Tales from the Emergency Assist team
Business travel services never sleep. When travel consultants clock off, our Emergency Assist team takes over for the evening and very early morning calls.
It's this team who are the calming voice on the end of the phone when there's a crisis or emergency.
Here's just a snapshot of some of the stories from the Emergency Assist team.
Enabling travellers to bypass airline queues
Name: Richard Odighi
Based: Manchester
Time with FCM: 2+ years
"A traveller had an early board meeting in New York but their connecting flight out of Heathrow was suddenly cancelled at 11.30pm.
"With the airline counters closed and hundreds of other passengers scrambling for options, they called us directly. Within minutes, I secured them a seat on an alternative flight departing first thing the next morning, arranged a nearby hotel for the night and updated their destination hotel with the new arrival time, even organising late checkout.
"The traveller later told me that knowing they could reach a real person and not a voicemail at that hour made all the difference."
Specific flight requests following a medical emergency
Name: AQUEEL NOORMOHAMED
Based: Manchester
Time with FCM: 2+ years
"My client had an accident in the Far East and needed to get home for medical treatment.
"Due to the nature of the injury, the passenger needed a flat-bed seat (business class), medical clearance and a fit-to-fly certificate to show the airline. As the traveller needed to be taken onto the aircraft, I also arranged for a wheelchair right up to the seat and back. I was forced to use indirect flights, so had to ensure transit times worked with the traveller being last off the aircraft, and had support in transit."
Staying on the phone when an area feels unsafe
Name: Akissi koffi
Based: Manchester
Time with FCM: 3 years
"Just after midnight, a panicked traveller called me from Hamburg. Her flight had been delayed four hours, and by the time she'd reached her boutique hotel, it had closed with zero night staff.
"I called every hotel in Hamburg, many were full due to a conference, and I finally found a night manager willing to stay awake long enough to check her in. I called her a taxi, gave her the night managers number and set up a 7am wake-up call and express checkout so she could get to her early meeting."
Cost-free airline transfers
Name: hayley meikle
Based: london
Time with FCM: 2 years
"One of my clients needed to get back to the UK within 24 hours, but their flight from Islamabad to London Gatwick was cancelled in the early hours of a Saturday morning. Regional tensions were increasing, so the client wanted to get back as soon as possible.
"The flight was on another airline, so I arranged a transfer for free, and got back to the traveller within 30 minutes so they knew everything was covered."
Speedy flight rebookings
Name: randy makengele
Based: manchester
Time with FCM: 3+ years
"A traveller contacted me late at night, after their flight was cancelled due to severe weather. They were left stranded in a city they weren't familiar with.
"I immediately arranged overnight accommodation close to the airport, and rebooked them on the earliest available flight the next morning. They were incredibly relieved and grateful; we're there to take the stress away so travellers can focus on their journey, not the logistics."
12-flight booking for an urgent job
Name: ANTHea OAKLEY
Based: WALES
Time with FCM: 3 years
"A group of 12 officers for an engineering firm needed to get to a job urgently. Their original flights had been delayed as a result of bad weather.
All 12 travellers were departing from different airports, so I had to get them all there as quick as I could, and organise hotels and transport the other end.
"I even worked on my day off to make sure nothing was missed. The client said I felt like one of the team due to the amount of communication and collaboration."