Kitchener family back home with help of local travel consultant
Posted Apr 13, 2020 01:00:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Kitchener family of six has safely returned to Canada thanks to the assistance of a local travel agent.
The Angard family left for a vacation on March 15 to visit Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when they learned that their flight home on March 29 had been cancelled due to COVID-19.
Unable to secure a new flight, the family reached out to their travel agency, Expedia CruiseShipCentres in Waterloo, before getting in touch with travel consultant Rheal Lariviere at Expedia CruiseShipCentres in Kitchener.
Lariviere says after learning about the Angard's situation, he started researching return flights with senior consultant, Paula Bagin.
“I went on all the airline websites and each day, sent them a list of possible flights, but there was nothing leaving for at least a couple of weeks.” said Lariviere, recalling the event.
“As a travel agent, I always put myself in my client's shoes if I was travelling with my wife, my kids… So I always picture what I would do if this were me.”
Focusing on accommodations, Larviere helped the family to find a place to stay while they searched for a suitable price for a plane ticket to Toronto.
During their search, the Angard's were able to travel from Dubai to London, England and attempted to travel back to Canada. Lariviere says by that point, plane ticket prices from London to Toronto were around $2300 per person or more.
“We pursued everyday looking at different options, and finally on April 5, I found what I thought would be suitable in terms of their budget,” said Lariviere.
The Angard's trip back home resulted in travelling from London to Amsterdam, Holland before returning to Toronto on Saturday evening.
Prior to the family arriving home, Lariviere says he left a 'Welcome Home' banner, complete with balloons and a sign from Expedia Cruise Ship Centres. The next day, Lariviere says he received a thank-you call for all his help.
“I said to the father, who was my main contact, 'I feel like we've developed a different relationship then what I normally would have with clients' and we certainly did.” said Lariviere.
“It was not a pretty situation, but we handled it the best we could and did everything we could to get the family home in a reasonable time frame.”
with files from Phi Doan
