When the world started to shut down due to COVID-19, I posted an update on Facebook saying I was willing to assist anyone having trouble getting home. I was contacted by a client shortly after, who asked if I could help her friend’s parents and brother get home safely. Of course, I said yes.
She called me and explained that her mum, dad and brother had a cruise finish early. The company had flown them from Lisbon to London and they were rebooked to come home in a couple of days, however, the booking number they were given only had one passenger on it. The travellers had spent hours on the phone to the airline only to be cut off, while their family at home were told that they could not receive information about a booking that wasn’t theirs.
By the time they called me, they had been trying to get information from the airline for about two days. They shared their situation and booking information with me, and with those details, I was able to contact the airline and receive the missing information for the other two passengers. The information they had spent two days unsuccessfully chasing took me 30 minutes to obtain.
With the correct flight information in hand, they flew back to Australia, completed their quarantine period and returned home. I’m glad I was able to help bring them and others stranded travellers home safely.
Much to my surprise, the family graciously thanked me on Facebook and with a lovely Easter hamper sent to my home. As it turned out, the woman I helped bring home was someone I knew. We used to play netball together many moons ago!
Carolyn Burgmann is a personal travel manager based in Bowen Mountain, NSW.
Carolyn Burgmann
We at Travel Managers Australia recognise the traditional owners of the country where we live and work. We recognise and celebrate the diversity of Indigenous people and their enduring cultures and connections to the land and waters of New South Wales.
