Travel Advisors Dish on Their Craziest Client Requests
by Dori Saltzman /Train or bus tickets to Hawaii. Ocean-view rooms in land-locked locales. Tours to exotic destinations for less than $1,000. Reservations for the spouse and paramour? Travel advisors have to deal with lots of laughable demands. But some requests leave even the most seasoned travel advisors scratching their heads.
Travel Market Report reached out to our readers to find out what’s the craziest client requests you’ve ever received.
Here are some of the standout requests.
Catering by McDonald’s
“I worked with a gentleman many years ago. He wanted to go on a tour of China and he wanted me to have McDonald’s cater a group meal in Shiyan, China. I’m like, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen but I had to go through the motions to at least attempt it before I found out, at that point, that there was no McDonald’s in China.”
– Stephen Lincoln, Lincoln Travel
Pets Are Travelers, Too
“A CEO of a Defense Company wanted to use his Frequent Flier miles to fly his Saint Bernard 1st Class from San Diego to Switzerland for Christmas! The saint Bernard was their only 'child' and his ex-wife lived in Switzerland, and it was her turn to have the dog for the holidays!”
– Trudy Kelly, Travel By Design
“Can you get a plane ticket to Europe for my deceased pet so I can bury him where my ancestors lived?”
– Sandy Johnson, AAA Alabama
There’s No Turbulence in First Class, Right?
“Back in the day, many moons ago, I had clients that flew from Vancouver to Honolulu. Apparently there was quite a bit of turbulence so when they arrived they immediately called me to upgrade to First Class (yes in those days) so they would not experience the turbulence again while sitting in First class.”
– Carol Attrell, The Travel Agent Next Door
Those Cruise Dates Don’t Work. Change Them.
“I had a cruise client that asked me if I would call a cruise line and have them change the dates of a four-night cruise so it would leave a day earlier and come back a day sooner so it would fit into their schedule.”
– Enrico Saltarelli, Salty Breeze Cruise Planners
Arriving In Style
“Client wanted to paraglide into the resort (Six Senses Zighy Bay) and it was arranged. Tandem paraglide with an instructor!”
– Leona Assie, The Travel Agent Next Door
“Horse and carriage pick up from airport.”
– Tamara Rushdan-Ferguson, Travelers Come Forth
Pepperidge Farm Cookies or Bust
“We had clients who insisted on having us load Pepperidge Farm cookies (to be purchased in a grocery store on one of the Out Islands in The Bahamas) in THEIR private jet. We suggested to one of their assistants that they supply their corporate aircraft with their cookies of choice from the States since it could not be guaranteed that we would be able to locate Pepperidge Farm cookies on Eleuthera.”
– Lori Gédon CTC, Coyaba Travel
Seven Continent Surf Plans
“One client was wanting to surf on all seven continents. He had one left, Antarctica. I did try my best to accommodate his request even though I knew it was very unlikely that it would come to fruition.”
– Terri Oliver, Cruise Planners
Decor Demands
“We had a client that wanted us to have the sofa changed out in her cruise stateroom because she hated beige.”
– Nancy Zupancic, Vision Travel
“We had a guest who was invited to a hotel to attend a wedding in the Caribbean. They called wanting to go, but were insisting on a room with no floral decor. All of the pictures of the hotel showed rooms with floral designs on the bedding and tropical floral pictures on the walls. I called the hotel and asked if they had any rooms without floral theming. The manager told me they could substitute the bedding, but couldn't remove the pictures as they were affixed to the walls in such a way as to avoid theft. I informed the client of the bedding substitution and suggested covering the pictures up if they found them offensive. The client was upset, and told me I wasn't working hard enough to satisfy their request. They then demanded that I call the hotel back and insist on the pictures being removed. I politely told them no, and didn't hear anything further from them.”
– Tina Somers, Aurora Travel Service
Ocean-View Room (But There’s No Ocean)
“I had a client that was booking a trip to Walt Disney World and insisted on an "Ocean View" room. When I explained that was not possible because Orlando was in the middle of the state. They didn't believe me until I actually had showed them a map of the state.”
– Krissi Harmon, OAL Travel Network
Railway to Europe
“I had a gentleman that wanted to take a train to England. When I told them there were no trains to England, he suggested then he would leave from Canada as they were closer!”
– Donna Lucas, Direct Travel
Sounds Like a Bit of O-Strich
“To ride an ostrich in Africa.”
– Coreen Doucett, The Travel Agent Next Door
Toilet Sea to Go
“Can I carry my own toilet seat on the plane to Aruba, I can only use my home toilet seat on other toilets.”
– Renee Gerbert, Action Travel
Walt Disney Divorce
“Had a client come back from a 12-night trip to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. He was demanding a full refund from Walt Disney World. When I asked him what happened and why he was seeking a refund he explained that because of the new Genie+ App, and him and his wife fighting about it, he was now getting a divorce, and Walt Disney World is to blame. I suspect the issues ran deeper than the complications of navigating Genie+.”
– Natalee Fox, The Travel Concierge
But, You Have Connections
“Years ago, I had a prospective client call me in May for a July Pride of America cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. It was for a special anniversary and she was only interested in a balcony cabin on a specific sailing. I checked with NCL and learned that all of their balcony cabins were sold out for that sailing. I let the client know and she informs me that she already knew that. It took me a minute before I was able to ask her if she already knew they were sold out, why did she call me?! Her reply: I called you because I was told you have a lot of contacts. Well, yes ma’am I do, but not the kind that can slap an extra balcony onto a cruise ship!!”
– Debbi Sturch, Tek n Travel