I can remember where I was the moment the world flipped upside down. I was walking right down the middle of Main Street USA in Disneyland. It was a beautiful day in Anaheim, California and I was trying to separate myself from the large crowds of guests who were watching the latest Disneyland parade, Magic Happens. At that moment I felt my iPhone vibrate in my pocket but couldn’t access it because I had so many others literally pressed up against me in the park. When I was able to take a look at my screen, the headline there was pretty scary: “NBA suspends season indefinitely over coronavirus pandemic.”
In the days and weeks that followed, nearly the entire world followed the NBA’s lead. All sports were shut down, theme parks were shuttered, flights were canceled, travel plans and vacations disappeared. This was an unprecedented time for generations of human beings who had never thought that something like this could happen. I can remember getting back to my Disneyland Hotel room and thinking, “How can I fix this for my clients?” As the owner of a travel agency, there was a ton of work ahead not only for me but for every member of the Ear To There Travel team.
For the next several days my team and I spent countless hours on hold waiting to adjust or cancel our clients’ travel and vacation plans. We worked with dozens of travel suppliers including cruise lines, airlines, theme parks, hotels, etc. to make sure that our clients and their hard-earned money were protected in every way possible. I’m very proud to say that we were able to fix or adjust every single client’s travel plans without losing anyone even one dollar. All of the time and effort was put in for our clients at no cost at all to them, as we are a fee-free agency.
We continue to work with our clients to ensure that they know all of the latest updates and information on where they are traveling to. Leisure travel is very slowly but surely starting to return and Americans are starting to make vacation plans again. It is our job to make sure that those who book their trips with us are extremely well informed and know exactly what to expect once their travel dates arrive. We have a fantastic team of agents who are always there for our clients every step of the way, even in these very trying times.