Written by By: Tom Ogg
There was a discussion about some of the funniest requests that agents have been given by clients on our social networking site for Travel Professionals at www.travelprofessionalcommunity.com. There were some pretty funny stories that agents posted and we thought it would be fun to share these with some of our readers. Here are just some of the funnier ones to show that there is a Funny Side Selling Travel.
- “After reading some posts about somebody finding a ‘great rate’ to Athens, Greece (only to be corrected and find out the rate was to Athens,Georgia); or the relative who ‘booked their own’ flight to Rochester, NY, flew there and looked for the Mayo Clinic (which is in Rochester, Minnesota), I’m sure we’ve all got great stories about requests made by clients, or humorous (maybe now!) stories about people who booked on their own, and then wanted us to fix it.”
- “She’s frustrated because she’s not seeing what she wants. She wants a short cruise to Hawaii, maybe 4 nights. And she doesn’t want to fly to the pier, she can drive to one that’s close.” The client was from Savannah, GA.
- “My favorite story goes back to 1989, when a member of a large cruise group called me. She said she paid extra money and wanted me to check her cabin assignment to make sure she has a room with the POT HOLE she paid for. I put her on ‘hold’, checked her room, stopped laughing, and got back on the phone to confirm that yes, her room has a window. The next day, one of her friends called and said she also wanted to confirm that HER room has a PEEP HOLE in it. Again, I confirmed that her room has a window, just like her friend’s room. I’ve never heard so many words used instead of port hole since!”
- “I was escorting a group of seniors on a ‘Texaribbean’ NCL cruise out of Houston many years ago and as we were cruising down the channel heading into the gulf, one of the ladies in the group asked me if she would be able to see land all the way on the cruise?”
- “People commonly tend to forget that Hawaii is the 50th state. I used to work for in reservations for a very big Hawaiian hotel chain and I had to constantly tell our callers from the mainland three things repeatedly:
1. ‘We are the 50th state in the union, so no, you don’t need a passport.’
2. ‘Yes, English is spoken.’
3. ‘No, people don’t live in grass huts.’
However, my most memorable call was with a lady from Minnesota, who at the end of the call informed me that I spoke very good English, to which I replied ‘Why thank you, being as I was born and raised in Illinois and Hawaii is the 50th state in the union, I should hope my English is good.’ She muttered an ‘oh’ and quickly hung up the phone. I got a high five from all of my co-workers on that one.”
- “First time cruisers, cruising to Alaska, Vancouver to Seward. My client asked if I could find another cruise that arrived in Seward a little later than 3am as she was not a morning person and would prefer to sleep in and get off the ship later than 3am!
Second cruiser, only having cruised a three day Bahamas – which she hated cruised, now about to have her first Celebrity experience…just asked if she’ll be able to have food choices, such as veggies rather than starches and salad dressing on the side rather than on her salad, or should she just say nothing and just eat what she liked and leave the rest!”
- “But here is the best and it comes up at every cocktail party. I used to do the travel for a certain LA Football team. At the time they were just starting exhibition games in Europe. So the female owner’s Secretary booked her first class from LA to JFK and then on the Concord to LHR. Well, I was thrilled, we got commission then! Anyway, a couple of hours after I made the reservation Ida called me and said ‘Mrs. Frontier wants to know what movie they are showing on the flight’. I called the airline to find out and called her back. Another hour went by and Ida called and said ‘Mrs. Frontier wants you to call the airline to change the movie. She’s seen it already!’ I called the airline, apologized profusely for the stupid request, and after the agent and I had a good laugh I was told ‘No’. I promptly called and told them that the answer is ‘no’. I had to call another carrier and they had a movie she hadn’t seen. She took that carrier. High Maintenance, but then, the money was good.”
- “Our customer insisted she wanted to go to Borneo in the Caribbean. My partners and I looked at each other totally confused when one of them asked her – do you mean Bonaire?”
- “A male client was obviously having relationship issues or a hard time picking which female companion he wanted to cruise with him…he called me a few times to change the name of 2nd passenger on his reservation. I told him he needed to commit to one woman by final payment date or pay the admin fees.”
- “Can I get my passport at the airport the same day of flight?”
- “I am planning a 40th birthday party and want to go to Hawaii for 4 nts.(from Chicago) Will I need a passport, and do they take US$?”