Downgraded: United unplugs customer complaint phone line
The Indian call center that took United Airlines passenger compliments or complaints is being shut down, in favor of going entirely e-mail. “United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said the airline is able to respond better to customers who write, since they often include more detail, making it possible to provide a more specific response.” Not to mention that sending a form letter response is faster than having a real conversation. And I’m positive every disgruntled passenger appreciates the convenience of requiring them to take the time to write, rather than make a quick call from the road… Sure.
Upgraded: Transatlantic deals on Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic has a great sale going on right now over the pond, with economy fares as low as $453 round trip including taxes, and premium economy for as low as $675. Best part: No advance purchase. Buy today, leave today! But fares aren’t just last-minute fares, either. But no summer fares. You’ll find the cheapest prices from Feb 11, 2009 – Mar 22, 2009 or Oct 22, 2009 – Nov 30, 2009.
Downgraded: $0 airfares
I’ve always felt that companies should honor the prices they publish. And in an era of airlines that pay you to fly them, why wouldn’t a passenger think that a $0 airfare (plus taxes) was legit? Alas, tickets booked on Northwest at that last Wednesday fare aren’t being honored, unless the passengers are already mid-trip.
Upgraded: Inflight wi-fi live on Southwest
If you’re flying Southwest today (Wednesday, Feb. 11), check to see if you’re flying on aircraft #901. It’s the first plane equipped with inflight wi-fi. The plane is routed OAK-ONT-PHX-SAN-OAK-SNA-PHX-OAK-PHX. And while the service is being tested, the wi-fi is free.
Downgraded: Reading, Geography, Responsibility
A Thomas Cook travel agent mistakenly booked a passenger to San Juan, Puerto Rico, instead of San Jose, Costa Rica. SJU instead of SJO. Bad mistake. But didn’t the traveler bear any responsibility to check the tickets — or heck, figure this out at the departure airport?? I love her quote, though: “I looked around the airport, saw posters of Puerto Rico everywhere, and thought: ‘What am I going to do? Where is Puerto Rico? Where am I?’” Yes, “where is Puerto Rico.”
Downgraded: Surprise
Headline: “Surprising number of companies cut travel spending.” Umm, “surprising”? Have USA Today’s editors been so insulated from the economic crisis that they’re shocked that travel spending is cut back?
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February 12th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Born in the UK myself, I have to say Puerto Rico is not a place that is large in the consciousness there, I would like to think most Brits could place it in the Caribbean but for many it might be vaguely thought of with Guam or other islands.
Imagine an American who booked a trip to France and ended up in the Faeroes, would they know it was a Danish territory in the North Atlantic?
February 12th, 2009 at 11:12 am
That quote was hilarious about Puerto Rico. To Simon: Puerto Rico is actually a US territory, so that’s why it’s so funny. A more appropriate analogy might be if a Brit boarded a flight thinking it was going to Germany, but it in fact went to Gibraltar. Then they would say, “I looked around the airport, saw this huge rock instead of a wall, and posters of Gibraltar everywhere, and thought: ‘What am I going to do? Where is Gibraltar? Where am I?’
February 12th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
I needed to speak with United customer service representative a few weeks ago to book a flight. Normally I would use the website, but I had a travel gift certificate that of course could only be used if I spoke with an actual person. The automated booking system wouldn’t allow me to use the certificate, and when I asked to speak with an actual person, the automated voice told me that due to high volume they couldn’t take my call but to try again. I did this for a few days before resorting to email. It took a couple of weeks to hear from anyone. By that point I had given up and booked with another airline — the travel certificate’s value wasn’t worth any more effort. So yeah, email’s going to be a real winner.
February 13th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Dave, if you follow the link the woman was British, not American.
February 15th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
The email will be just as much of a joke as the call center. I have the call log and the email chain to prove it. United’s web site was having a problem so I could not complete a purchase I had on hold. I called customer service and after 10 minutes of going through voice options then another hour of being transfered to dept after dept and being hung up on I sent an email to customer service. Same run around with the string of emails that had the same tone as the call center script. I was given a 10% coupon that didn’t work.
The reason for the call and email: I had a ticket on hold for my daughter to join us in Cancun and needed to make sure she could get the time off, but the price went up by $300 between the time I got a hold of a person because the web site could not find the reservation. I was told by customer service and email to bad the fare was no longer available and I had to pay the $300 extra, the kicker I bought the ticket 2 days later after the original reservation expired for .30 cents more. ( I needed her on this specific flight with her sisters) NO one in customer service checked the fares, I had a good laugh at the emails because the fare was available for the entire week and a half of the tough crap for you I got from “customer service” dept.