Hurricane Irma keeps travel agencies nimble and very busy

Hurricane Irma kept travel agencies busy trying to accommodate clients in advance of the storm, and promises to keep them almost as busy in its wake fielding calls from travelers with plans to head to an affected area.

Some, like Travel Leaders of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Fla., also had to contend with riding out the storm and connectivity issues afterwards.

"Being in West Palm Beach, we were swamped with existing and new clients reaching out for help to get out of town," said owner Kurt Crowl. "We had people departing on commercial and private jets and, of course, by car."

Airline inventory was rapidly dwindling in advance of the storm, posing challenges.

"It was all hands on deck," Crowl said. "While it was hard work and frustrating on many levels, it was also really rewarding."

Raleigh, N.C.-based Travel Management Partners had a number of corporate clients in Florida trying to get out in advance of the storm, and ended up dedicating one agent solely to monitoring flight availability, said vice president of operations Holly Kahl.

"She had a list of travelers who were in whichever area [of Florida], and as a seat would pop up here and there, she would book it for whatever traveler who was on her list that she knew could fly from that area," Kahl said.

Sara Varney, a Simsbury, Conn.-based affiliate of MEI-Travel and Mouse Fan Travel, had a number of clients whose plans were affected by the storm. Some chose to cancel early, others canceled at the last minute, and one opted to ride out the storm at a resort in Walt Disney World.

"They opted to hunker down, and it went well," she said.

Before the storm hit Orlando, Varney advised them to have bottled water, food and any medication they require in their room in case they were unable to leave. Power stayed on throughout the hurricane and the client opted to extend the trip, Varney said.

Some agencies faced unique challenges, like Kahl's, which has an arm that manages travel for medical patients heading to and from clinical trials.

There were no patients in or headed to Florida, she said, but several had connecting flights in Atlanta around the time Irma was forecasted to hit the city.

"If they're going for a treatment, it's not like, 'Oh, I can wait and go next week,' they have to have their treatment on schedule," she said. "So we were working with those patients trying to re-accommodate them and get them out ahead of the storm, or take them through another connection point."

The storm had some unexpectedly positive results. Crowl's agency, for example, gained some new local customers that had been trying to get their own flights out of Florida online without success.

Crowl said his storefront agency boarded up and the office weathered the storm, but in its aftermath, the issue is Internet connectivity. Some agents are also without power, and some without cell service.

"If it's not one thing it's another at the moment, but we have a phone system that we're able to forward out to agents who do have Internet and phone service, so we're full service and we have been throughout the storm, which means a lot," he said.

In many cases, the extra workload from Irma has only begun for agents, who are now facing a flurry of rebookings to affected areas.

Amy Eben, manager of Travel Leaders in Sioux Center, Iowa, said her agency proactively sent traveling clients emails stating they were monitoring the situation.

"People are just nervous," she said. "Even if they're traveling two months out, this is a big investment for them. They just want to be assured that someone is monitoring the situation -- whether we have the answers or not, they just want to know someone's in their corner."