Chaos has upended the global aviation and hospitality industry — but travel advisors say a crisis like this is when they really come into their own. Now, more than ever, people are seeing how important it is to have a professional in their corner.
"We got the refunds, we got the changes, we redirected and got our connections to change a non-refundable booking from one place to another," said Joanna Leskow, who runs her travel advisory company Leskow Travel (part of Accomplished on the Virtuoso network) between Athens and Boston. "I am certain the major online booking tools are not doing what human travel agents are doing for their clients right now."
The conflict in the Middle East has now raged on for nearly two months, throttling the world's oil supplies, sending the price of flights soaring and throwing a global travel industry into daily uncertainty. The partial government shutdown, meanwhile, forced travelers into extraordinary lines at U.S. domestic security checkpoints, intensifying the angst for American holidaymakers. Travel advisors — particularly those with a heavy client base in the UAE and surrounding areas — are now in crisis management mode.
Crucially, it is a chance to show their value. Suddenly, when you need to get out of somewhere fast or re-route at the last minute, an advisor seems well worth the cost.
"Basically, we're just taking it day by day," said Sarah Ives, who runs Ives Luxury Travel — also a Virtuoso member — in London.
Around 30 percent of her clients are based in the Gulf, with the rest in the U.S., UK, and Australia.
"We're dealing with people that are worried about even coming to Europe. It's about easing people's fears, making sure they know they're in good hands."
In the immediate aftermath of the U.S. and Israel's strikes on Iran, Ives was focused on getting vacationers out of the region — largely by driving them to Oman. Now it's about unscrambling itineraries, working contacts to find deals or credits on non-refundable bookings and poring over insurance policies, all while reworking affected clients' plans for the rest of 2026. Already, airlines like United have slashed flights, banking on oil staying above $100 a barrel for the forseeable future. On an earnings call this week, the airline’s leadership team indicated airfare might need to increase by 20% this summer on account of higher fuel prices.
"There's a lot of rumors milling around, a lot of uncertainty," Ives said. "So, we just keep an eye on the situation and try our best to make sure our clients' huge investments are protected and that their safety is protected as well."
On cancellations and refunds, some ski hotels were not flexible, she noted. Those in the Maldives, however, were mostly able to negotiate extensions — in some cases providing credit through December. Direct flights, "cancel for any reason" insurance and carefully reading the fine print are now the name of the game.
Phillipa Hartley, co-founder of F&P Travel London, is right now re-routing guests to "go West" — moves that can be last-minute and frantic, swapping Oman for Costa Rica, the Caribbean instead of the Maldives, Southern Europe over Dubai for the Easter sun. Honeymooners bound for Paris-to-Dubai-to-the-Seychelles are now considering Hawaii.
"We are really drilling into the terms of our suppliers and making sure everyone — clients especially — are comfortable with what they are signing up to," Hartley said. "It absolutely shows why having a travel advisor is the best thing to have in these circumstances."
Matt Stein, who runs Unique Luxury Travels in New York, distilled the advisor value proposition simply: "This is when you need someone in your corner, when you know you can pick up the phone and not get an automated message or music for three hours."
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