Shawna Levet11 Crazy Requests Travel Agents Received From Clients
We asked travel agents to share all the crazy requests they’ve received from clients over the years. We received some pretty incredible stories. Some had us speechless and some had us rolling with laughter. There were stories of travelers sending you into their homes looking for forgotten items and passports… and a shocking amount of clients who did not understand that you cannot get to Hawaii by land.
Please enjoy these stories of the craziest travel requests from clients along with our sincerest admiration for what you do!
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1. Who’s my seatmate?
“When I was a corporate agent (many moons ago….), I had an executive ask me to find out the name of the person that would be seated next to him on the plane. His reason… because he did not find most people very interesting and he did not want to wind up sitting next to someone that he had nothing in common with. He was serious!”
Terrie D., Virginia
2. The last train to Honolulu
“My client contacted me and said she did not like to fly or cruise but she wanted to take the train to Hawaii. After a very long pause, I explained that there are no trains to Hawaii — you either have to fly or cruise. At that point, she told me she would never go to Hawaii then because the train is the only way she would ever go. Even after explaining that there is no possible way for a train to get from the West Coast to Hawaii.”
Allison L., Virginia
3. No big dill!
“I once had a group of ladies (Ages between 40 and 80) who wanted to have ‘pickle everything’ in their rental home. I contacted multiple contractors to locate pickle-flavored/scented: soap, ice cream, chips, body wash/shampoo, soda, fingernail wraps, popcorn, and toothpaste. The landlady of the rental home took it further and did towels and napkins.”
Kristin W., Maryland
4. Trust me, you don’t want that airline.
“I had a lady wanting to fly Con Air, which of course was the name of a movie with Nicholas Cage. I tried to explain that there was a Com Air but they didn’t fly out of Minneapolis. She hung up.”
Karen M., Minneapolis
5. The higher the hair, the closer to heaven
“If I have a window seat will it mess up my hair?”
Linda M.
6. Vexed in Venice
“Clients who went to Italy: “We want a refund on our trip because you didn’t tell us they spoke Italian. Also, the showerhead at the hotel in Venice was too low. I’m 6 ft tall and had to bend over to rinse shampoo out of my hair”
Sheila M., Illinois
7. Shopping in Seville
“I just received a request today. My client left his toiletry bag on a flight from MSP to CDG. He would like me to have the bag delivered to him in Seville today. Wants me to just contact the airline and make sure they find the bag and get it over to him. You can’t make this stuff up!”
Katie D., North Dakota
8. A tale of two cities
“My craziest client request was quite a while ago. At that time we were specializing in and advertising for Australia and New Zealand travel. This fellow called in and wanted to book the train from Auckland to Sydney. He was adamant that it could be done despite my explanation that the two cities were separated by about the distance of 1,100 miles of water! Claimed we weren’t experts in that area and hung up!”
Craig A., California
9. Missed flights, happy endings
“I had a client traveling to Capetown from Chicago. I booked Qatar Airways through Centrav, and had multiple conversations with them up to two days prior to them leaving. The flight was at 1:30 am on a Thursday. This was even stated in their personal travel packet I had given to them. On Thursday afternoon I even texted the current flight position to the father.
About 7:00 pm on Thursday evening I got a call from clients stating they were almost to the airport and wanted to know what terminal. It took some convincing that 1:30 am meant they missed their Thursday flight. Thanks to Qatar Airways, since the connection wasn’t missed, they were able to reinstate the ticket for 1:30 am on Friday and reschedule the connection for a very small fee. Everything worked out great!”
Amy H., Indiana
10. “You’ll be hearing from my agent!”
“I was contacting a client for Final Payment on a cruise, and she told me she needed me to call her ex-husband and tell him he was behind on his alimony and he needed to pay the back payments now so she could go on a cruise. I explained I was not allowed to demand alimony payments, and she told me she figured I would sound official and he’d be scared and pay her!”
Shari M., North Carolina
11. Breaking in for a cause
“Clients forgot to take birth certificates to Seattle to board their Alaska Cruise — so they are in a panic. I live about 10 miles from them, but have never been to their house and do not consider them friends, just clients. I offered to go to their house and get them and take a photo — which the cruise line was accepting as proof of citizenship. There was no key hidden at the house so they called a locksmith.
The locksmith and I broke into their house and searched for their birth certificates. The locksmith was a friend of theirs so I asked him to stay with me as I searched their house. So we became a good team–with my clients on Facetime directing me through their house. I found them, paid the locksmith and my clients cruised to Alaska!”
Lisa A., Alaska
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