Let’s face it, travel agents get to encounter some interesting characters. When you’re working in a front-facing, client service industry, there are always stories to tell. Chat to any hospitality staff member and they’ll have at least one experience that feels like it made no sense. Are you on candid camera? Who knows?
Travel agents get to deal with clients who provide you with a ton of hilarious anecdotes, especially when referring to special requests. And as we usher in a new year, why not have a laugh?
From weather control demands to heart-warming celeb stories to laughing at a lack of geography knowledge – we’ve compiled some funny travel agent stories that’ll get you through one of those days.
As we all know, travelling for significant life milestones like a wedding, an engagement trip or a honeymoon has a lot of added pressures. This can result in receiving requests that are literally unachievable.
We scoured the internet and found these stories and anecdotes featured on A Time to Travel, Reddit and Wheels Up Network.
Blown away
‘I had someone ask for an aisle seat so that their hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window.’
Now, we don’t know about you, but when you’re inside a plane – there’s no chance of getting any outside air in or having a hairdressing emergency!
The objects are not closer than they seem
‘I got a call from a man who asked, “Is it possible to see England from Canada?” I said, “No.” He said, “But they look so close on the map.”’
Unless you’re living in or travelling Europe, most countries are not just that close to each other. But nice try, and maybe we need to get into the business of teleporting.
The next innovation in the travel industry – we’re calling it!
“Client wanted a cruise to Mexico that departed from Las Vegas. Explained that we are not on the ocean.” A hilarious anecdote shared by Danielle Park, a travel industry professional with a career spanning decades.
Visa or Mastercard?
‘I had a client going to Brazil and I told him he needed a Visa. He told me he had one…little did I know he was talking about a credit card!’
This story was shared by travel agent Thecla Vis, who has over 30 years of experience in the travel industry. As a rule, don’t forget your passports, identity documents or visas (and not the credit card kind!)
A viral act of kindness
While travel agents get to have out-of-this-world experiences, there are also moments of generosity from clients.
According to Reddit, earlier this year, an Egyptian travel agent waived off an advance payment because the client hailed from the same country as his favourite actor, Shah Rukh Khan. The legendary Bollywood actor, also known as SRK, is known for his decades-long career in the film industry and his passionate global fan base. Well, the generous act of kindness paid off as the client shared their story on Twitter and it ended up going viral. The result? The Indian couple tracked down the travel agent and repaid the favour by delivering an autographed photo of Shah Rukh Khan to the agent when they visited Egypt. Paying it forward pays off? We think so!
Shhhh, we’re in nature
Finally, Reddit user arya_kidding_me shared this tidbit:
‘Used to work at a travel agency. One of the agent’s clients called them while on vacation to ask if the resort could turn down the nature noises.
They thought it was being played over speakers, and refused to believe frogs, crickets, etc could be that loud on their own.’
Guess Mother Nature needs to learn to lower the noise.
For customisable travel options and seamless offerings for your clients, no matter whether it’s leisure or corporate – learn more about what Global Accommodation has to offer here
