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A Moment Of Gratitude For Those Who Help Us Travel

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If you've done any traveling lately, chances are good someone helped you get to where you were going. On this Thanksgiving Day, we offer a word of gratitude to those who go above and beyond.

Nationally, this is one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. With so many people flocking from point A to point B, this week we thought we’d focus on the people who help us get to where we need to be.

Travel expert Matthew Brumley and KPLU’s Ed Ronco both recall a time they were thankful for someone who went above and beyond their job to help them travel easily.

Olga The Benevolent

A trip to Munich for Brumley ended with a last-minute itinerary change. Instead of flying from Munich to Amsterdam, and then on to Chicago, he needed to get to Seattle as his final destination.

“The first lady I spoke to couldn’t help me, so I went to another counter,” Brumley said. “I told the woman (there) the same story, and for no good reason she started working on my behalf.”

She changed the ticket. She waived the hundreds of dollars in change fees. And she bumped Brumley up to Economy Plus class.

“I would just like to thank Olga for making my life a lot easier in Munich,” he said. “And that’s another tip for you: Don’t always take ‘no’ for an answer. Just stay polite, stay calm.”

Andrea With The Earplugs

Ed Ronco's story comes from the cabin of a Boeing 737 bound for Anchorage.

In the back row, an infant started screaming – a piercing, break-the-windows kind of scream. There’s only so much parents can do to calm upset children, so patience and sympathy are probably the best reactions to that situation. But people shifted uncomfortably in their seats as the screaming continued and grew in volume.

That’s when Andrea made her way up the aisle, quietly handing earplugs to passengers. She went further, circling back to offer the mother extra comforts, and making her feel more at ease, too.

Who Helped You?

So, who has gone above and beyond for you while you’ve been traveling? Maybe it was someone in an airport. Or maybe someone helped you when you had car trouble on the interstate. Tell us your story in the comments below.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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Matthew Brumley is the founder of Earthbound Expeditions, which organizes group travel to destinations around the world for various clients, including KPLU. "Going Places" explores all aspects of getting from Point A to Point B. Have a travel hangup or a tip? Let us know in the comments.

Ed Ronco is a former KNKX producer and reporter and hosted All Things Considered for seven years.