旅行顾问如何应对空中旅行中的混乱
byPaul Ruden/
现在有多个机场混乱的报道现在是军团。面对大幅度的需求,航空公司到目前为止已经表明自己没有准备好激增。这可能不是他们的错,但是航空公司是有最好的机会与可用航班平衡预订的最佳机会。然而,随着飞行后的飞行延迟,然后取消,挤满了不安的乘客的机场场景是司空见惯的。这可以随时在任何机场发生。情况将有所改善,但可能不会有一段时间。
旅行顾问显然无法控制这种情况。您预订系统告诉您的内容。鉴于扩散的麻烦,问题是:您如何与客户一起处理?
我想起了童军座右铭:Be Prepared。这story may be apocryphal, but it is reportedthat “Upon hearing the Scout motto, someone asked Scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell the inevitable follow-up question. “Prepared for what?” “Why, for any old thing,” he replied.”
这种反应很好地说明了现代旅行顾问必须做什么,因为即使是最好的计划也容易受到任何人似乎无法预测或控制的系统问题的影响。
座右铭很容易说,但并不容易执行。许多旅行者已经耐心地在大流行中等待了他们可以恢复家人探访或只是在家中度过一个简单的假期。随着这个词继续在航空公司的绩效问题上传播,他们对大流行的焦虑会导致普遍的不安。
旅游顾问的座右铭,我建议,应该是:“For every travel booking, have a back-up plan and a back-up plan to the back-up plan.”
Long gone are the days when a flight cancellation simply meant rebooking on a soon-to-depart flight with empty seats headed to your destination. If reports are correct, most flights are being booked to capacity or beyond. The scale of cancellations means that there are no ready substitutes for many travelers who arrive at the airport ill-equipped to deal with the physical and emotional costs of their disappointment when learning their “plans” are not going to be fulfilled. Few rational people will blame their travel advisor for these failures but in the heat of the moment, rationality is sometimes a rare commodity.
Thus, I believe that the wise travel advisor will perform several key tasks for every traveler booked and especially if, for example, the advisor knows there are special circumstances. Such circumstances are inordinate consequences that arise from travel plans being defeated. You can easily think of examples: a cruise departure at a distant port – the line is not going to hold the ship for delayed arriving passengers; a tour from the destination city with family that have not been together for years due to the pandemic; a critical business meeting at which the traveler’s attendance is expected and important.
解决方案有限但必不可少的是创建两个备份计划。我不建议您进行双重预订。这只会使每个人都变得更糟。但是,顾问预订的每个旅行者都应武装,并详细说明如果飞行被取消或延迟到不再有意义的地步。
对于那些坚持“准备”的人,这可能涉及简单地为旅行者提供紧急联系信息,以获得可靠的建议:
- 航空公司(可能毫无用处,但仍然)
- 其他电话的打印列表(您,顾问等)
- a list of items to take to the airport for sustenance in the event of a delay (cereal bars, whatever the client likes)
- 如果孩子们正在旅行,请提出建议占领他们的物品;令人惊讶的是,有多少家庭希望孩子们无所事事地娱乐自己。
当“意外”发生时,为旅行破坏做好准备并不总是会弥补挫败感,通常会导致愤怒。在极少数情况下,对航空公司人员表达愤怒可能会改善情况,但通常会使情况恶化。您不能成为旅行者的私人专家,以带领她在机场进行冥想。但是,您可以恭敬地提醒您的客户,我们仍然处于(我们希望)大流行的情况下,我们仍处于异常情况。旅行者应该期望意外,并试图保持镇定。
专业旅行顾问的一些指示可能会有所帮助。当然,这是一个个人的决定,因为有些人只是不想听到生活可能不会按计划和/或不喜欢被告知“冷静下来”的生活。但是,通过提前准备客户,您可能会避免成为被要求在最后一分钟进行不可行的目标。
这se recommendations may require considerable extra work from the advisor. For example, if the clients are traveling a long distance to the airport or are making a tight connection somewhere, you may consider checking hotel availabilities nearby “just in case.” Availabilities can change quickly, of course, especially near busy hubs, but arming the client with some options (addresses and phone numbers come to mind) means the client may avoid that sense of isolation and helplessness that comes from stress and unfamiliarity. Since there are others in the same boat, even a few minutes of time saved in finding out who to call may advantage your clients.
我敢肯定,很明显,在武装客户进行紧急说明时,您不想造成比保证更多的压力。外交和机智在这里走了很长一段路。您办公室中的每个预订航空旅行的人都应制定一个详细的计划,以提供必要的信息和how提出它。准备应该是平静的,不要引起更多的焦虑。
未来有许多问题,包括Covid -19可能进化为其他变体,这将增加不确定性。但是,经济应在某个时候稳定,航空旅行将恢复更可靠的过程。这可能要花点时间。在现代时代,我们从未面临如此范围的全球挑战。当发生干扰时,您自己的心态将影响客户的态度。考虑一下如果您是客户,您可能会做什么。然后准备他们做到这一点。