I've been asked by several of my friends to recount my travel experiences of last week. It's taken me a week to wrap my head around all that happened, but here goes:
Ordinarily on all trips that I can, I fly Southwest Airlines. I do not mind checking in early so I get an early boarding pass and can choose my seat. The agents, ticket folks, flight attendants, and pilots have always been friendly and helpful, no matter what the situation. This has ensured my loyalty. Bags fly free (as long as they stay under 50 lbs.)
Sadly, my last trip for work, I just could not make a Southwest flight work out time-wise for where I was going. So, after researching other options, I decided to give United a try. Now, I could go on and on about various things that made my flight with United uncomfortable (such as, the fact I can't even stand up straight in the plane), but I would like to just focus on my return trip experience.
First, my travelling companion and I arrived at the airport at 8:30 a.m. We had a 10:26 a.m. flight from Nashville to Houston, where we were to then catch a 2:15 p.m. flight to Lubbock. After paying $25.00 for my one bag to have a spot in the luggage compartment, I made my way through security and arrived at my gate with over an hour to spare before boarding time.
As boarding time neared, a gate agent calmly announced that there would be a slight delay. Ok, no big deal, our schedule and connecting flight time could handle that. A little later it was announced that they were trying to find a flight crew for our flight.
Huh?
How do you schedule a flight, sell tickets, have a plane literally sitting at the gate, and not have a flight crew? Was the crew delayed from another flight? Is our pilot sick? Nope. They just didn't have one. The gate attendant actually announced at one point that they were trying to see if they could get another flight's crew to switch to our plane. Apparently there was a small uprising at another gate as the passengers on that flight refused to give up their crew. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.
Finally, 2.5 hours and a different gate later, we had a plane with a crew. We all rushed aboard, thankful to continue on our travels. Those of us with the Lubbock connection were doing the math, and knew we would be cutting it close. The pilot announces that he plans to take a short cut to make up some time, so we sit back a little calmer thinking that we may have to run to make it, but we should be fine.
I don't know what the pilot's definition of short cut is, but mine does not include making a 1.5 hour flight turn into 2 hours. We land and missed our connecting flight by 15 minutes. I'm pretty sure I saw it take off as we landed.
We head to the nearest gate agent for assistance. I approach the counter, and this lovely woman in a United uniform does not even look up at me. I stand there, amazed at the level of non-customer service, and finally slap my hand on the counter. She slowly looked up at me with an incredibly indolent gaze. No, "I'm sorry, how may I help you?" or "I can see you are somewhat panicked, can I offer my assistance?". Nope. Just a stare that conveyed her obvious disdain and disappointment with her profession.
I explain our situation and she looks back down at the counter and says, "You'll have to talk to a customer service agent." I've always been taught that customer service is everyone's job, but apparently not so at United. I then have to ask her where to find one. No kidding. She was that helpful.
My travelling companion and I head in the direction of the customer service agent and start to get in line. The customer service agent looked at us and pointed up stairs and said, "You'll have to go to another counter, I am about to close." Really????
The next stop we actually got to speak to someone, who was still less than enthused about assisting us. She looked up my information and told me I was out of luck on a later connection as it was completely booked. I thought about asking if they were sure they had a flight crew for that one, but held my tongue. She asked if there was another airport in Lubbock. Um.....have you heard of Lubbock? No? Then why would you think it was large enough to have another airport? She then offers to put me on a plane to Midland, Amarillo or Dallas. Well, that's nice and all, but none of those are really "close".
I ask if they could get me on another airline? She checks and says, nope - all full. I ask which airlines she just checked, and she named off a couple, not including Southwest. When I ask about Southwest, she raises up all snotty and says, "We don't affiliate with Southwest." Well, I would guess not, as I'm pretty sure their customer service standards so far exceed yours that they wouldn't accept you. I finally accept the standby slot (#1, at least) and a confirmed booking on the first flight out the next day. I ask about my bag - she was less that confident in her answer, and I pretty much reconcile myself to the fact that I may or may not ever see my bag again.
My travelling companion then starts the process......and she was already put on the next flight. Must be nice to be a United rewards member. My experience that day pretty much insures I will take Greyhound before I fly United again, so I don't think a rewards membership is in my future.
We hang out in the airport for the next several hours. Our new gate agent was much more friendly and really, really tried to get me on the next flight. All it was going to cost me was wearing a West Virginia University t-shirt. (He thought that was funny as I had my office gear on, representing a different large institution.) If it had meant I would get home to my El Hubbo and babies that night, I would have sung the WVU fight song.
Well, no seat opened up. I waved goodbye to my travelling companion as she boarded for home. Dejected, tired and cranky, I head to the next customer service agent stand where an efficient, if not overly friendly agent gave me a voucher for a hotel room. I had nothing with me - no makeup, no clothes, nada. It was camping indoors, basically, only I was even less prepared. I arose early the next morning to ride the bus back to the airport with at least 30 other passengers who got to make an unscheduled overnight stop in Houston.
I got back safely, and for that I am grateful. Exhausted, but grateful. My bag apparently got to travel home with my travelling companion.
So, I did finally make it, and this experience has made me love and appreciate the Southwest employees as they have always gone the extra mile to provide assistance, and they do so as though they actually care about your plight.
