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TWA – Incompetence or Lies?
Question:
<< but I will if I can get my miles to that "magic" number. This last set of flights would have done it if they hadn’t moved us to United for the first flight and if I hadn’t had to travel with the Senior pack for which they issue no miles.>> If TWA involuntarily rerouted you due to their problem (including weather) you should still be able to get credit for those miles through the FFB office via mail. You’ll need to send copies of your tickets and a letter explaining what happenned.
Response:
> 1. The reservations were initially made directly with TWA but we > had an agency issue the tickets to save on mileage (and so that > our daughter would get credit (she gets no commission).
Certain airlines such as Qantas always ask you where you will be staying and if you call to confirm or ask info about your itinerary and they see there is no contact number, they will ask. Obviously, if the cancellation is done just an hour before the flight, it doesn’t help much, I agree. But it is alwasy a good idea to leave your telephone number (day and night numbers) when making the booking. Even Eaasy Sabre allows you to code these numbers in. > B. While we were in the south, we had to cancel the vacation because of > a death in the family. I called TWA and talked with their customer
In the case of death or illness, the airline will usually waive the restrictions and put you on the next available flight (if a seat is available, of course). From your original message, you may have spoken about the death in the family to the TWA agents on the phone, but you didnt seem to indicate the reason for your change when at the counter at the airport. Sometimes the airline will ask you to pay full fare and then re-imburse you once you produce the death certificate etc etc. Again, in the case of deaths inthe family, airlines are usually nice. Of course, in the USA, since the competition is so fierce, they may not care for that anymore.
Response:
Airline employees that deal with the masses tend to get jaded. One of the things they tend to do is come up with anything they think a passenger will believe to get through a situation as painlessly as possible, irregardless of what the actual truth of the matter is. If it is a travel agency issued ticket, so much the better. Then they can blame the travel agent who is not there to defend themselves. I had a woman on a senior citizen fare from Chicago to LAX round trip on Southwest Airlines. Southwest is very independent and does not display their schedules in other airline systems. I always advise my clients to reconfirm their return flight information. You never know when something may change. My client, when return from LAX, called Southwest Airlines the day before she was to fly. They told her everything was in order. When she got to the airport, she found out that there was a schedule change she was not advised of, and her flight had taken off two hours earlier. They protected her on a cross country odessy that contained at least three planes changes and an additional stop or two enroute. To make matters worse, the Southwest agent convinced her it was "her travel agent’s fault" for not advising her of the change. The only problem with that was #1-they never contacted us to advise us (remember, they are not in our computer system so we would have no way of knowing a schedule had changed) and #2-the client called to reconfirm her flights 24 hours before the flight was scheduled and was told everything was fine! I lost that client. No matter how I tried to explain to her that she should have been told when she called to reconfirm, she for some reason, would not believe that. It is a shame that people can get away with such things. As a travel agent, people rely on my knowledge and experience. Unfortunately, in this situation, the lies prevailed.
Response:
In my experience what you have just gone through is not unique … and I have 700,000 FFB miles. I quit flying TWA last November and will NEVER fly them again. I have written Delta and they have agreed to give me their Platinum Card — in advance –in return for my pledge to fly their airline. All they did was take a look at the frequency of my TWA travel. I have therefore cut my TWA Red Card in half.
