ATLANTA -- Agents attending Delta Vacations' annual agent
appreciation and education event over the weekend said that they were still
working overtime to help clients impacted by Hurricane Irma, and that their extra
efforts are garnering them praise.
"If you didn't have a travel agent, you were out of
luck," said Corrine Mutarelli, president of Bronx, N.Y.-based Travel World
Showcase. Mutarelli helped move a 12-person bachelor party from Miami to Las Vegas,
and said Delta Vacations didn't charge anything extra to do so.
She was thanked
with flowers from other clients she assisted.
Jennifer Doncsecz, president of Bethlehem, Pa.-based VIP
Vacations, said that a family in Turks and Caicos was desperate to get their
father home for a dialysis treatment or his life would be in danger. Doncsecz said
she managed to get the father home in time for the treatment and ultimately got
the rest of the family home, too.
Jennifer Doncsecz
She also said honeymooners originally headed to the Sandals
Grande Antigua were rebooked at a Sandals in St. Lucia, but then they needed an
alternative route to get there. In Miami, numerous flights were canceled after the
airport reopened after Irma. Doncsecz found a work-around.
"They have said over and over again, 'You guys were
wonderful. We haven't had to worry about a thing. We knew you were going to
take care of it,'" said Doncsecz. "It showcased what we could do."
She said travel agents should highlight these stories and
communicate them to travelers on social media. Mutarelli said she marketed
herself by helping travelers who weren't clients, potentially gaining new
customers.
"When you have an advocate and don't have to worry, you
can have that peace of mind to either enjoy your vacation or know you're going
to get home soonest because of your advocate," said Michelle Masterenko
with Riverside, Calif.-based Far Horizons Travel. "You don't have to be on
the phone all night or waiting in lines."
Agents said that their contacts with airlines paid off, as
they could secure a change fee waiver when the airline's hurricane waiver
policy didn't apply. They said that in such situations, they quickly find out
which supplier partners are reliable and which are not. They said they could
rely on Delta Vacations but didn't name the suppliers that they were less
pleased with.
Now, they said, the real work begins. Having gotten through
the initial crisis of the devastating hurricanes, agents need to assist clients
who have booked vacations in destinations that may or may not be ready to
accommodate tourists. They need to provide reliable information.
Doncsecz noted that clients who booked St. Martin seven
months ago for the Christmas holiday are headed somewhere else, but it isn't
going to be easy to rebook them.
"We're close to Christmas, where every hotel is full,"
she said.