So, yes, Thank you, United, for making me love Southwest even more!
Ordinarily on all trips that I can, I fly Southwest Airlines. I do not mind checking in early so I get an early boarding pass and can choose my seat. The agents, ticket folks, flight attendants, and pilots have always been friendly and helpful, no matter what the situation. This has ensured my loyalty. Bags fly free (as long as they stay under 50 lbs.)
Sadly, my last trip for work, I just could not make a Southwest flight work out time-wise for where I was going. So, after researching other options, I decided to give United a try. Now, I could go on and on about various things that made my flight with United uncomfortable (such as, the fact I can't even stand up straight in the plane), but I would like to just focus on my return trip experience.
First, my travelling companion and I arrived at the airport at 8:30 a.m. We had a 10:26 a.m. flight from Nashville to Houston, where we were to then catch a 2:15 p.m. flight to Lubbock. After paying $25.00 for my one bag to have a spot in the luggage compartment, I made my way through security and arrived at my gate with over an hour to spare before boarding time.
As boarding time neared, a gate agent calmly announced that there would be a slight delay. Ok, no big deal, our schedule and connecting flight time could handle that. A little later it was announced that they were trying to find a flight crew for our flight.
Huh?
How do you schedule a flight, sell tickets, have a plane literally sitting at the gate, and not have a flight crew? Was the crew delayed from another flight? Is our pilot sick? Nope. They just didn't have one. The gate attendant actually announced at one point that they were trying to see if they could get another flight's crew to switch to our plane. Apparently there was a small uprising at another gate as the passengers on that flight refused to give up their crew. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.
Finally, 2.5 hours and a different gate later, we had a plane with a crew. We all rushed aboard, thankful to continue on our travels. Those of us with the Lubbock connection were doing the math, and knew we would be cutting it close. The pilot announces that he plans to take a short cut to make up some time, so we sit back a little calmer thinking that we may have to run to make it, but we should be fine.
I don't know what the pilot's definition of short cut is, but mine does not include making a 1.5 hour flight turn into 2 hours. We land and missed our connecting flight by 15 minutes. I'm pretty sure I saw it take off as we landed.
We head to the nearest gate agent for assistance. I approach the counter, and this lovely woman in a United uniform does not even look up at me. I stand there, amazed at the level of non-customer service, and finally slap my hand on the counter. She slowly looked up at me with an incredibly indolent gaze. No, "I'm sorry, how may I help you?" or "I can see you are somewhat panicked, can I offer my assistance?". Nope. Just a stare that conveyed her obvious disdain and disappointment with her profession.
I explain our situation and she looks back down at the counter and says, "You'll have to talk to a customer service agent." I've always been taught that customer service is everyone's job, but apparently not so at United. I then have to ask her where to find one. No kidding. She was that helpful.
My travelling companion and I head in the direction of the customer service agent and start to get in line. The customer service agent looked at us and pointed up stairs and said, "You'll have to go to another counter, I am about to close." Really????
The next stop we actually got to speak to someone, who was still less than enthused about assisting us. She looked up my information and told me I was out of luck on a later connection as it was completely booked. I thought about asking if they were sure they had a flight crew for that one, but held my tongue. She asked if there was another airport in Lubbock. Um.....have you heard of Lubbock? No? Then why would you think it was large enough to have another airport? She then offers to put me on a plane to Midland, Amarillo or Dallas. Well, that's nice and all, but none of those are really "close".
I ask if they could get me on another airline? She checks and says, nope - all full. I ask which airlines she just checked, and she named off a couple, not including Southwest. When I ask about Southwest, she raises up all snotty and says, "We don't affiliate with Southwest." Well, I would guess not, as I'm pretty sure their customer service standards so far exceed yours that they wouldn't accept you. I finally accept the standby slot (#1, at least) and a confirmed booking on the first flight out the next day. I ask about my bag - she was less that confident in her answer, and I pretty much reconcile myself to the fact that I may or may not ever see my bag again.
My travelling companion then starts the process......and she was already put on the next flight. Must be nice to be a United rewards member. My experience that day pretty much insures I will take Greyhound before I fly United again, so I don't think a rewards membership is in my future.
We hang out in the airport for the next several hours. Our new gate agent was much more friendly and really, really tried to get me on the next flight. All it was going to cost me was wearing a West Virginia University t-shirt. (He thought that was funny as I had my office gear on, representing a different large institution.) If it had meant I would get home to my El Hubbo and babies that night, I would have sung the WVU fight song.
Well, no seat opened up. I waved goodbye to my travelling companion as she boarded for home. Dejected, tired and cranky, I head to the next customer service agent stand where an efficient, if not overly friendly agent gave me a voucher for a hotel room. I had nothing with me - no makeup, no clothes, nada. It was camping indoors, basically, only I was even less prepared. I arose early the next morning to ride the bus back to the airport with at least 30 other passengers who got to make an unscheduled overnight stop in Houston.
I got back safely, and for that I am grateful. Exhausted, but grateful. My bag apparently got to travel home with my travelling companion.
So, I did finally make it, and this experience has made me love and appreciate the Southwest employees as they have always gone the extra mile to provide assistance, and they do so as though they actually care about your plight.
So, yes, Thank you, United, for making me love Southwest even more!
Comments
Post a Comment