to hear from [...]

One of my clients was stranded in Lanzarote and was meant to be back on 17th April…… as they had to be at Stansted airport to pick up their child who was returning on a flight from France (or not as the case may be). The return flight was cancelled with the airline but I [...]