Response:
:Two incidents on a recent trip: :A. Our TWA flight from Denver to St. Louis was cancelled because the :plane was unable to fly from St. Louis to Denver (weather, they said.) :The agent told us that if they had had our phone number they could have :called us and made arrangements for a later flight or to get us :transferred to another airline, etc. He continued to tell us that if we :had made our reservations directly with the airline instead of through :a travel agent, they would have asked for our number so that they could :call us. We asked him if they had called the travel agent to let us :know. He said no, because agencies never tell their curstomers anyway :and will not give the airline the phone numbers so that they could :call. Fact is, there are people in this world who are in front line, customer service positions, who have no clue about how to handle people. They believe that there always has to be blame attached to anything that happens. This agent appears to be one of them. Rather than simply telling you the reality of the situation ( I’m very sorry, but your flight has been cancelled ) and what they could do about it ( We’re going to reaccomodate you on a United flight which leaves at xxx time ) he chose to do as airline employees have done since the world began. When in doubt, and feeling like you’re gonna get jumped on, blame the travel agent. You said it yourself: :The reservations were initially made directly with TWA but we :had an agency issue the tickets. They did not know that the plane would not get :there until too late to call us anyway. I’ll bet money on the fact that TW had your number in the record, but that, in fact, you’re correct that they simply didn’t know early enough to advise you, *or* the agency who ticketed your reservations. :Since we had checked our baggage at the curb, he told us that :they would retrieve it and send it to United (to which they had :transferred us) so that it would be on the flight with us. The baggage was not transferred. The United airlines baggage agent at the other end of the flight (New :Orleans) said that there was no way that they could have done so unless they :get us new claim stubs. (Remember that if an agent ever tries to pull the same :stunt on you!) Thus the baggage did not arrive at our hotel until 2 A.M. – a great :way to start a trip. I’ve actually seen baggage pulled *literally* off one plane and put on another, without giving the passenger new claim stubs. Sometimes that’s simply not possible ( giving new claim checks ), altho it certainly is the *right* way to do it. Regardless of what happened here, the agent should not have made you that promise if he was unable to make it happen for you. Again, many front line employees don’t have the skills needed to do their job. :While we were in the south, we had to cancel the vacation because of :a death in the family. [<snip<] Because of the higher cost of transferring a :ticket, I chose to use 2 Senior Travel Pack coupons for the bereavement flight. To :use the coupons, you must either reserve 14 days in advance or travel on a :standby basis. I chose the latter. a conversation ensued: : Agent 1: "I can’t issue you a ticket on the flight because you must : reserve two weeks in advance." : : Me: "But the rules say I can use the coupon for a standby fare." : : Agent 1: "No, you can’t but I can issue you a Y class ticket." : : Me: "Please, these coupons are good for standby also so put me on : standby for the flight." : : Agent 1: "Let me get the manager." : : … The manager comes out from the office … : : Manager: "What’s the problem?" : : Me: "I need to use a Senior Pack Coupon for a standby ticket to New : York." : : Manager: "You can’t do that. You must reserve two weeks ahead." : : Me: "No, the rules say that I can travel standby as well. That’s why : I bought them. And now I need to get to my mother’s funeral." : : Manager: "Well, you can’t go standby on them, but (to the agent) : issue him a ticket and seat." : :And thus the manager violated the company rules and issued a seat :reservation instead of following them and giving my a standby seat :which amounted to the same thing since the flight was not full. If there is only one thing I want my clients to remember, it’s that airline employees can do *anything* they want. If you want something done, and you’re standing at the counter, sometimes the difference between getting what you want and not getting it is the person you’re talking to. In this case, you probably could have argued with that ticket agent til the cows came home, and to no avail. The manager, however, broke the rules and gave you the ticket, although if he had been interested in quality customer care, he would have done so without any debate. I have found that many airline employees do not know all the rules behind their own airline promotions, and unless pressed, will not make the effort to find out about what they don’t know – choosing more simply to tell you that you *can’t* do what you want to do. It’s not right, and it’s not fair, but it *is* the way it is. At the counter, or on the phone, sometimes screaming and jumping up and down helps ( if you’re the kind of person who can do this ). Airlines simply don’t like scenes at their ticket counters and will do whatever they need to to quiet you down. Sometimes just refusing to move until you get the correct answer to your question, or requesting a manager, and then *his* manager and then *HIS* manager, and so on, will get you what you need. I’m sorry that you had this experience. While I personally believe that the employee-owners of TWA need to take a hearty look at their customer care, *if* they plan to stay in business, please realize that this problem could have happened at any airline, or in any service industry, for that matter. TWA doesn’t hold the monopoly. My suggestion? Find a *good* travel consultant you trust, and let him/her guide you thru this maze. We’re not all bad, ya know. ~sb — Exquisite customer care and service are everything. If you don’t believe it, just ask someone who is getting neither. If I didn’t have nearly 50,000 miles on their FFB program I might not bother to travel with them again, but I will if I can get my miles to that "magic" number. This last set of flights would have done it if they hadn’t moved us to United for the first flight and if I hadn’t had to travel with the Senior pack for which they issue no miles. So now I have to go once more on a regular ticket to get the added 2000+ miles that I need. Maybe we can afford it next year. I hope they stay in business that long.
