A Travel Counsellor has revealed how she helped a disabled client after his British Airways flight failed to depart, saving him from a sleepless layover – and some hefty out-of-pocket expenses.
Di Rhodes had booked Tony D from Gloucester on a Regent Seven Seas Cruises sailing around Japan last October, after receiving his enquiry through fellow Travel Counsellor Emma Otter.
The luxury cruise was intended as a “nostalgia” trip, reconnecting the 70-year-old with the country where he’d once lived and met his late wife. It also had to be accessible; Tony has cerebral palsy in his knees, and therefore needed certain adaptations from the start to end.
The cruise itself went seamlessly; once Di had understood both Tony’s requirements and preferences, she was able to upgrade him to a £15,000 cruise on Regent’s Explorer – which was more than double his original budget.
“He had initially asked for an NCL cruise that cost £6,000, but after talking with him for a long time, I realised he’d prefer something more exclusive,” she told TTG. “There’d be a maximum of 600 people, so that meant a higher likelihood of meeting people and not getting lost in the crowd.”
Tony wanted to return to Japan on a "nostalgia trip"
It also helped that Di, who reached nearly £1 million in her first 12 months at Travel Counsellors, had plenty of first-hand experience on Regent’s ships.
“I’d actually stayed in the same cabin I booked for Tony, so I could share my own videos of it with him,” she said. “It wasn’t an accessible cabin but it had a walk-in shower and everything he needed.”
After the booking had been confirmed, Di got to work arranging Tony’s transfers to and from the airport. She used Black Lane to collect him from his home, having already built strong relationships with the high-end chauffeur service.
“I would only work with suppliers I knew would make sure his journey would be seamless. I had them completely briefed – they knew they couldn’t just wait, that they’d have to go to his door and help him into the cab,” she said. “I contacted the right people at London Heathrow, making sure he had assistance getting out of the car, checking in, through security and boarding the plane.”
The cruise itself, which departed from Yokohama and focused heavily on Japan’s main and southern islands – went off without a hitch.
Tony's cabin on Regent Explorer
However, disaster struck at Tokyo International Airport when Tony was coming home and his BA flight to London was cancelled at the last minute.
“He arrived very early and everything had worked really well,” said Di. “He boarded the plane and messaged me to say,‘Go to sleep, I’m fine!’”
Several hours later, Di’s phone buzzed. It was 3am and Tony’s flight – due to depart hours earlier – was still grounded.
“The plane had an engine issue,” Di explained. “The whole aircraft had to be offloaded, leaving more than 200 passengers with nowhere to go. They all had to line up to find accommodation for the night, because the flight had now been rescheduled to the next day.”
Tony, however, was able to dodge the queue entirely – all because he was using a travel agent. Once Di had been notified of the problem, she immediately reassured him she could fix it. She phoned her contacts at the airport, who, within an hour, had reserved Tony a room in the airport’s Royal Park Hotel – completely free of charge. He also received food vouchers and was rebooked onto a connecting flight via Beijing the following morning. “He was as happy as Larry!” Di said.
After safely returning home, Tony was quick to share his positive experience booking with his fellow travellers. “Di was magnificent – thorough and trustworthy,” he said. “Whether you need support or not, trust her.”
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