A travel agent has told Indulge how he paid £649 for a room at the Hilton Hotel and London’s Heathrow Airport for a honeymoon couple whose flight was cancelled during yesterday’s air traffic control failure.
Greig Horabin of Just Ask Travel was just one of many agents who scrambled to support clients caught up in the chaos, which has continued into today.
An estimated 1,300 flights were cancelled on Tuesday, affecting at least 75,000 travellers, and at least 280 flights were grounded today.
Heathrow is the worst-hit airport, but Gatwick has also cancelled dozens of flights today and is warning that it will take ‘some time’ for operations to return to normal.
British Airways, one of the worst-impacted airlines, confirmed it was forced to cancel 190 flights today, despite teams ‘working through the night’ to build a new schedule for today to operate as many flights as possible.
The airline is giving customers who don’t want to travel today the option to move their flights for free up until Friday, but it warned its phone and chat lines are ‘extremely busy’.
In the midst of the chaos, Greig said airport hotels ramped up prices while stranded passengers were desperately seeking rooms. He said he agreee to pay £649 for one night at the Hilton for the honeymoon couple, who were on their way to the Maldives when their flight was cancelled.
Rates at the hotel typically range from £115 to £230 a night
Greig then worked till late yesterday with Pure Luxury to rebook the pair on a flight this afternoon and changed their seaplane, hotel and even their restaurant reservations so that the holiday remains the same, albeit starting a day late. Greig was working again at 6am this morning to make sure everything was going ahead as planned.
“We offer all our customers a no-quibble guarantee, so of course we sorted everything out for them, no matter the cost to us,” he said. “It helps that I put the majority of my bookings through Samantha Morrison at Pure Luxury because I know she’ll pull out all the stops to make sure everything runs smoothly.
“I have a minimum £5,000 per person spend so that I’m able to really look after all of my customers, no matter the issue, but it’s also about picking the right suppliers, which is something I learned during the pandemic. That’s why I use Sam at Pure Luxury.”
Winged Boots Managing Director David Ox said its priority was to ‘make sure clients feel supported and informed’ over the past couple of days of disruption.
“Our Personal Travel Managers have been proactively monitoring affected journeys, speaking directly with airline and ground partners and working behind the scenes to find alternative arrangements where required,” he told Indulge.
“For us, this is where the value of a truly personal travel service comes into its own.
“When plans change unexpectedly, our clients have someone they know at the end of the phone who understands their entire journey and can take ownership of finding a solution.
“Alongside our 24/7 support and concierge team, we’re doing everything possible to minimise the impact and get our clients’ travels back on track.”
Luxury operator Simpson Travel, which had six flights disrupted yesterday, mostly to Greece, said it had supported all affected guests through the disruption.
“Where airlines were unable to provide accommodation, we arranged and funded overnight stays and transfers,” said a Simpson Travel spokesperson.
“In a number of cases, we also secured alternative flights for guests when airline communication was limited or rebooking options were not readily available.
“Our teams continue to support those affected, and we expect all guests to be back on their planned itineraries by close of business tomorrow (10 September).”
Virtuoso EVP of Strategic Communications David Kolner said: ‘What disruption like this really highlights is the value of having someone who can look beyond the cancelled flight and manage the entire journey.
“Virtuoso advisors are working across airline, hotel and ground partners to find the most workable alternatives for clients, often looking at different routings or departure points rather than simply waiting for the next available flight.
“In a fast-moving situation, strong relationships and the ability to join the dots quickly can make a real difference to how much disruption a client actually experiences.”
