Your calls always answered within 5 rings.
Another perfect trip
Doug Scrivener and his team deliver excellent service and have for the 20 years I have been coming to DialAFlight. Thank you
Excellent work
Whilst I did not need any assistance whilst travelling, I felt confident that should I need any, DialAFlight would have been there. Also the booking process was easy and straightforward.
Dealing with a human being gives you great peace of mind, and as my flight was cancelled it was great being able to speak to Graham about the problem. Computers don't care about you - DialAFlight do!
Ruby was very helpful and professional.
Finn Conlon as always did an excellent job for which I am very grateful.
Not aware that Palm Springs car rental at Alamo did not open until we had to check-in. Checked their website and found their advice about checking in early morning.
Always keeps us up to date on all of our travel arrangements.
Everything went to plan. Had a wonderful time with my family and seeing my grandson graduate from university.
For the many, many years I have dealt with DAF and Ewan and his team, they have never let us down, and our recent trip was perfect as well. Thanks DAF for being just a 100% perfect company to deal with.
Always very professional - look forward to the next one
Disappointed not to have adjacent seats from Sacramento to Dallas. Suffice it say we will never fly BA again. Got our lost baggage back last night.
Peter looked after my trip from beginning to end, thank you
Everything went like clockwork - very nice resort
Excellent contact and communication. Clear information on flights and good choice of hotel. Probably need to inform customers about hotel tax!
Very polite and efficient service
Have dealt with Christian for many a year and would not organise a trip through anyone else. Superb as always.
Everything was perfect thanks. Great seats on the plane. Great car. Excellent connections. Thanks.
Mason has always helped us with travel plans superbly and the app from DialAflight is really helpful.
I know someone is looking after me from booking to arriving back home. Makes my trips stress free
As always perfect in every way, great holiday, fantastic hotel recommendation, caring communication - pre hols and post hols checkin.
The car hire arrangement was just what I wanted - thank you
Gino gave great service and even booked us upgraded seats for the best price - a nice touch and much appreciated
A bit more clarification re US time zones would be good.
All good thank you
Thank you for the ongoing support, even whilst we were on holiday and needed to call! Des was great right from booking through to the travel date.
Philippa was great throughout the whole process - thank you for your help!
Would highly recommend. Thank you Steven Merralls and team.
Always a pleasure to book with DialAflight. Very professional and efficient. I look forward to the courtesy call 24 hours before I travel . Professionalalism at its best.
The idea of taking two small children to the Maldives is not something anyone of sound mind would usually entertain. The Maldives is a honeymoon destination, right?
The 26 atolls are renowned for their serenity… I'd been promised that the LUX* South Ari Atoll was different. Beloved of hand-holding couples but also child and eco-friendly, with a marine biology programme.
But on the flight, with husband Kenton, four-year-old Rafe and Allegra, eight, I was still questioning my decision to head there as a family.
On arrival there followed a 25-minute seaplane hop to our final destination.
South Ari Atoll is a big island resort by Maldivian standards. There are just over 190 villas and suites (either on stilts or nestled along the beach), nine bars and restaurants, a delicious ice-cream parlour, two pools, and countless watersports. But their ethos is to be a bit different from the usual family-orientated resort.
It is full of little secrets and surprises, such as a bright red phone box where you can call home for free, or the open-air photo-booth where my children amused themselves for hours by pulling funny faces at the camera.
There were messages in bottles hidden all over the hotel every morning, offering the lucky finder free pizza or bottle of wine. And a bar that popped up in various palm-fringed coves, where you could help yourself to a cocktail or three.
There were fresh coconut stalls, and stashes of chopped fruit here and piles of nuts there. In short, the walk to breakfast was fun. There was no better way to motivate Rafe to make the ten-minute walk down the beach each day for his boiled egg and soldiers than the prospect of finding a hidden treat along the way.
South Ari Atoll knows how to cater for children: there's a kids' pool, films on the beach, a kids' club with arts and crafts, and, best of all, the marine biology centre run by Italian powerhouse Francesca.
My daughter became rather obsessed with Francesca, a gorgeous polyglot, with a degree in marine biology and a passion for whale sharks with which she managed to enthuse everyone.
The resort has a major whale shark-spotting area on its doorstep, and Francesca and the rest of the marine centre staff photograph and monitor these gentle giants (they can grow to 40ft and weigh 21 tons) as part of a global preservation plan.
We spent most of our week on, or in, the water, either swimming in the crystal-clear ocean, snorkelling, or sailing. One evening, instead of going to watch stingrays being fed outside the Umami sushi restaurant, we fished for our supper. As a storm came in and the rain lashed down, the children became all the more determined to land any sort of catch - but to no avail.
Fortunately, some Japanese tourists who came with us caught plenty so gave us some of theirs. And what a delicious meal it made. There's nothing more glamorous than having your chef barbecue freshly caught fish while you sip a glass of rosé.
The best was yet to come. On our last day we went sailing on the resort's catamaran and we were joined by 30 or so over-excited dolphins that showed off their swimming skills for at least half an hour, much to Allegra's delight.
Just then the call went out from Dolores, from the marine centre: 'A whale shark! Over the starboard deck.' There was a mad scramble for masks and snorkels before we all threw ourselves over the side.
By a stroke of luck, as everyone else was swept in the wrong direction, I landed within a few feet of the whale shark's head.
Dark grey and the size of six London buses, it was one of the most beautiful, serene and impressive animals I have ever seen. For ten minutes we swam side by side, one of its large soulful eyes staring at me, and me staring right back. It was a heart-stopping, privileged moment I will never forget.
The hotel food was delicious, particularly the Umami sushi. However, it was the ice-cream parlour ICI that drove my children wild - choc, double choc, or choc with extra choc delight. There were marshmallows and sprinkles and Smarties to throw over the top. It was as if Willy Wonka himself had set up shop.
On that final day, as we stood on the jetty with our bags packed waiting for the seaplane, I did feel a terrible twinge of jealousy as a group of new guests arrived for their week of delights, while ours was over.
Whoever suggests the Maldives is not for families doesn't know what they are talking about - ask my children, one of whom came home a stingray-feeding pirate, while the other discovered she is actually a marine biologist.
First published in the Mail on Sunday - March 2016 More articles below...
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