Where were you when the volcano blew?

We rarely hear of the behind-the-scenes customer service heroics of Certified Travel Counsellors during major travel disruptions. The world focuses on cancelled flights and long waiting times in airports. The press hones in on sound bites from travellers who endured sleeping on cold airport floors, being put on hold for hours on the telephone, and unexpected travel detours.


So when Eyjafjallajokull (aka "Kick-Ash" Volcano) erupted in Iceland, the ash cloud spread throughout Western Europe and then the Gulf Stream brought it to the northeast coast of North America. Some 95,000 flights were cancelled, causing chaos, backlogs and a lot of bewildered passengers asking “what are we supposed to do now?”


What were our CTCs doing?


Well...


Carol Campbell CTC (Certified Travel Counsellor) of Uniglobe Travel in Gravenhurst, Ontario said  "I had five clients stuck in Norway, England and France.  Using my skills and our airline reservation system, which shows the availability of just about every airline in the world, I was able to get every one of my clients home on the day that flights resumed.  Otherwise they would have all been victimized by the huge backlog that resulted from all the cancelled flights.  My colleagues and I worked all weekend and all hours of the day and night to keep their flights updated, as well as rebooking hotels, car rentals and rail tickets.  Getting clients home in any emergency situation is an art.  The airlines have demonstrated that they cannot handle these ‘crisis’ situations.  A travel professional can.”


Czarina Alikhan CTC works for another Uniglobe office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  She arranged  telephone connections from Europe to allow her clients to contact the agency or the emergency call centre. Czarina also contacted the client’s travel insurance provider to update them on the situation.  While the clients were in airline limbo—not knowing if their flight was cancelled or not-- Czarina arranged accommodations, and when the skies were declared safe for air traffic, she booked flights.  Czarina proudly stated that “most of all, I was able to give my clients the reassurance that someone back home was working hard to get them back quickly and safely”.


Kathleen Warren CTM (Certified Travel Manager) of Allison’s Travel in Windsor, Ontario, had seven clients booked to visit Italy, including hotel and car rental.  She and her staff checked flights all day until they finally were able to rebook all the passengers.  When the rebooked flights were cancelled, she arranged immediate refunds.  She repeated this service for other clients with destinations all over the world. Kathleen reassured her clients with regular updates. The clients did not have to sit on hold for hours on end to resolve their situation.


Whenever money, time, comfort, safety, peace of mind and enjoyment of the travel experience are priorities for travellers, a certified travel counsellor is the time-after-time, proven solution.


Find these Certified professionals and many others in Canada’s Directory of Certified Travel Professionals,  may be found at www.citc.ca/en/directory.