Your calls always answered within 5 rings.
Craig and team are amazing. Never let's us down. We have again given DialAFlight recommendation to people who we met whilst travelling
Air India, despite its quite recent privatisation, is simply awful in every way. I was at Gatwick for 11 hours , with zero information about what was happening. Apparently the previous two Air India flights to Kochi were cancelled. All very stressful, but no fault of DAF!
There is a great deal of reassurance in knowing that your trip has been arranged by people who really know what they are doing. And that you are not just abandoned to the anonymous machinery of an airline that doesn't really care, in spite of all their rubbish claims about caring! Also that if something goes wrong you can get advice with a telephone call that is actually answered!
Although my baggage was lost from Dubai to London Gatwick I was able to speak to DialAFlight and ask for guidance on how to process the forms to reclaim my baggage. This they did readily which was a comfort at the time. You'll be glad to hear I now have my lost baggage!
Archie was brilliant - sorted everything out. Will definitely be using you guys and recommending to friends
Great service, especially from Ray Taylor.
Zoe Lane is an excellent travel agent.
It's not until something goes wrong with your travel plans that you realise the benefits of booking with them. After sitting on the plane at Gatwick for a couple of hours our flight was cancelled due to a technical issue. At 11pm there aren't that many people in the airport to help. Fortunately a call to DialAFlight's emergency phone line had me talking to Korinna within seconds. She was able to see there were no flights from Gatwick the following morning but there were spaces on the Heathrow flight and she changed our booking to this flight. She also re-arranged our connecting flight for Dubai to Delhi. All this whilst my husband was trying to talk to the airline's customer call centre who were saying they couldn't do anything as the flight hadn't been officially cancelled! A big thanks to Korinna for her help.
Efficient and helpful
No hitches on the way despite the potential for this to happen. Radisson Blue Hotel in Connaught Place excellent service and very convenient for shopping and restaurants.
Always very helpful and a pleasure to book with.
Other than the changes with the flights everything else was great
Amazing customer care
Excellent service
None. Good service
Alfie was very helpful, as usual and ensured all went smoothly
You didn't have to rearrange a flight home for me after a last minute international flight cancellation on this holiday, as you did on the last, but it was so good to know that - far from home - you were there to help me should I find myself stranded. Thank you so much for being there.
Excellent service and they were there for me when I needed assistance. Will definitely use again.
Always had good customer service from Michelle
Flight suggestions worked really well
All perfect!
Everything was handled promptly, professionally and it delivered an experience in India that was everything we hoped for. Great to have a team that were readily available to support us in both the planning and execution! Particular call-out for Brody Letchfield who was our main contact and ensured that, through liaison with Tamarind Global on the ground in India, everything ran smoothly
Connecting flight from Heathrow was delayed because of fog in Delhi, causing us to miss the connection to Goa. Seven hour wait for the next flight.
Great service yet again
Brody once again has provided excellent service and planned our holiday to perfection
Edward Scudder is a star - above and beyond. Quality service
Absolutely seamless holiday to Goa with all the flights booked with Rosie at DialAFlight Thanks again
As always, excellent service especially by Gino. If only BA could learn a thing or two from you about customer service.
Raphael was very helpful throughout the entire process, from initial booking to just before departure
Aiden is great and always most helpful as are all your team!
With a laidback vibe, fantastic food, a thriving music and cultural scene, and beaches and mountains within striking distance, it's not difficult to see why Melbourne is such a magnet for tourists. Here is how to see the city in just 48 hours.
DAY ONE MORNING
Get the lie of the land from Eureka Tower, where the Skydeck on the 88th floor (the lift journey takes just 38 seconds) offers wraparound views over Port Phillip Bay and across the Yarra River to the Central Business District (CBD). It's a highlight here in a city not otherwise brimming with mainstream attractions.
