Have airlines always been this bad?

[AJLynn]

I went to Philadelphia for a wedding this weekend and flew Delta because they had the best combination of price and schedule.

 

They lost my bag. Forgot to put it on the plane in Boston, which is understandable, their area was almost completely deserted that day and there were under 10 people on the plane so they probably just got bored and fell asleep.

 

I gave them my hotel address and they gave me a case number and a phone number. I called a couple hours later and got a guy in India on the phone who told me my bag was scheduled to be on the 12:45 flight. I explained to him how that hadn't worked out, since that was my flight and the bag wasn't on it, and he told me there was a possibility it would be on the 5:45 flight and I should call back at 6. I didn't like the use of "possibility" but I did that.

 

The guy I got at 6 didn't know anything. Told me to call back at 9. I explained to him that I had a wedding to go to and needed to know if I had to buy clothes for it and the Macy's closed at 8, and asked him to check with the people in Boston and find out if it was on the plane.

 

He couldn't. Delta's India people lack the ability to speak to their American people. I wasn't able to get in touch with anybody who knew anything, and at 9 the Indian guys still didn't have an update. I did get the bag at midnight.

 

Forward 2 days. My flight back is canceled.

 

I ask for a reschedule. They give me a flight the next morning. I ask for another airline. Can't do, they don't allow that when the problem is weather related. So I ask for a refund so I can take a train. Can't do, all they allow is using half the remaining value for another Delta flight. (As if I'd want to take Delta again.) The agent at the gate can't do anything. So I go to the ticket counter and rehash all this, then give up and ask for my hotel voucher. The agent actually yells at me, "Oh no, you ain't gettin' no hotel voucher!" Exactly like that, in the tone of voice that's appropriate for that statement.

 

Then she tells me I'll need to get me own damned hotel room (exact words) since I didn't know anybody in Philly, but I could get a distress discount since my flight was canceled.

 

She did not tell me that a distress discount requires a distress discount letter, and didn't give me one. Fortunately the hotel people could see I was in fact in distress and gave me the discount anyway.

 

This morning, my rescheduled plane was delayed.

 

Has it always been this bad, or is it getting worse?

[Tommy L]

I think its a lottery, thats all. Except you've a better chance of winning the lottery than getting happily and punctually to your destination.

[Billabong]

Dear God man, that is one nightmare after another

[Brian Cassil]

I hate airlines. I could tell a story about trying to get my family from Salt Lake to Disney World and back but that twitch in my eye would probably start up again.

[blowback]

Brutal

[Dave Buchhofer]

Actually, its just philadelphia international thats always that bad.

[BrianKitts]

No as a whole it's just getting worse. I do everything I can to keep away from JFK, Detroit, O'Hare, and Charlotte these days. Surprising enough though in the last couple of months I've had the best luck flying through Vegas of all places.

[AJLynn]

I used to like the Pittsburgh airport when I lived there, and Boston is usually pretty good - the roads are a lot better than they used to be, and the renovated Terminal A and subway station are quite nice, but I've been travelling by train a lot more than plane in the last few years and the organizational failure of the lost baggage department and the rudeness of the ticket counter agents really took me by surprise.

[BrianKitts]

I've been travelling by train a lot more than plane in the last few years......

 

Just reminded me of an article I read no so long ago....

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1715/69/

[mbowers]

I hate flying.

 

It's more evident than ever that airlines hire the most ill-mannered, high-school-dropout thugs to deal with flights that are cancelled or delayed because the lame-ass pilots and flight attendants are too drunk to show up from the previous nights partying, but alas lets not forget the underpaid, overstressed, sleep deprived control tower engineer who has to keep 500 - 100 ton overdue jets from flying into each other.

 

Uggggghh.

 

Did i mention i hate flying?

[Jeff Mottle]

They lost my bag.

 

Any time an airline loses a bag they are either subject to the rules of either the Montreal or Warsaw conventions which governs reimbursement for among other things delayed and lost luggage. Airlines are notorious for making up rules that contradict these conventions or try to limit their payouts. In all cases they assume ignorance on the part of the passenger who will just believe whatever they say. This is an excellent thread that explains how this all works. Read the entire thread. Pay specific attention to the posts by KVS. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=646769

 

In the event the airline still tries to deny payment, there should be a government body in the US where you should be able to file a complaint. Perhaps the FAA? In Canada it's the Canadian Transportation Agency. Last year I had a problem where BA would not compensate me for losing my luggage for 30 days. After filing a complaint with the CTA, I received compensation within weeks.

