Your calls always answered within 5 rings.
Air India, despite its quite recent privatisation, is simply awful in every way. I was at Gatwick for 11 hours , with zero information about what was happening. Apparently the previous two Air India flights to Kochi were cancelled. All very stressful, but no fault of DAF!
There is a great deal of reassurance in knowing that your trip has been arranged by people who really know what they are doing. And that you are not just abandoned to the anonymous machinery of an airline that doesn't really care, in spite of all their rubbish claims about caring! Also that if something goes wrong you can get advice with a telephone call that is actually answered!
Although my baggage was lost from Dubai to London Gatwick I was able to speak to DialAFlight and ask for guidance on how to process the forms to reclaim my baggage. This they did readily which was a comfort at the time. You'll be glad to hear I now have my lost baggage!
Archie was brilliant - sorted everything out. Will definitely be using you guys and recommending to friends
Great service, especially from Ray Taylor.
Zoe Lane is an excellent travel agent.
It's not until something goes wrong with your travel plans that you realise the benefits of booking with them. After sitting on the plane at Gatwick for a couple of hours our flight was cancelled due to a technical issue. At 11pm there aren't that many people in the airport to help. Fortunately a call to DialAFlight's emergency phone line had me talking to Korinna within seconds. She was able to see there were no flights from Gatwick the following morning but there were spaces on the Heathrow flight and she changed our booking to this flight. She also re-arranged our connecting flight for Dubai to Delhi. All this whilst my husband was trying to talk to the airline's customer call centre who were saying they couldn't do anything as the flight hadn't been officially cancelled! A big thanks to Korinna for her help.
Efficient and helpful
No hitches on the way despite the potential for this to happen. Radisson Blue Hotel in Connaught Place excellent service and very convenient for shopping and restaurants.
Always very helpful and a pleasure to book with.
Other than the changes with the flights everything else was great
Amazing customer care
Excellent service
None. Good service
Alfie was very helpful, as usual and ensured all went smoothly
You didn't have to rearrange a flight home for me after a last minute international flight cancellation on this holiday, as you did on the last, but it was so good to know that - far from home - you were there to help me should I find myself stranded. Thank you so much for being there.
Excellent service and they were there for me when I needed assistance. Will definitely use again.
Always had good customer service from Michelle
Flight suggestions worked really well
All perfect!
Everything was handled promptly, professionally and it delivered an experience in India that was everything we hoped for. Great to have a team that were readily available to support us in both the planning and execution! Particular call-out for Brody Letchfield who was our main contact and ensured that, through liaison with Tamarind Global on the ground in India, everything ran smoothly
Connecting flight from Heathrow was delayed because of fog in Delhi, causing us to miss the connection to Goa. Seven hour wait for the next flight.
Great service yet again
Brody once again has provided excellent service and planned our holiday to perfection
Edward Scudder is a star - above and beyond. Quality service
Absolutely seamless holiday to Goa with all the flights booked with Rosie at DialAFlight Thanks again
As always, excellent service especially by Gino. If only BA could learn a thing or two from you about customer service.
Raphael was very helpful throughout the entire process, from initial booking to just before departure
Aiden is great and always most helpful as are all your team!
Thank you for your attentive services
My plan for my eagerly-anticipated trip to Thailand was - there was no plan. Just three weeks of winter sunshine, island-hopping with a girl pal - a relaxing break from my job as a weather forecaster on ITV.
After flying to Bangkok, we took another plane direct to Krabi on the west of the mainland. There was no time to waste... a beach was waiting.
Railay Bay in Krabi is picture-perfect Thailand and the ideal place to kick off a holiday. Long-tail boats parked in neat rows bobbed along the shoreline with crystal-clear turquoise water lapping at the limestone cliffs. The cliffs are popular with climbers.
I didn't quite muster the courage to scale a sheer rock face in a harness - although we did clamber up a 70-degree slope using just ropes. It was totally worth it.
After the initial steep incline, we found ourselves in rainforest-style terrain with a breathtaking view of the entire peninsula.
The striking white cliffs and dense tropical jungle-style greenery define Krabi.
We drank our body weight in fresh coconut milk and pina coladas in our first couple of days as we acclimatised to our new surroundings and gradually began to relax.
Afternoons were spent deciding where to sunbathe after simple lunches - mostly of satays and papaya salads.
We called the latter 'papaya salad roulette'- as you never knew how spicy it was going to be. Some were well into blow-your-socks-off country.
RELAXING MASSAGE
I lost count of the massages we had, each one leaving me blissfully floppy.
We loved the bars with their boho beanbags, low tables and bamboo terraces overlooking the bay.
We didn't want to leave Railay Bay in Krabi, but we had arranged to head to Phuket to meet up with some ex-pat friends over from Hong Kong.
We stayed at the famous Slate hotel. It's a huge hotel with a choice of three pools surrounded by tropical plants - and even our room came with its own courtyard, plunge pool and outside bathtub.
Nearby, Nai Yang Beach was quiet and unspoilt - a fitting location for sundowners and more popular with locals swinging in their hammocks than tourists.
From Phuket, the hotel arranged our transfers to Koh Lanta via the island of Phi Phi, where we stopped off for the day and hired a long-tail boat to go snorkelling. With just us aboard, our guide tailor-made the whole afternoon and we even found an idyllic little secluded bay for lunch.
We then took a ferry to Koh Lanta. Until I arrived in Koh Lanta I thought I had reached the peak of relaxation - but there it was like stepping back in time, with a slightly hippy vibe.
I saw as many home-made signs for beachside yoga as I did for happy hours. The resort was on the edge of Phra-Ae Beach, home to a string of rustic restaurants and chilled-out bars.
BEACH BARBECUES
Beach barbecues became an evening ritual - barefoot, still in our sundresses, bikinis and smelling of sun cream. I'm sure all this made the freshly-barbecued fish and local Singha beer taste even better.
For a change of scenery we took a tuk tuk to nearby Long Beach - three miles of soft sand fringed by shady tall pine trees. The shade was something we were craving after going out on paddle-boards in the strong late-afternoon sunshine.
I'd only paddle-boarded once before but the still, clear waters of the Andaman Sea were the ideal place to get into the swing of it. After a very floppy few days in Koh Lanta, it was time to mentally prepare ourselves to head back to London life, via Bangkok.
BUZZING BANGKOK
Bustling Bangkok was an assault on the senses at first after so much relaxation. But Hotel Muse couldn't have suited us better. In a brilliant location, it was a calm sanctuary in the craziness of Bangkok's streets. Our suite was huge, with the comfiest beds.
Someone had suggested we go to a club called Sing Sing - it's one of the best I've ever been to, buzzy and with friendly staff. With espresso martinis in hand, we made friends from all over the world.
I already plan to go back to meet them there again.
First published in the Mail on Sunday - November 2017
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