Welcome to the best day of the week – Friday! To help you get through this last hurdle before the weekend, we’ve got another Showdown for you.
This week we’re pitting a retail agent against a mobile agent. Who will come out on top?
In light of St. Patrick’s Day, we thought we’d go all Irish on you today for the Friday Showdown.
So today’s challenge is to put together the best packaged itinerary for two people to Ireland departing in April for two weeks.
There are bonus points if you’re able to include a couple of Game of Thrones tours!
Anyway, without further ado, take it away Terry!
TERRY: Thanks Shaun.
In the blue corner we have Stacy from Escape Travel (part of the Flight Centre Travel Group) in Victoria.
She’s a bona fide veteran of the travel industry, with three Global titles under her belt (including the infamous “Singapore Affair”), an average monthly commission of 15K and she’s most definitely an Eagle in the biz.
She’s also known to whip out the jazz flute on occasion, ala Ron Burgundy from Anchorman.
Credit: DreamWorks Pictures
Let’s hear it for Stacy!
TERRY: And in the red corner, representing MTA, we have Fiona from NSW.
She’s been a mobile travel agent with MTA just shy of three years. She’s an ex-flighty, having worked as a retail travel agent for 10+years.
She’s happy with the work/life balance of her new role, which allows her to pursue her two favourite interests: meditation and baseball.
(She’s even brought along her signed baseball from the one and only Babe Ruth for good luck)
Let’s hear it for Fiona!
TERRY: Let’s have a clean and fair fight guys.
But first: let’s all drop a barroca as I know you girls are probably nursing a hangover from St Paddy’s Day celebrations last night. I know I am!
(CROWD ERUPTS IN LAUGHTER)
**Round one.**
TERRY: Ready? Set? Go!
And it’s Stacy who’s thrown the first quote. She’s found return flights with Qantas into Dublin and out of Belfast ex Melbourne for just $1,500 return.
AND… (Just reading through the quote now guys.)
She’s booked five nights in Dublin, two nights in Cork, two in Kilkenny (to check out the castle, of course), one night in Kerry and another two nights in Belfast for just… $1,400.
AND: She’s also included a FREE Game of Thrones Belfast Iron Islands & Stormlands Adventure tour too, for a grand total of…
…Wait for it…
$3,241 per person!
TERRY: Now Stacy is printing out a quote for her customer.
But wait – oh no! Her printer has stalled!
TERRY: Oh the humanity!
It’s ok though, she’s just emailing it to the customer instead.
Well done Stacy!
But now Fiona is typing something up.
She’s found return flights with Emirates into and out of Dublin ex Sydney (including a one-night stopover in Dubai) and booked the clients on an 8-day “Irish Elegance” tour with Insight Vacations, with two nights pre and post tour accommodation.
For…
$4,143 per person!
That’s a great deal!
And to celebrate, Fiona’s just thrown her prized Babe Ruth baseball into the crowd!
TERRY: And look who nearly caught it – Sir Paul McCartney!
Better luck next time Macca.
And now…
(DING DING DING)
Sorry folks, that’s the end of the fight.
Just getting word on the final results now from our panel of travel judges…
(LISTENS TO EARPIECE)
Yep … OK …
It’s a DRAW folks.
There are no real losers in the travel industry – especially in Australia. Just in case you forgot, the Australian travel industry is one of the best in the world (click here for 8 reasons why).
So don’t you forget it!
Well, that’s it folks. Until next week. Back to you Shaun.
SHAUN: Thanks Terry.
What a GREAT showdown. I know who I’ll be seeing to book my holiday to Ireland…
Have a great weekend guys and we’ll see each other next week.
Over and out!
**NOTE: Stacy and Fiona don’t actually exist. They were completely made up.
Check out some of the other Friday Showdowns, including Flight Centre vs. helloworld, Student Flights vs STA Travel, MTA vs Travel Counsellors, Cruiseabout vs Cruise Guru, and Cathay Pacific vs Thai Airways.