My consultant Fraser Gillespie was great
The trip was bang on the money.
LATAM has improved its service since March 2022: Better aircraft, better food and more comfortable. Business class seems almost worth the price!
Your service is exemplary.
The commitment to your client is always 100%. I consider my contact at DialAFlight as a knowledgeable friend in all things related to travel. From pre ordering my special meals on flights to planning connecting flights with appropriate timing.
The DialAFlight team were very helpful when there were issues with Avianca over delayed flights to my destination. They investigated the situation on my behalf, and gave me prompt feedback and advice. Although the email I received from Avianca the day before my departure informed me of a changed time for my second flight, it was DialAFlight who discovered the real problem was with my first flight (from Heathrow) which was delayed 12 hours! I was thus able to make arrangements for an overnight stay in advance - unlike fellow passengers, who only heard about it on arrival at Heathrow. Thank you, DialAFlight!
Thank you Callum you are a star
As always, excellent
Unfortunately British Airways once again were woeful at Heathrow
As usual, DialAFlight made it all so easy and convenient. Thank you once more!
Always happy to use DialAFlight!
Everything went well with no problems.
As always, Cameron goes above and beyond. Service was excellent
Excellent customer service given by Elizabeth Lidbury
No problems anywhere but if there had been it was very reassuring that I had contact numbers to be able to use at any time. Thank you for a stress free trip from booking until home again.
Thank you for making this such a smooth trip!
Although American Airlines cancelled my return flight 8 hours before departure this was not your fault
Despite BA cancelling our Manchester/ Heathrow shuttle at ll hrs notice, prior to our connecting flight to Lima, Stan and the lovely lady on the out of hours number did as much as they could to help and support us.
Always amazing customer service, knowledge and sense of humour!
Fantastic service. Thanks
Flights were all on time and we had no travel problems.
Thanks for smooth travel
Thanks a lot Darryl for your help. Very professional
Great customer relations
I only use DialAFlight for all my trips. Shane is so helpful. It's so easy dealing with him.
Did not rate Iberia. Bag delayed 2 days in Madrid
Reassuring to know you are always available to handle unexpected changes - any time. Thank you very much for your excellent service
As always Gavin Dattani was excellent. He is a real credit to DialAFlight and a very professional and knowledgeable member of the team. My mum always books her flights with Gavin and he is patient, understanding, clear, detailed and thorough. He looks after her and takes time to find the best deal for her. I would not hesitate to recommend Gavin, he is a true travel professional
I am very happy to recommend DialAFlight, they are very friendly, very polite and very helpful,
Great service
When your two sons’ favourite TV programmes are Weird Creatures With Nick Baker and Austin Stevens: Most Dangerous! you have a choice: stick your fingers in your ears and pretend it isn’t happening or go with the flow.
So it was that I found myself crouched on the floor of a hotel room in Costa Rica at 2am, trying to catch a spider the size of a fried egg with a tumbler.
In my imaginary life, holidays are spent on a sun lounger. Back in the real world, I’d travelled to the depths of the Costa Rican rainforest with my sons, nine and six, to look at monkeys, caimans, frogs and, yes, spiders - although I hadn’t bargained on having to share a room with one.
Thanks to the country’s incredibly varied landscape, Costa Rica is one of the most bio-diverse countries on earth - it has rainforests, cloud forests, beaches, hot springs and volcanoes.
It’s anything but a Third World country. The streets of San Jose are clean, the people well-educated and the hotels fantastic. To get a proper sense of the place, you need to travel about, which means a lot of driving, although flying is quicker.
My sons had a wish list of animals they were dying to see. Top of the list were the monkeys and, cruising down the river in Tortuguero National Park, we watched fascinated as white-faced capuchin monkeys leapt from tree to tree over our heads.
Our first stop was the Pachira Lodge in a lagoon in the heart of Tortuguero National Park. It’s an eco lodge with its own dock, boats and guide, but there was no air conditioning or TV. Instead guests gravitated to the pool bar where there was a lovely breeze. It was very friendly and sociable.
The best time to see monkeys was early morning. We also spotted toucans, herons, caimans and even a wild otter.
Our next stop was Tabacon Resort and Spa in La Fortuna. Here you can see the active Arenal Volcano, experience hot springs, and visit Cano Negro Wildlife Park, which you do by boat. The animals were astonishing.
The hot springs are free to guests and you dip into a series of swimming pools with natural waterfalls.
On then to Manuel Antonio on the coast and the Arenas Del Mar Hotel. Here we had a hot tub overlooking a pretty cove, a super-comfortable bed and flat-screen TV. My eco conscience was clear as it is sustainable - even the shampoo is biodegradable.
The boys loved it because it was in the middle of a forest, which meant easy access to more wildlife. It is also useful for visiting the Manuel Antonio National Park where we saw more monkeys, lizards, crabs and very lazy sloths doing nothing but clinging to branches.
The highlight was when a wild deer stepped out of the forest and walked alongside my eldest son. He will never forget it. If you are going to the park at Manuel Antonio, take a swimsuit, because there is a lovely beach. It is sheltered, so ideal for children, and we had a great afternoon playing in the water and collecting hermit crabs.
Our final stop was the Paradisus Playa Conchal Hotel. The Paradisus is all-inclusive with jaw-dropping pool, bars and restaurants and lots of activities.
The best bit, as far as the boys were concerned, was the possibility of having a Playstation, X-Box or Wii installed in your room.
Still, on the flight home, I asked them what their favourite part of the holiday was.
I expected them to say the X-Box, but they didn't. The highlight for them was the Pachira Lodge, with the monkeys hopping about on the roofs. Seeing wildlife on TV is all very well, but when you see it for real, it beats the pants off any computer game.
First published in the Mail Online - February 2015
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