Can't fault DialAFlight - only issue we had was we didn't get seats side by side on flight from KL to London.
Connie provided excellent advice and organisation for our travel plans.
Callum was very helpful in rearranging my return flight home after I caught covid.
Ian was brilliant as were all your people we spoke to - especially when we were in Hong Kong and realised we needed a visa to get into NZ which we have never had to do before
Excellent service and support from Doug Scrivener.
Jessica was really helpful throughout. Will certainly use as my first choice next time.
Can’t fault DialAFlight - excellent service from Samuel and team
Ellis has been super efficient and helpful. When the first flight out of Aberdeen on our way to NZ was cancelled I was able to phone him and he booked us on the next flight which made the connecting flights.
We could have gone to a transit hotel in T3 ( Ambassador) assuming it was available, we went to another hotel in T1 which was fine but just a bit extra hassle.
Amazingly DialAFlight found us a way to fly Business Class to Australia and New Zealand by using a combination of carriers. Timings worked out perfectly and we saved a lot of money.
Everything worked out brilliantly. It is especially appreciated that DialAFlight is so easy to contact and sort out any issues.
Did get caught out on suitcase weight going from NZ to Perth. I checked with you as I was confused online with the airports. You stated it was 25kgs for each airport. But it was 23kgs and mine weighed 24kg so I was charged -not a lot but still it was a surprise!
Gareth was great - finding me a flight I could afford and answering all my questions.
Brilliant service from start to finish!
Very good communication makes the trip easy
Very happy with the service
Everything went like clockwork, thank you!
We were recommended 2 hotels in KL which we took. On hindsight it would have been good to hear about a broader range of options and best place to be in the City e.g. Shangri La was great hotel but not best placed - The Majestic not so good but really well located for markets, shopping and parks etc.
Helpful and efficient service. Would highly recommend.
Very disappointing that the seating in business class meant that on one flight we were sat quite far apart.
A fantastic service. Samuel was great.
Having travelled to New Zealand before I knew we needed visitor visas. We applied on our own merit, but was surprised this was not flagged up on our booking. I understand visas etc are the responsibility of the traveller, but if not applied for beforehand would cause considerable problems.
Transfers in Malaysia were ‘iffy’ and one didn’t even arrive! Travel and hotels are great.
Everyone was very helpful, professional and friendly. I mainly dealt with Jim who was incredibly helpful and offered great customer service.
I have recommended DialAFlight to almost everyone I ever meet who says they are travelling!
You got us out to see family in NZ as requested, and at the best price. Etihad airlines were very good, punctual and tasty food served on all our flights. Many thanks for responding to our few queries before going, felt good to have back up on our first long haul flight.
Great company and people to deal with - we have used them before and happy to recommend them to anyone.
Super holiday. Loved your App which gave us so much information.
Very disappointed with KLM's customer service.
All went smoothly. Thanks Taylor for your help.
The breathtaking Mount Ngauruhoe looms over a wilderness of desolation.
Offset against the cerulean sky, this active stratovolcano has a dark, conical shape and clouds bubbling around its blood-red crater like dry ice in a lab experiment. It's the sort of volcano my son Edward would draw.
Also known as a composite volcano, a stratovolcano is one built up by many layers of hardened lava, pumice stone and volcanic ash - and known for periodic explosive eruptions, with the lava flowing from it cooling and hardening before spreading far due to its high viscosity.
Edward clambers on to the bus that will escort us to the start of our trek with a spring in his step. 'That's Mount Doom,' he says to the bus driver, just in case he didn't already know.
Edward has only just turned seven, but he has already watched Peter Jackson's The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and its prequel, The Hobbit. His bedtime reading is Tolkien's The Hobbit - illustrated but unabridged.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at his literary preferences, given that his father is both a movie buff and a voracious reader.
We are about to attempt the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in New Zealand's North Island. Apparently the best one-day hike in the country, it's a 12-mile adventure across the Tongariro National Park.
This is the setting for Mordor in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and Mount Ngauruhoe stars as Mount Doom, where Frodo, the hobbit entrusted as the ring-bearer, is tasked with destroying the ring.
The driver pulls Edward back by the hood of his waterproof. 'Hobbits aren't allowed on board,' he says, gruffly.
Edward gasps. 'I'm not a hobbit. I'm a child.' 'You know this isn't a child-friendly hike?' says the driver, concerned. This time, he's addressing us, not Edward. 'If it were easy-peasy-lemonsqueezy, it wouldn't be called Mordor,' pipes up Edward, before we can articulate an adequate reply.
I prefer glamorous heels to hiking boots any day of the week, so I harbour a secret wish that poor weather might mean the trek being called off. But I'm a little miffed to find that even a cyclone won't put daddy and Edward off visiting Mordor.
However, a delay while waiting for the weather to improve buys us time to explore the fascinating caves at Waitomo, where the luminous bottoms of glow worms create stellar constellations in the darkness. Also demanding our attention were the bubbling muds and jewel-coloured geothermal pools at Waiotapu as well as the bird sanctuaries inhabited by threatened species of fluffy, nocturnal kiwi birds in Otorohanga Kiwi House.
We cruised the Lake Taupo caldera (a caldera is a deep collapsed volcanic crater, which in this case has formed a lake) aboard a Romancing The Stone sailboat.
But a highlight for Edward, after a stay in a homely, picturesque farm, was a visit to Hobbiton, the film set of The Hobbit. He was totally at home among its undulating hills, enchanting vegetable patches, flowering gardens and quaint houses with hobbit-sized doors.
North Island is often skipped in favour of South Island, but it it needn't be. The Tongariro crossing averages eight hours and comprises steep, rope-assisted climbs to the 6,200ft summit.
It's not a trek for the faint-hearted, but the gritty volcanic landscapes, scorched crater ridges, gem-coloured sulphurous lakes and tussock grasslands merging into forests of mountain beech and kaikawaka are spectacular.
Never mind that I'll be stiff tomorrow. Even after the trek, Edward was still tingling with excitement and daddy was completely in his element.
'Even the hobbit made it?' says the driver, congratulating us at the end of our adventure.
Perhaps hobbits and children are not so dissimilar, after all.
First published in the Mail on Sunday - March 2018
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