Response:
[snip] > What I don’t like is for the airline agent to > tell me that I should book directly with them and that they would call > me about such changes. They won’t – any airline. If they would, we > wouldn’t need travel agents to take care of us.
Several times I have had airlines call me to tell me of flight changes, as recently as 2 weeks ago by Continental, and previously by Delta. Of course I don’t rely on them always contacting me, but then again I don’t totally rely on my travel agent either–I personally reconfirm my flights. — –Gail All comments are mine mine mine!! However, they may be borrowed free-of-charge at your own risk for up to 2 weeks, $0.25/day late fee.
Response:
Two incidents on a recent trip: A. Our TWA flight from Denver to St. Louis was cancelled because the plane was unable to fly from St. Louis to Denver (weather, they said.) The agent told us that if they had had our phone number they could have called us and made arrangements for a later flight or to get us transferred to another airline, etc. He continued to tell us that if we had made our reservations directly with the airline instead of through a travel agent, they would have asked for our number so that they could call us. We asked him if they had called the travel agent to let us know. He said no, because agencies never tell their curstomers anyway and will not give the airline the phone numbers so that they could call. Since we had checked our baggage at the curb, he told us that they would retrieve it and send it to United (to which they had transferred us) so that it would be on the flight with us. 1. The reservations were initially made directly with TWA but we had an agency issue the tickets to save on mileage (and so that our daughter would get credit (she gets no commission). 2. They did not know that the plane would not get there until too late to call us anyway. 3. If they had called the agency, they would have let us know, one way or another as they would with any customer. 4. The baggage was not transferred. The United airlines baggage agent at the other end of the flight (New Orleans) said that there was no way that they could have done so unless they get us new claim stubs. (Remember that if an agent ever tries to pull the same stunt on you!) Thus the baggage did not arrive at our hotel until 2 A.M. – a great way to start a trip. This was the first set of lies by a TWA agent – and he was not a young first-timer either. At least he wasn’t young, but seemed to be an experienced agent in his 50s. B. While we were in the south, we had to cancel the vacation because of a death in the family. I called TWA and talked with their customer service department who were extremely helpful and told me exactly what to do. I cannot praise that young woman enough for her kind assistance. Unfortunately, we had to go to the TWA counter in New Orleans. Because of the higher cost of transferring a ticket, I chose to use 2 Senior Travel Pack coupons for the bereavement flight. To use the coupons, you must either reserve 14 days in advance or travel on a standby basis. I chose the latter since there were plenty of seats and we needed to get out that day. And thus we come to the agent(s) at the counter. Here is an approximate rerun of the exchanges: Agent 1: "I can’t issue you a ticket on the flight because you must reserve two weeks in advance." Me: "But the rules say I can use the coupon for a standby fare." Agent 1: "No, you can’t but I can issue you a Y class ticket." Me: "Please, these coupons are good for standby also so put me on standby for the flight." Agent 1: "Let me get the manager." … The manager comes out from the office … Manager: "What’s the problem?" Me: "I need to use a Senior Pack Coupon for a standby ticket to New York." Manager: "You can’t do that. You must reserve two weeks ahead." Me: "No, the rules say that I can travel standby as well. That’s why I bought them. And now I need to get to my mother’s funeral." Manager: "Well, you can’t go standby on them, but (to the agent) issue him a ticket and seat." And thus the manager violated the company rules and issued a seat reservation instead of following them and giving my a standby seat which amounted to the same thing since the flight was not full. So exhausted by tension and fighting with the agents and dismayed by their incompetence or lying, we finally were able to go (over an hour later since we had to be there at least 1.5 hours early for me to get on standby.) If I didn’t have nearly 50,000 miles on their FFB program I might not bother to travel with them again, but I will if I can get my miles to that "magic" number. This last set of flights would have done it if they hadn’t moved us to United for the first flight and if I hadn’t had to travel with the Senior pack for which they issue no miles. So now I have to go once more on a regular ticket to get the added 2000+ miles that I need. Maybe we can afford it next year. I hope they stay in business that long.