When her client was unable to get back to Australia, from Atlanta Airport in the US, due to severe storms and tornado warnings, Sarah Bird, a TravelManagers personal travel manager from Casino in northern NSW, did what any self-respecting agent would, and helped her client get home, without hesitation and with her work cut out for her!
In the process, Bird’s client was chatting with a fellow passenger and Aussie, Abby Moore, who was travelling with her father and was in the same predicament. Having booked their airfares with an OTA, unlike Bird’s client, Abby and her dad were left without any meaningful assistance from either the OTA or the airline ground staff to help them get home to Cairns.
So, showing a great deal of common sense, Abby contacted that personal travel manager – Sarah Bird!
“I was recommended to contact Sarah by a fellow passenger at the airport after our flight was cancelled and I was left with no idea with what to do. Sarah worked tirelessly and rebooked my father’s and my flights home within an hour, and continued to check up on me during the weekend. Sarah provided excellent service with very short notice,” Abby said.
Bird spent most of the weekend on the phone and email to resolve Abby and her father’s travel woes.
“The situation was not entirely straightforward as the original arrangements I had spent time working on got cancelled again by the airline,” Bird said.
According to Michael Gazal, TravelManagers’ Executive General Manager, Sarah Bird and Abby Moore’s story clearly demonstrates the personal travel manager model, with its blend of online presence and personal service.
“Emergencies, natural disasters and flight cancellations do not always happen conveniently between 9am and 5pm weekdays as this situation shows. The ability to work anytime, day or night truly shows that our personal travel managers really offer a superior level of personal service and flexibility to any client.
“This type of personal service is invaluable and is indicative of our 500 personal travel managers across Australia.”
A ‘perfect storm’, and Bird’s exceptional service for a stranger, happily also yielded a client for life!
“I will never book another overseas trip without Sarah. I thought it would be fine to book my arrangements without a travel professional, but after experiencing Sarah’s incredible skills and expertise I realise just how great it is to have someone to answer your questions, and solve any hiccups in record time. Ten out of ten I will recommend Sarah. She saved my holiday from the other side of the world, I can’t thank her enough,” Abby said.
Personal Travel Manager – Sarah Bird
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