As the latest Israel-Hamas war escalates, travel advisors are not
standing idly by. Cali Stein and Chelsea Martin are among the many
advisors who have been using all of their resources to help people
evacuate the area and get out of danger.
Advisor Cali Stein of Four Hundred says she’s been “working nonstop
since Sunday.” No one she’s helping is actually a client; instead,
“every single person is a friend of a friend [or] family of a friend,
and all strangers.” These strangers have connected with advisors through
word of mouth, and advisors have been using their real-time access to
flight information to assist.
"Some people I've helped have been people in Israel, who are panicked
and can't get flights out,” Stein said in an email exchange with
TravelAge West. “Most of their flights were cancelled, so I made sure to
stay on the phone with them while I searched for commercial flights,
made sure the layovers were safe and booked on their behalf.”
Stein has also been coordinating private charters, thanks to donors
who are funding these flights from Israel — she’s already filled two
flights with travellers, and 180 more people were set to depart on
another flight today. If all goes well, she’ll schedule another
chartered flight each day this weekend. Everyone is working around the
clock, essentially as emergency volunteers. They’re also acting as
emotional support.
“We understand what's needed to get on flights in terms of passport
and visa information, and when people are panicking, we are often the
voice of calm and reason,” Stein said. “I've been so proud and amazed by
the people in this industry who have banded together to help innocent
citizens get to safety.”
To offer her services, Stein posted on Facebook and Instagram,
sharing her email contact and making it known that she was helping book
the chartered flights.
Cali Stein (left) and Chelsea Martin (right) are two travel advisors who have been working around the clock to help people get out of Israel. Photo Credit: TravelAge West
Advisor Chelsea Martin of Passport to Friday hasn’t been booking
flights, but she has been using her far-ranging social reach on
Instagram — where she has nearly 30,000 followers — to connect people
and disseminate information.
“At one of my host agencies, Embark Beyond, advisors in our group
chat were talking about getting people out and using our resources — we
have so many at our disposal, but they’re not necessarily reaching a
wider audience. And, since I have that, I figured I could help people
who might not know where to turn in this time. I’ve been helping friends
of clients, family of clients, even just random strangers on the
internet.”
Fellow influencers reposted Martin’s offer to assist, and she quickly
took on advising anyone she could, connecting them to people organising
chartered flights and alerting them when she saw new flights available.
She has also been a source of information, dolling out tips such as
getting to the airport in Tel Aviv very early — some folks are missing
planes due to long lines and other logistics. Also, being present at the
airport may allow you to get a ticket when a new flight becomes
available, or when seats open at the last minute, she said. Travel
advisors are offering assistance if and when flights get canceled, too.
"I’ve also had people reach out with other resources, and it’s really
felt like a collective community effort,” Martin shared. “I’m a very,
very small piece of this entire endeavor — some of my fellow advisors at
Embark haven’t slept, and they’ve booked thousands of people on
flights.”
Martin says people are exiting Israel to any secure place, including
Greece and Portugal. Some flights are going to New York and Boston.
Charter flights she has seen have headed to Cyprus.
And things are changing quickly — flights may stall, and the U.S. is
also sending evacuation flights as of today. Nonetheless, it’s likely
advisors will keep working on assisting as many people as they can —
“silent heroes,” as Martin calls them.
“Our whole goal as advisors is to get people out there, to be more
empathetic humans, to experience other cultures and to be more
open-minded,” Martin said. “So, when something happens that is so
disheartening, we band together. We all feel so helpless at this time;
if the small part we play in this is to use our resources, we just hope
it helps someone.”
Source: TravelAge West