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The Dumbest Fee in the Airline Business
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (TheStreet) -- Two weeks ago, flying from New York to Charlotte, I arrived at LaGuardia Airport early to catch the 3:40 p.m. US Airways' flight home. I was early enough that when I arrived at the gate, the 2:50 p.m. flight to Charlotte was still boarding.... (www.thestreet.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
On my last flight, I left when I damn well felt like it and the 204 pounds of baggage didn't cost me a dime extra. I had the best seat in the house, the one in the Left Front, and the only security was the .357 magnum in my briefcase. There was a gorgeous redheaded flight attendant sitting in the R/front and she kept my coffee mug full. We had to behave though, cause the kids were asleep in the second row, but I did get a kiss and a fondle with each refill. The best part? That would be that I beat the door to door time it would have taken to fly commercial by over 2 hours. Whee Hah!
Ain't it sweet.LOL
Welcome to US Air! I just love it when the later flight ends up being delayed for hours and its a delay that the the airline knew about/should have known about. Of course, it would have made sense to clear you at the first opportuity but thant's not how US Air thinks. This is why I avoid US Air whenever possible.
Policy is and has been, to charge for an earlier departure. It used to be, you could standby same day w/o an fee. While working down here in CRP for COex/UAX CRP-IAH I would usually waive the fee for an earlier flight, since we had 11 flts a day to IAH. If say the 1pm flight was oversold, and the 11am had 10 empty seats on it, or we were expecting IAH weather issues, you bet I was going to move people earlier an no fee. However if I got a pissy demanding customer, woops! The policy book kicked in, thats $25 to stdby plz. A smile goes a long way, IN BOTH DIRECTIONS! Customer is nice, then youre Damn right I will be too. Get nasty? Then dont expect much. Many a time, I would come right out and ask a customer. "And what part of yelling at me, makes you think it will make things better?" That usually threw them off and they would back down. BTW, I hated working next to another agent who would not waive the fee, piss off the customer and then fellow agent would look at me and say "I dont know why they always yell at me?" Uh Duh?! This flight has 20 empty seats on it, and IAH is expecting thunderstorms. Get the people out of here so we dont have to worry about their connections!
The trouble is that almost every American traveller wants it all-- fast, ultra-safe, comfortable air travel that's on time with friendly service at a very attractive price. The economic reality is that this combination of factors DOES NOT EXIST! If there were a way to do all of this and keep prices very low and stay in business for the long term, don't you think some genius in a suit would suggest that their airline give it a whirl? In truth, better treatment DOES EXIST...it's called Business Class...it's just not available at the low costs people want. The one thing travellers will not compromise is safety. Overall, the vast majority of American consumers would prefer lousy service, cramped conditions and putting up with airline employees, who are definately overworked, underpaid and put up with the travelling public "Flying Entitlement Attitude". 80% agree with this logic because it's already proven by purchasing habits. Virtually every complaint is cost related. Smiles are free but very expensive. Poorly compensated employees don't smile much. Hiring ( and retaining ) friendly, professional ticketing staff, trustworthy and careful baggage handlers, and competant caring Flight Crews is one of the biggest single costs an airline faces. Better people cost more. The next time you go into a low cost travel website and find the cheapest fare to your holiday destination, understand that you are indirectly ensuring the ( lack of ) quality of your service. If customers were all willing to pay 75% more for their flights you would see a proportional level of quality improvement. After all that said...reality checks in once again! NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Therefore, the "Complaint Circle" continues to go round and round.
You nailed it right on the head, Dee. I was in the biz for 28 years as a customer service agent for both CO and AWA/US. The lower the fare the bitchier the customer. Even tho policy was to charge a change fee for pax to go earlier same day, I usually waived it because in my view it didnt matter when that empty seat flew between 2 points. 7am or 12noon it was still an empty seat. And as for smiles. I loved my job, and for the most part didnt have a problem helping out customers. However! When a customer came up and was snappy/demanding. Well they got the same treatment back. My managers always said, any complain against me, I was usually right. Get ugly with me, and I go strait to the book, and follow policy. Be nice? And I can bend the rules. As a former instructor at AWA I always told employees. Policy is actually guidelines. Use some common sense, and everything will go smoothly.