Coordinating an annual ski trip for 40 people comes with plenty of moving parts. This year, the group faced the worst-case scenario.
The challenge
Their flight - the last of the day - was cancelled while all 40 travellers were waiting at the gate.
It was out of hours. Onward transport, accommodation and a full itinerary in Val d'Isère were all hanging in the balance, and the group was standing in an airport with no realistic prospect of resolving it themselves. Forty people cannot be rebooked from a phone queue, and the last flight of the day means the airline has nothing left to offer until tomorrow.
The approach
One call to our out-of-hours team, and Kelly and Sam were working through the options within minutes.
While the group collected their baggage, we found alternative flights and rebooked all 40 travellers, taking care of the arrangements while the organisers focused on getting everyone to an airport hotel for the night. Splitting those two jobs mattered: the organisers had 40 people in front of them who needed somewhere to sleep, and no capacity to also be negotiating with airlines.
The result
By the following morning, the entire group was on its way to Val d'Isère. They arrived barely half a day behind schedule and went on to enjoy the trip as planned.
What could easily have derailed the entire event became a relatively minor delay - and a good example of the value of having experienced people there when group travel doesn't go to plan.
What made the difference was a phone answered out of hours by two people who could act on it immediately. They had the supplier relationships to find seats that were not publicly available, and the authority to start booking without checking first.
"When our flight was cancelled with 40 of us at the gate, Kelly and Sam had us rebooked before the panic could even set in. Out of hours, calm, and completely on it, we couldn't recommend them more highly."
