Hi Kristy,

This is Ann at Global Travel. We made the arrangements for your stay in San Pedro. We appreciate your business and would always try to do everything possible to make sure that everyone is happy and satisfied with their stay – after all we want you to return and bring all your friends!!

Firstly, I need to mention that we use Maya all the time and have done for many, many years. They are always very polite, helpful and look after our clients very well indeed. They have never let us down.

I understand that your domestic flights from Belize International to San Pedro and your stay at Aquamarina Suites, were all very satisfactory and that you were very happy with the services you received. However, it does seem as though some people are getting the “wrong end of the stick” and getting the impression that we have let you down in some way.

We booked your domestic flights with Maya Island Air and these were the most convenient times to fit in with your arrival and departure international flights. The flights were booked and paid for as part of a complete package that you booked through Global Travel.

On your departure from San Pedro we booked you and your companions onto the 9.00 am flight on Sunday 11th December which reaches Belize International at 9.15 am. As you were departing from Belize International at 12.00 noon that was the best flight to get you there in plenty of time to allow for the minimum of 2 hours that the airlines demand for international flights. American Airlines ask us to allow 2.5 to 3 hours.

The 10.00 am flight was just too late which is why we did not book you onto that flight in the first place.

It is not just a question of arriving at the Belize International Airport, but actually getting to the check in desks 2 hours before your departure time. By the time that you would have arrived at the International Airport at 10.15 am, (subject to there being no slight delays etc) disembarked, walked from the plane to the arrivals hall, claimed your luggage, made your way round to the departures hall and queued for your flights, and been through the increased security checks and baggage checks that are in force these days, it would have been cutting it just too fine. We always book people with plenty of time to cover all eventualities.

As I understand it you decided that you wanted to take that risk and delay your homebound flights to the 10.00 am flights and you asked the receptionist at Aquamarina Suites to telephone through to make the changes with Maya.

I am not trying to excuse anyone for what happened just to put it into focus. I also appreciate that what happened was really frustrating and upsetting.

However, at the risk of offending you, which I would really not do for the World, for something as important as a connecting flight, I would certainly have either popped along to the Maya office at the San Pedro airstrip in person and checked that it was all done correctly rather than rely on a hotel receptionist to make the phone call with all the other things that are generally going on around any front desk. The phone call would have gone through to the Maya office at the airstrip where they too would have been dealing with the comings and goings of lots of passengers. At the very least I would have made the phone call myself and have them repeat all the information back to me.

As a result of what has happened to you, we are certainly going to be adding the information to our paperwork advising people against making any changes to the times we book so that nobody else has the same experience as you have had, although, to be fair to everyone, this is the first time that this has ever happened.

On a positive note, how very fortunate that Tropic Air actually had any spare seats at this busy time of year and that you were able to reach the International Airport in time for your homebound flights.

I am VERY upset that SPL should make such disparaging and downright libelous remarks without being in full possession of the facts.

I am also concerned that you appear to have agreed with SPL knowing that Global Travel was not responsible for what happened.

I understand that our Belize office have been in constant contact with you about this and that you have written thanking them for their help.

I believe this to be a genuine mistake on either the part of the person at the hotel making the phone call on your behalf or on the person receiving the phone call at Maya. Nobody deliberately goes out of their way to be spiteful.

Even though the sequence of events that led to the situation had absolutely nothing to do with Global Travel, as a gesture of goodwill and in the hope that you do not think too badly of Belize we will reimburse you for your losses of $108.

I would hate for this situation to blight what was an otherwise really enjoyable trip.

Kind regards,

Ann

How cool is that? I might call you for my next trip!

I apologize if it came across that way. What I was agreeing with was that Maya's mistake & it not being handled was unacceptable. You were not responsible for what happened.

The reason why I didn't call you directly is

#1. I didn't have your contact information other than email
#2. You did not give us ANY flight information for our transfer flights home.

So, I went to the front desk to see if they knew when we were to leave. We had no idea when our departing Maya Air flight was. The girl at the front desk suggested it would probably be around 10am. She called, checked, and came back saying it was 9am.

We decided that we did not want to be sitting at the airport for that long. We were hand carrying all of our luggage & we didn't have much, so we still gave ourselves plenty of time [almost 2 hours] and changed the flight to 10am.

We did not even know it was possible to change our flight until the girl at the front desk said "You can change your flight if you want, I can call them for you", so we agreed.

I understand you feel the need to come here & defend your company & services, however my issues were never with your company but with Maya Air & the way they treated us. Its nice to know they've never treated anyone else in such a manner, but there's always a first, and hey, maybe we were the lucky winners.

I greatly appreciate you refunding us the money, & there should be no problem with you getting that money back from Maya Air as it was clearly a mistake they made.

I am very grateful that Tropic Air not only had flights available to BZE International, but they were also very nice, helpful, and even let us use their front desk phone to contact Aquamarina for clarification on some things. Regardless, I will be flying with Tropic Air in the future. That bad experience will sting for a while. Even though they made a simple mistake, that does not excuse them treating us poorly.

Again, I thank you for your services, & I would reccommend your company to anyone looking to travel to Belize.

Thank you Otteralum. I would be more than happy to help.

Bye for now,

Ann

Very professional indeed. Ann, I am impressed. I too will use Global Travel for my next trip to Belize.

Thank you also Kristykins. It is just so easy for people to get the wrong impression and I really needed to clarify the situation. I am sure you understand.

I hope that now you will be able to just remember the fabulous time you had in San Pedro and that you will return very soon and, hopefully, see some of the other wonderful treasures that Belize has to offer.

Kind regards,

Ann

Most definetly And your reccomendation regarding Aquamarina was wonderful by the way.

I'm MORE than happy that we changed things to stay in San Pedro. I dont think our experience would have been nearly as wonderful if we had stayed far from SP. We made such great friends through our hotel !!! I definetly will be staying at Aquamarina again in the future. Maybe even for our return trip in March!

The long phone conversation that you & I had really helped out a bunch.

Its always scary traveling to a foriegn country that you don't know much about. I felt at ease having spoken with you at length about what to expect.

I am so happy to hear that this situation has been resolved as I am the Belize representative for Global Travel.

I think I have had a "good name" on this board and would not want for it to be "dampened" by someone else's mistake.

Thanks to Pam&Dave for your kind comments and also to Kristykins for setting the record straight. The refund is already in your PayPal account.

Global Travel would be nothing without DJean in our office in Dangriga. She is kind, efficient, helpful and always puts the clients first.

Bye to everyone, Ann

Like someone told me right when we got to Belize "In Belize, EVERYTHING is good"