With the recent foul weather playing havoc with winter travel, Protravel International has taken the opportunity to highlight its solution to travel delays: its "Human App."
Protravel introduced the "Human App" concept back in October as a tongue-in-cheek way of describing its 800 travel agents.
“With so much emphasis on technology in life today, isn’t it refreshing to remember that only real-live human beings are capable of providing the highest level of care as personified in our Human App?" Protravel President Patrick Fragale said in a release introducing the concept.
“While the raging winter storms caused countless flight cancellations and even January’s shutdown of New York City, Protravel’s ‘Human App’ – our exceptional travel agents – worked wonders, often before our clients even knew their travels might be disrupted,” Fragale said of the "technology" in a recent release.
Fragale said that Protravel’s proprietary technology behind its “Human App” is supported by the travel agency’s support team, which works around the clock in monitoring events that could potentially snarl travel. Information is then pushed out to Protravel’s agents so they can proactively protect or rebook clients.
“The weekend before ‘Juno’ hit New York City, we were already informing our agents about the blizzard. Anticipating the closure of all airports, we advised them to contact clients whose flights might be impacted,” said Peter Vlitas, Protravel’s senior vice president of airline sales and marketing. “Because of our longstanding relationships with the airlines, by the time the storm actually hit, we knew which flights would be taking off and which would be canceled, thus allowing us to protect our clients as we secured the last available seats on countless flights.”
Over the President’s Day weekend, Bob Goldstein, one of Protravel’s agents, helped a family of nine, including six children, taking a Caribbean vacation in St. Barts. Knowing ahead of time that his clients’ return flight from Saint Maarten to New York would be delayed by three hours due to weather, Goldstein rescheduled their connecting flight from St. Barts, thus allowing the family to enjoy a few more hours there, rather than sitting in an overcrowded Saint Maarten Airport.
“After my clients arrived in Saint Maarten, we learned about further delays and ultimately the cancellation of their flight back to New York. While the other 200 passengers had to scramble to find accommodations, I sent my clients to a luxury hotel,” Goldstein said. “In combination with my persistence in spending 30 minutes on the phone and Protravel’s exceptional reputation, I secured rooms that had been listed as ‘not available.’ I was in constant contact with the family, from ensuring they had safely checked into their hotel to making sure they had boarded their return flight the following morning.”
Visit www.protravelinc.com