Head office staff that worked tirelessly throughout the weekend to sort out TC’s & their clients. Katrina De Kaste, Accounts Manager; Deb Duncan, General Manager; Suzana Blazevska, Air Product Executive; Tracy Parkinson, Business Development Manager

A support network of nearly 1,400 travel professionals came into play over the weekend as Travel Counsellors’ agents and staff from across the globe provided assistance to one another during the Qantas crisis.

As the company operates in six countries it is able to provide 24/7 worldwide assistance to its agents, so when news hit about the flight cancellations on Saturday staff in the company’s global headquarters were already pulling together booking reports and getting in touch with Travel Counsellors in Australia who had been affected, whilst four support staff including General Manager Deb Duncan were at the head office in Melbourne within minutes, working into the night and all day on Sunday to ensure every Travel Counsellor had access to a unique level of support and the latest flight updates.  

With so many examples of the camaraderie, it was hard to single out just one example of the hundreds that have come to light on how TC comes together in situations such as this to ensure that their agents and their clients are given top priority and alternate travel arrangements made swiftly.  One such example that highlighted the true essence of the level of support the nework provides it’s agents was when Air Product Executive, Suzana Blazevska came to the rescue of a number of TC’s. Suzana assisted with sending out constant updates regarding Qantas as well as handling all ticketing and airfare queries of TC’s that were quickly making alternate arrangements for their clients in wake of the news.   Carina QLD based Travel Counsellor Angela Toia commented “Suzanna was so awesome, and quick, and even called me back with a better airfare on the new flight I’d secured seats on for an affected client, as some lower classes had become available. My customer is amazed at how great we are. She is currently in a village in China and didn't even know what was going on! Thank you TC, and thank you truly Suzanna.”  

Proof of the global family ethos was also evident when Victoria based Travel Counsellor Claire Phillips was working through the night on Saturday for some last minute clients. She comments; “I received a text from a client in China who Qantas had just announced had grounded his flight and could I book him home on something else.   I re-booked him as instructed and he had a new ticket within moments. However I was still worried by supplier statements that were coming through so I put a message up on the intranet message board system to see if anyone could help. Before anyone could respond my phone rang, it was after 11pm now, and it was Katy in the UK Head Office asking if I was ok and could she do anything for me. She was brilliant and helped me sort everything out. We really do have 24/7 assistance and at times like this, it is invaluable. It really is a comfort to know that we are not alone, and we are never left out on a limb. The global support network is just amazing.”

During the strikes the company’s Travel Counsellors were also able to communicate and ask for assistance via the company’s message boards hosted on its intranet system. This allows the 1,200 plus Travel Counsellors from across the globe to post questions, give feedback and share their knowledge with one another, as well as to generally keep in touch and chat, which proved invaluable for agents like Claire during the recent events. Agents also have access to the company’s state of the art office communicator system which includes webcams and instant message. This means everyone in the company can see who is available and be in constant contact so they are always supported and never feel alone whilst running their businesses from home. 

Travel Counsellors Australia General Manager Deb Duncan comments; “The support and actions from our team in Melbourne and our overseas offices really have proved invaluable, and to have this global presence means that our worldwide family of agents always have someone to turn to when events like this happen. The care and professionalism from the whole network of agents and staff has been overwhelming and really reflects the family ethos of friendship and camaraderie we have created at Travel Counsellors.”