 

Delta's India people lack the ability to speak to their American people.

 

It's not just Delta, all of the airlines outsourced to the same Indian company, and I can confirm they lack the ability to communicate with anyone in any country. They also have almost zero concept of world geography. If you have status with your airline, you can sometimes get access to a special contact to help track. Some airlines (UA for example) have much better luggage tracing abilities than say Air Canada who can only trace luggage to the station and no where at the station or in between.

 

Forward 2 days. My flight back is canceled. I ask for a reschedule. They give me a flight the next morning. I ask for another airline.

 

That's pretty standard. They will normally only transfer airlines in the event of mechanical delays or cancellations. ATC and weather delays you have to stay with the airline you have booked. That having been said, I have been transfered to another airline and upgraded to business when others standing next to me were not. All depends on the agent, their mood, how willing they are to bend the rules and how nice you are to them. I used to get really pissed when these things happened, but now I just take it all in stride. In the last several years I've flown several hundred thousand miles, and I've found most things are subject to the mood of the person you are dealing with.

 

 

Then she tells me I'll need to get me own damned hotel room (exact words) since I didn't know anybody in Philly, but I could get a distress discount since my flight was canceled.

 

In cases like this, you need to get the name and employee ID number and file a complaint or ask to speak with their manager. Obviously very poor service, but like I mentioned above almost everything comes down to mood. One thing that peeves me about airline staff is how jaded many of them become with age. If you really hate your job, pay, policies then maybe you should consider a new career.

 

In the past I've normally received a 50% hotel voucher for a weather related delay that required an overnight stay.

 

 

Has it always been this bad, or is it getting worse?

 

I go through phases. For months nothing goes wrong and then I go through bouts of having my luggage lost of delayed on almost every trip I take. Flights cancellations and long delays, poor customer service etc. I have found that having status on an Airline goes a long way in helping to resolve some problems as they tend to value you a bit more. Should not be the case, but seems to hold true.

[shaneis]

Call centres aside, as a rule of thumb - the more you spend on a flight, the better your experience will be. Larger luxury airlines pay higher fees to airports for priority clearance, baggage handling and restock and refuel so they (more often than not) will experience less delay. Of course, if the entire airport is on delay then there's nothing that can be done. Airlines that cause delay are heavily fined. This is why you often see carriers like Qantas, BA, Virgin and Emirates arrive after and depart before carriers like United. Similarly, if you fly Business rather than Economy (Coach), your check in will be easier and your baggage receives better priority and care. Needless to say, economy tickets on a top-rate airline will get you less chance of departure delay than business/ 1st class tickets on an economy airline...and you'll be treated like a customer, not an inconvenience.

[Ky Lane]

Beats walking/swimming.

[PAWUK]

Should have been here in March if you want an example of how an airport can truly cock everything up.

Heathrows Terminal 5 BA's terminal who by the way who misplace 24 bags out of every 1000 carried, opened to a large fanfare .....then those pesky customers turned up, shame the staff didn't or the bag belt work... the whole system fell apart.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7318568.stm

[Victor Erthal]

Had a similar problem with AA going to a wedding in Brazil. Now i fly Continental and not a single problem so far.

[Scott Dombrowski]

I flew American a few times last year and and got shafted once because the phone operator I spoke with made the reservation but never issued the ticket. The ticket agent at BWI would only help by giving me the 800 number to call, which went straight to India. I tried really really hard, but I just could not understand the accents of two separate operators. Somehow, my third call really was the charm and after a brief 30 minutes on hold I got someone who's English I could understand who sorted it out for me. I missed my flight, of course, and had to wait on standby the rest of the day, watching flight after full flight leave because there was no room for standby passengers. So frustrating.

 

I usually fly Southwest and can't remember the last time I had any problems with them. I like the unassigned seating and for some reason the security lines in their terminal are always greased lightning. The lines in the AA terminal were awful.