Catherine Mackey - Travel Counsellors 17 Newton Road, Urmston, Manchester M41 5AF

"I booked a journey with Catherine in January 2021 after taking part in a Zoom presentation she had organised about Hurtigruten's services. I had been planning for three years to go to Antarctica for the total eclipse of the sun in December 2021. She very quickly arranged a place for me on MS Roald Amundsen for this event. This was during the worldwide Covid pandemic of course and arrangements changed regularly. Despite Hurtigruten's and Catherine's best efforts, which included a personal visit to my home, the UK Government's failure to enter the Covid booster on the vaccination certificate meant that I could not enter Chile to board the ship. Fortunately, I had full credit for the lost journey, which was transferred to the MS Fram journey in November 2022. Catherine handled the new booking efficiently, including business class flights from Heathrow to Santiago de Chile via Madrid, and shuttle flights from Manchester to Heathrow (and back of course). The arrangements seemed to change on an almost weekly basis, but Catherine kept me informed at every stage and I successfully joined the ship and was able to stand on my seventh continent, during a most enjoyable 26 days. The return flight from Madrid to Heathrow was on the 500th Airbus A350, which had been brought into service in September without being properly fitted out, meaning that the business class cabin did not have proper seats and was not in use. Having paid for and been given business class seats I was somewhat miffed, and my complaint to the purser was fobbed off. Catherine, however, would not be fobbed off, and negotiated with Hurtigruten for a refund, which has landed in my bank account today. As a much-travelled first-time customer, I was impressed with the service that Catherine provided, going beyond normal expectations, and I would have no hesitation in recommending her to anyone, particularly those making unusual expeditions. Well done!"

"Recently booked a trip to Australia which Catherine helped me with. No matter what I asked of her in terms of flights, accommodation etc she continued to come back to me with options until we found what was right for me. I never felt pressured or as if I was taking up too much of her valuable time. I highly recommend Catherine for anyone looking to book a holiday, especially if it's not straight forward. The trip all went smoothly and we had a fab time. Thank you."

"Catherine arranged our family trip to Lapland. Her advice, organisation and planning was exemplary. She took the hassle out of the planning. I would highly recommend her!"

"We’ve recently returned from a fabulous break in Australia which included an unforgettable journey on the Indian-Pacific train between Sydney and Perth. Catherine had originally started organising our trip in early 2019 ready for a November 2020 departure but then Covid-19 appeared and the trip was delayed not one year but two. Catherine kept us informed throughout this period reconfirming all the bookings of train, hotels and flights which gave us tremendous peace of mind. When we finally got the green light, all the necessary documents concerning flights, hotels and overall itinerary were sent to us as well as on the TC app and we were finally off on a trip of a lifetime! We were also provided with contact details of Southern World who had helped in providing the land schedule for Australia but everything went smoothly including receiving wheelchair assistance on getting my wife on and off planes and traversing the airport terminals. Without the help of Catherine in organising things like this I’m sure our stress levels would have increased and our holiday would have been all the poorer. Although we could have booked this holiday ourselves, the service Catherine provides in bringing all the disparate parts together is invaluable and ensured we were fully able to concentrate on having such an enjoyable stress-free time and that is what a holiday should all be about. Top marks for a first class service!!"

"Big thank you to Catherine for organising a wonderful holiday for us - everything was so smooth from start to finish. Would definitely recommend and can't wait to book another holiday with Catherine's help. Thank you!"