A 32-year-old man honeymooning in Arequipa, Peru, had his life saved by his Flight Centre travel agent back in Australia after falling seriously ill.
In desperate need of an emergency blood transfusion and with supplies in Arequipa’s local hospital scarce, the man was running out of time to receive the blood that would save his life.
Hearing of his customer’s struggle on the other side of the world, the travel agent called-upon Flight Centre’s global network of travellers and staff to help – within 24 hours a queue to donate blood for the man had formed in the town, with people lining-up around the block.
The agent’s request for help was originally published by Donna Hanson, Flight Centre’s Director of Transformational Change, on the company’s Workplace network.
The response was immediate and overwhelming, Donna explained. “It was like wildfire,” she said.
“Everybody started jumping on saying; ‘I have a cousin who lives there’, ‘I have a customer who is down there for six months’, ‘I’m calling the airline and asking for help’. People were sharing it on their private social media.”
“There were so many people waiting in line, they had a blood supply for a very long time.” Donna said.
The man’s life was eventually saved and the hospital received several months of blood supply following donations. None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary actions of those who responded to Flight Centre’s message and donated blood for a stranger in Arequipa.
“We will never know who the donors were … but we do know that many named Flight Centre as the reason they were there,” said Sue Henderson, Flight Centre’s retail product manager in Australia.
“I have no doubt that the Workplace messages and the subsequent actions of the FCTG (Flight Centre Travel Group) employees in the USA and Canada definitely spread the word.”
With over 16,000 and growing 5* Trustpilot reviews and an overall ‘Excellent’ rating of 9.7/10, Flight Centre is a trusted voice in the travel sphere among customers and peers alike.
To book with Flight Centre, visit www.flightcentre.co.uk.
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About the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG)
The Flight Centre Travel Group (fctgl.com) is one of the world’s largest travel companies with over 18,000 staff and 2500 stores across its leisure, corporate and wholesale businesses. The company’s turnover in 2014/2015 financial year was £9 billion. After starting with one shop 30 years ago, FCTG has enjoyed remarkable growth and is one of the top 100 publicly listed companies on the Australian Securities Exchange.
All specialist brands under the FCTG Corporate banner offer 24/7 support and the benefits of a blended offline/online solution; global negotiation strength and unique and superior business travel products.
About Flight Centre
The team at Flight Centre are experts when it comes to travel and are committed to providing customers with a great experience. The company’s success comes down to its people, experienced Travel Experts who are passionate about finding their customers the holiday they want, for the price they want.
Since establishing the first Flight Centre store in 1995, the business has grown its team of Travel Experts to include over 80 stores within the United Kingdom, with new stores opening regularly. Worldwide, Flight Centre has an amazing 2,500 stores across the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, United States, Canada and more, making Flight Centre one of the largest and most successful independent travel retailers in the world. With its global reach and close relationships with the world’s best travel providers, the company is able to provide competitive travel deals.
The Flight Centre team can organise anything from flights and hotels, car hire, tours, travel insurance, visas and more to tailor make the perfect holiday. They also have dedicated First and Business Class flight teams and Business Travel teams to help with any specialised travel needs.
For more information go to www.flightcentre.co.uk, www.facebook.com/FlightCentreUK, www.twitter.com/flightcentre_UK or www.instagram.com/flightcentreuk.
