Agent Diary: ‘Hats off to all who helped reunite a customer with her passport’

We agents can’t fix everything but it was good to be able to help a customer who had lost her passport, says Thompson Travel’s Sharon Thompson

We recently had two clients lose their passports in the space of a week. As we all know, it’s an easy thing to do but can create a lot of stress, and it was especially daunting for one of these customers.

Having done all she could to retrace her steps, the desperate customer then phoned us to seek help, while in the custody of the Greek authorities

The woman had booked an 11-night Celebrity Cruises sailing as part of a big group which started in Athens. When she arrived at border control in Greece, however, she realised she didn’t have her passport. While the Greek authorities took their time to check the various lost-and-found areas in the airport, the other 49 passengers in the group took the transfer to the port to avoid missing their embarkation.

Having done all she could to retrace her steps, the desperate customer then phoned us to seek help, while in the custody of the Greek authorities. It’s amazing what customers think we can do!

Go the extra mile

Despite being outside of our remit, we felt so sorry for this poor lady, who was going to miss a fantastic holiday she had spent good money on because of a simple mistake, so we set about trying to help.

As we couldn’t overrule Greek customs, we first turned our attention to locating her passport and soon discovered it had thankfully been recovered at Dublin airport. Somehow it hadn’t been noticed until the aircraft had returned, which makes you wonder how thoroughly planes are checked after each flight. This whole situation could have been avoided had the passport been handed in at Athens.

I don’t think this woman’s passport will ever leave her clutches again while travelling!

Our customer spent two nights in a holding centre in customs, sharing an area with Syrian refugees, until the Greek authorities released her so she could fly home on the next available flight. She only had her hand luggage, with her hold luggage to be sent to her at a later date. It was a nerve-racking ordeal for an inexperienced, elderly solo traveller, even though she was looked after well in the circumstances.

In the meantime, we contacted the cruise line to check if she could board the ship at a later port, as that would dictate whether she stayed home or flew back out to catch up with her group on board. Thankfully, they said it would be possible for her to board in Haifa.

Call our contacts

After booking her a new one-way flight the same day she arrived back in Dublin, she flew out to Israel where our ground handler picked her up, and she spent a night in Tel Aviv before joining the cruise on day four. As a tour operator to Israel for 30 years, we pulled in the services of our contacts in the tourist office to assist in the client’s transit through the airport to make it as smooth as possible for her.

As a tour operator to Israel for 30 years, we pulled in the services of our contacts in the tourist office to assist in the client’s transit through the airport 

In total it cost her £800 for new flights, hotel and transfers, but that was still preferable to paying £3,000 for a cruise and not getting to go on it! There was never a point when I thought we should have left the customer to sort out the problem on her own, and I’m sure many of you will have done something similar.

All of this happened while I was escorting a group in the Rockies from Vancouver, seven hours behind. Navigating time differences between Canada, Ireland and Greece was an added challenge!

Hats off to all who helped

I would sincerely like to thank Aer Lingus, Celebrity Cruises, El Al Airlines, Travex, the Israel Government Tourist Office and my team for the hard work they put in to ensure this lady joined her trip. In 48 hours, all parties came together to play their part in looking after our mutual client. It will be a lasting memory for her for numerous reasons, but hopefully the main one being it ended up being a fantastic holiday.

This is also yet more proof of why people should book with their local travel agent; we can’t solve everything but can at least point them in the right direction. I don’t think this woman’s passport will ever leave her clutches again while travelling!