Afterwards, explore one of Melbourne's worst-kept secrets: its labyrinthine lanes that link the CBD's main streets. Start in Degraves Street (filled with cafes and lunch spots) and continue via Centre Place to find fashion boutiques and hidden-away bars.
You could even join a walking tour with Hidden Secrets to get the most from these vibrant but easy-to-overlook backstreets (including lunch).
AFTERNOON
Melbourne is a city fuelled on good coffee, where it's all about single-origin beans, micro-roasting and aero-pressing. Get your fix at Pelligrini's Espresso Bar, a local institution and home of the city's first Italian coffee machine.
If sport is your thing, you won't be disappointed by the sprawling precinct on the north side of the Yarra, which is home to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Park and AAMI Park, where you can catch cricket, tennis, Aussie Rules or rugby, depending on the season.
Alternatively, visit the recently revamped National Sports Museum to see memorabilia including items from the 1956 Melbourne and 2000 Sydney Olympics.
EVENING
The city is home to an incredibly diverse dining scene, with everything from Indonesian to French, so even the fussiest of eaters will find something.
Among the most talked-about spots is Sunda, where the Asian-inspired menu also features Aussie ingredients such as rock oysters, scarlet prawns or bush tomatoes. Ask for the signature dish of Vegemite curry served with buttermilk roti.
For after-dinner drinks, head to Bar Margaux, which is tucked away in a basement. The CBD is awash with scores of such unconventional places. Order a cocktail - try the Margaux-rita - sit back and toast a brilliant first day.
DAY TWO MORNING
Take a break from the streets and head for the peaceful Royal Botanic Gardens (free admission). Its 94 green acres are a pleasure to explore, but especially so in the company of an Aboriginal guide. The walk includes a traditional smoke ceremony to welcome participants to these ancestral lands.
Follow the historic theme back over the river to the Old Treasury Building (free admission) - the exhibits tell of Melbourne's founding in 1835 and the subsequent Gold Rush, when this city became the wealthiest in the world. Don't miss the replica of The Welcome Stranger gold nugget in the vaults: unearthed in 1869 and weighing 150lb, the original is the largest ever found.
From here, it's only a short walk down Flinders Lane for lunch at the sleek Mrs Singh (mrssingh.com.au), which opened early 2020. Get the widest taste of its authentic North Indian cuisine by ordering the very reasonably priced thali of different curries to mop up with outrageously tasty kulcha flatbreads.
AFTERNOON
Melbourne has a high concentration of commercial art galleries so draws plenty of art-lovers. Follow Hosier Lane, admiring its colourful and ever-changing street art as you go, to Federation Square. Here you'll find the National Gallery of Victoria, founded in 1861. Australia's oldest and most popular art museum is huge, so you'll need to spend a good hour or two here if you want to appreciate the nation's largest collection of Australian art.
Its other location across the bridge has edgier exhibitions: the current showstopper celebrating graffiti artists Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat runs until mid-April.
Alternatively, do some sightseeing by boat along the Yarra. You could choose to captain your own electric GoBoat via the South Bank and sports precinct. Alternatively, hire a rowing boat in leafy Yarra Bend Park, where fruit bats roosting in riverside trees or even the occasional platypus will entertain you.
EVENING
Mix things up by checking out some of the city's inner suburbs. Immediately north of the CBD lie Carlton (Melbourne's Little Italy), hipster Fitzroy and bohemian Collingwood. Follow in the footsteps of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with fine dining at Charcoal Lane in Fitzroy, famous for its trainee programme for Aboriginal and disadvantaged young people. Expect innovative dishes such as pepperberry spiced kangaroo fillet with paperbark and smoked tomato.
Browse Fitzroy's boutique shops, then hit Carlton for drinks at Lord Lygon, a wine bar big on organic varieties, or cocktails at the rooftop Johnny's Green Room. Its comfy banquettes are perfectly placed for admiring the city skyline, so sit back and savour a magical moment in Australia's coolest city.
First published in the Mail on Sunday - March 2020
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