It was a long day yesterday, I was lined up to board on my first flight when they told everyone to sit down and wait because there was a problem.
I've been flying airlines for decades; sometimes a couple of times a month, sometimes not for years. This wasn't the first time a flight's been screwed up on me. I remember one flight where they told us to "see the agent about rebooking your flight." I had a rare flash of brilliance, went to a pay phone and called the airline's 800 number.
But that didn't happen this time. The Southwest agents rebooked everyone in batches, working by final destination. Those waiting got refreshments. When the nice lady called up my destination, she gave me the new boarding passes, a $200 voucher and assured me that my bags had been rerouted along with me. (And they were.)
My original route had me changing airplanes at Baltimore (KBWI). The reroute had me changing planes at Midway (KMDW). Midway strikes me as being marginal in lousy weather. But it has much nicer bathrooms and the food selection far surpasses Baltimore.
At Midway, a woman in her middle years was upbraiding a gate agent over something or other. I would imagine that if she was trying to get to, say, Detroit, that she ended up being rerouted through Boise. When you are trying to persuade somebody to help you, I'm of the opinion that pitching a fit or acting like an asshole isn't going to get it done.
Listen to your airline agents. In January, 2011, we had arrived 3 hours early at Heathrow. "Since you are here so early, would you like to switch to an earlier flight?" Yes, thank you. Upshot, the "earlier" flight was delayed until our previously expected departure, BUT all subsequent Continental flights to Newark were canceled due to weather.
ReplyDeleteListening to the agents can be depressing thou. Had a 1PM flight outta SFO on American, but it turned out it was on the AA/USAir side (until later this year, I think, when they fully integrate, they were running out of two different piers at SFO). So the AA/USAir cabin crew timed out...and the only replacement was AA/AA...that was a no go. So after 2 hours of delays, cancelled flight. I got the to front with an already rebooked flight from the AA pier, so they just had to print me new tickets.
ReplyDeleteThe poor agent explained that the AA and USAir software wouldn't talk, so they couldn't check on AA/AA flights, just the USAir/AA flights. Oh, and you better go speak to luggage about those checked bags since you're changing from AA/USAir to AA/AA.
The kicker was we spent another 3 hour delay on the AA pier as their flight crew timed out...got home 10 hours late. I will say that AA credited all out frequent flyer accounts with 7000 miles before noon the next day, without asking.
However, a letter to AA outlining the crap, including baggage tracking failures, also made them cough up another $600 in flight vouchers. The people were all as good as they could be within the limits of the stupid system.
BTW, is SJC any better?
Yep, the system is just about at the breaking point... Reduced schedules, full flights and aging equipment is ONLY going to get worse this winter.
ReplyDeleteIt's time for some additional regulation of the airlines. Maybe under President Tr....Oh...wait. Nevermind.
ReplyDeleteYours crankily,
The New York Crank
Next time you find yourself at BWI try Obryckis or Phillips. Obryckis makes the best crab cakes on the planet. Both have outstanding sea food.
ReplyDelete