Posts Tagged ‘flying’
Flying Friendly Skies Again?
Sometimes hard times can bring about good change. For a long time now service in many industries has been declining. Be it the guy bagging your groceries to the airline representative checking you in. It seems that people just don’t care as much about customer service as they used to. The old saying goes: “Good help is hard to find.” I think that it is more likely, “Good help is expensive to train and implement.”
That being said, there are others who recognize this as a way to retain the dwindling amount of passengers flying the skies today. Several major airports around the nation are making their focus a more friendly and helpful staff. Among these airports are LAX, JFK, Miami, and “America’s Friendliest Airport” Phoenix Sky Harbor. These airports will be offering training to employees that will stress the importance of offering more helpful, proactive service to passengers no matter your role at the airport.
The training will also me made available to non-airport employees as well such as the airline representatives, TSA personnel, retail and food service professionals. The object being; a cohesive attitude and level of service across the board at these airports.
We look forward to seeing this implemented, for too long service has been so far gone that finding smiling helpful employees would be a welcome change. Especially if it comes at no extra charge. It’s too bad it took hard times to fall on the industry for this to come about but, good change is good change. Welcome back Friendly Skies . . . we hope.
www.CaptainNowhere.com
Tags: airline representative, America's Friendliest Airport, checking in, customer service, flying, Friendly Skies, Good help is hard to find, industry, JFK, LAX, major airports, Miami, passengers, Phoenix Sky Harbor, proactive service, professionals, training to employees, TSA
Vouchers and Amenities
Sometimes it helps to think of flying as a game. As with any game you have to know the rules or you aren’t going to win. Since we are at that time of year where flights are at or above capacity and weather delays start to wreak havoc on airline operations, I thought we could talk about the rules involving vouchers and amenities.
If you misconnect, that is miss your connection flight, and it wasn’t your fault then you are usually entitled to some form of compensation. The airlines have various implements at there disposal to keep you happy when they are at fault. These include things such as airline miles, overnight kits, food and hotel vouchers. If you are stuck in a connection city for a few hours, they can give you food vouchers so that you can get a bite to eat. If you are stuck there overnight, they can put you up in a hotel and give you and overnight kit. The overnight kits usually include some necessities such as deodorant, a razor, shaving cream, a shirt, and other essentials you might need. They can also offer this to you if you bag is missing when you arrive.
If you find yourself on an oversold flight, then you can stand to profit from it by taking a voluntary “bump” from the flight. If you can fly at a later time, sometimes just a few hours later then the airline can compensate you with vouchers good for a couple hundred dollars. If you are involuntarily removed from a flight due to an oversell of weight restriction on the flight then they have to offer you almost double what the voluntary passenger gets and you are able to get cash or check instead of a voucher. for more specific numbers check out the DOT site.
Being informed is very important with flying these days. The airlines are out to save a buck anywhere they can. They pull in charges with things like baggage fees but are not nearly as faithful in handing out the vouchers an amenities that are owed when they make mistakes. If you know your rights you can speak up and get what’s owed to you. If the airline still doesn’t do what’s right, document it and report them to the DOT, Department of Transportation, let them know you intend to do this. They get severe fines for not following the rules and would rather take care of it with you than deal with the DOT for non-compliance.
Tags: airline, airline miles, Amenities, bump, compensate, connection, flights, flying, hotel vouchers, misconnect, operations, Vouchers
Be Cool
Be Cool, a simple rule to follow when flying. A lot of the times however, the airline system seems to be a challenge for most people’s sense of calm and cool demeanor. In spite of this, you have to realize that there are consequences for violating this rule. Forty-nine year old John Murray found this out November 17th when a US Airways flight diverted to Boston and had him removed from the flight.
Details are sparse at the moment but it is clear that at some point after takeoff from Philadelphia Murray became unruly and disruptive with the flight crew. The flight on it’s way to London was diverted by the flight crew to Boston when the Scottish man refused to take instruction from the flight crew involving an arm brace he was wearing. The reports say that he was arguing and causing a disturbance with other passengers.
