Travel agent Kelly Hutchinson has thanked a co-member of Travel Gossip for helping her save a booking to the Maldives that she feared she was going to lose.
Kelly, Director at Lay My Hat Travel, near Ipswich, Suffolk, spent a Sunday night trying to book an £11,000 family holiday that was on offer with Emirates, just hours before the price was due to go up – but she was struggling to get the flights to pull through.
She posted on Travel Gossip’s Facebook group asking for help and another agent, Kath McDonald – who didn’t know Kelly – read the post, offered to call her and talk her through making the booking on the Emirates system.
Kelly said: “It was a desperate situation. I knew the price was going to go up the next day. I thought I could easily book it on the Emirates system, but it wouldn’t work. The last segment was automatically defaulting to a different destination and it wasn’t making sense why. I couldn’t get hold of Emirates, and I thought I was going to lose the booking or was going to have to go back to the customer the next day and tell them the price had gone up.
“It was 9.30pm and I thought ‘let’s try Travel Gossip’ – to see if someone could help or another operator could price match.
“Kath saw my post, asked if I wanted to call her and talked me through it. She literally managed to help me get it up on the system in 10 minutes. It was such a kind thing to do, particularly as it was late at night, and she didn’t know me.”
The kind deed came to light last week when Travel Gossip asked agents to say what the group means to them, as it reached the 30,000-member mark.
Kath, a Personal Travel Consultant with Hays Travel, commented: “Someone called out for help on Sunday to get a big Maldives booking done. I didn’t know this lady, but she is a TG’er. I just knew what she was doing wrong, for the flights not to pull on Emirates, so I asked her to call me, talked her through it and she got the booking before the offers ended that evening.
“Nice booking for her, and then she dropped a message to say thank you. Nice to help out and nice to be appreciated.”
Kath’s kindness has been rewarded twice, first with a delivery of chocolate brownies from Kelly and secondly, her comment on the Travel Gossip post was chosen as one of 30 to receive a bottle of Champagne to celebrate the 30,000-member achievement.
Kelly said: “Thank goodness Kath saw my post on Travel Gossip – she saved the booking. Travel Gossip is brilliant – it’s my go-to if I’m unsure about anything and it’s such a kind and helpful community.”
Other agents who posted about what Travel Gossip means to them include Julie Amos, who said: “Love being able to have a group where you can ask questions from knowledgeable colleagues if it’s not your specialty area,” and Karen Smith, who said: “Love the fact we are all here for each over – it’s always a school day in this industry and having shared the experience and knowledge at our fingertips is amazing.”
Another agent said: “Having a network of experienced, like-minded individuals for guidance and support feels like a safety net. TG goes above and beyond by protecting, rewarding, and providing the resources needed to succeed. Thank you, TG – here’s to the next 30k!”
Travel Gossip Managing Director Bruce Martin said: “I’m thrilled to see stories like this, which highlight the amazing support within our travel community. I’m very proud of how Travel Gossip not only fosters kindness but also facilitates business by enabling agents to collaborate and solve issues quickly, benefiting both agents and clients alike. And Kath McDonald, what can I say? Absolute Travel Gossip legend!”
The post Agent saves big Maldives booking after Travel Gossip SOS appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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Kelly, Director at Lay My Hat Travel, near Ipswich, Suffolk, spent a Sunday night trying to book an £11,000 family holiday that was on offer with Emirates, just hours before the price was due to go up – but she was struggling to get the flights to pull through.
She posted on Travel Gossip’s Facebook group asking for help and another agent, Kath McDonald – who didn’t know Kelly – read the post, offered to call her and talk her through making the booking on the Emirates system.
Kelly said: “It was a desperate situation. I knew the price was going to go up the next day. I thought I could easily book it on the Emirates system, but it wouldn’t work. The last segment was automatically defaulting to a different destination and it wasn’t making sense why. I couldn’t get hold of Emirates, and I thought I was going to lose the booking or was going to have to go back to the customer the next day and tell them the price had gone up.
“It was 9.30pm and I thought ‘let’s try Travel Gossip’ – to see if someone could help or another operator could price match.
“Kath saw my post, asked if I wanted to call her and talked me through it. She literally managed to help me get it up on the system in 10 minutes. It was such a kind thing to do, particularly as it was late at night, and she didn’t know me.”
The kind deed came to light last week when Travel Gossip asked agents to say what the group means to them, as it reached the 30,000-member mark.
Kath, a Personal Travel Consultant with Hays Travel, commented: “Someone called out for help on Sunday to get a big Maldives booking done. I didn’t know this lady, but she is a TG’er. I just knew what she was doing wrong, for the flights not to pull on Emirates, so I asked her to call me, talked her through it and she got the booking before the offers ended that evening.
“Nice booking for her, and then she dropped a message to say thank you. Nice to help out and nice to be appreciated.”
Kath’s kindness has been rewarded twice, first with a delivery of chocolate brownies from Kelly and secondly, her comment on the Travel Gossip post was chosen as one of 30 to receive a bottle of Champagne to celebrate the 30,000-member achievement.
Kelly said: “Thank goodness Kath saw my post on Travel Gossip – she saved the booking. Travel Gossip is brilliant – it’s my go-to if I’m unsure about anything and it’s such a kind and helpful community.”
Other agents who posted about what Travel Gossip means to them include Julie Amos, who said: “Love being able to have a group where you can ask questions from knowledgeable colleagues if it’s not your specialty area,” and Karen Smith, who said: “Love the fact we are all here for each over – it’s always a school day in this industry and having shared the experience and knowledge at our fingertips is amazing.”
Another agent said: “Having a network of experienced, like-minded individuals for guidance and support feels like a safety net. TG goes above and beyond by protecting, rewarding, and providing the resources needed to succeed. Thank you, TG – here’s to the next 30k!”
Travel Gossip Managing Director Bruce Martin said: “I’m thrilled to see stories like this, which highlight the amazing support within our travel community. I’m very proud of how Travel Gossip not only fosters kindness but also facilitates business by enabling agents to collaborate and solve issues quickly, benefiting both agents and clients alike. And Kath McDonald, what can I say? Absolute Travel Gossip legend!”
The post Agent saves big Maldives booking after Travel Gossip SOS appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