That’s not all he did to the other passengers, the US Airways flight was delayed in Boston for 2 hours and 40 mins due to the unruly passenger. While unsure of the actual circumstances involving the dispute, Murray’s inability to keep his cool resulted in the flight and passengers being delayed. Murray is also now in custody of the Boston police for ” interfering with crew on flight 728.”
There are no allegations of terrorism, substance, or alcohol use involved in this case due to appear at East Boston District Court. There is an old saying that states: you have to pick your battles and I would add that you need to pick the place from where you wage those wars. Clearly aboard a flight going anywhere, let alone an international flight, is not the appropriate place to pick a fight. You will not win this dispute, the law and powers that be will always come down on the side of the flight crew.
If you have a dispute with the airline or flight crew, keep your calm and wait until you are off of the plane to make your argument or complaint heard. The consequences of not doing so, are hardly worth the instance which usually provokes these sorts of things. Murray has a girlfriend who lives in the states and frequently travels between here and there. Hopefully, after this incident Mr. Murray will learn to master this first and most basic rule of flight . . . Be Cool.
Tags: arm brace, Be Cool, Boston, delayed, diverted, flight, flight 728, flight crew, flying, international flight, John Murray, passengers, Philadelphia, takeoff, terrorism, unruly passenger, US Airways
Airline Elite? Now is the Time
Three of America’s largest airlines want you to fly them and become an “elite status passenger”. United, Continental, and American are all running a double qualifying miles program right now. Right now if you fly any of these airlines, you receive double the credit for your miles flown. These “double miles” will not count towards rewards or incentives the airlines offer to “cash in”, only towards qualifying for elite status with that airline.
To hit elite status with most airlines you need to fly at least 25,000 miles in a year. Then, you can earn a higher ranking status by reaching other thresholds such as 50,000 and 75,000 miles flown. Why bother trying to get elite status with airlines? Each level offers it’s own perks including things like: waived bag fees and preferred seating options. In a world of fees and charges these perks could save you serious cash and help enjoy flying a little more.
Earlier this year all the major airlines offered this program including Delta, US Airways, Continental, United, and American. The fact that some of the airlines have optioned this promotion twice in the same year shows the desperation of the airlines to get people onto flights. It shows the decline of the business traveler as companies look for more cost effective ways to conduct business in tough economic times. This promotion being offered twice in the same year is unheard of, as it is usually only offered once a year. The promotion is often to lure out those frequent flyers who need an incentive to fly a little more at the end of the year to qualify for their elite status. Now, it is a desperate plea: “Fly with us and quit buying the cheapest possible tickets when you do so.”
We watch as the airlines struggle to stay in business and take advantage of the deals and incentives they throw out to lure onto flights. It is true that right now airfares can be found on first class airlines that are as low or lower than they have ever been. Airlines have fallen in stronger economies and more will as time goes by. But, when the dust clears and the economy bounces back, which of these airlines will be left flying? It’s your travel dollars that will make that decision.
Tags: Airline Elite, airlines, airlines struggle, America's largest airlines, American, cheapest possible tickets, Continental, delta, double miles, elite status, fly, flying, incentives, ouble qualifying miles, perks, rewards, save, United
When Life Gives you Lemons, Throw Them Away
Southwest Airlines is going green however, it’s not the “green” you think. No, they are not introducing a new way to be champions of the environment. There “green” is a little more involved in the cold hard green. They are looking so save money by cutting lemons from their flight.
Early campaigns involved slogans like: “Check out our fleet, now with fewer lemons flying.” or ” Green, cause Yellow bites.” (Just kidding) Southwest is cutting lemons but will keep their citric brother the lime on flights. This comes from an evaluation of waste within the airline. “At the end of our 3,200 daily flights, we found an excess of lemons and needless waste,” says Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins.
The customer preference seems to be that of limes anyhow. I personally, am a lime man and couldn’t care less for the exile of the little yellow sourheads. By getting rid of the lemons offered during flight Southwest looks to save $100,000 a year from it’s budget. For those of you who prefer lemon to lime, you have until October 1st to say your goodbyes.
Tags: airlines, environment, fleet, flights, flying, going green, lemon, lime, Southwest, Southwest Airlines