Sutori - Stories Tagged With 'travel'

Tickled pink with JetBlue

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:13:47 -0700

There is just something about JetBlue that is different than the other airlines out there. Or maybe there are many things about JetBlue.

From booking on their website to picking up your bags after a long trip, as a customer, you feel appreciated. The check-in process is amazing. Their little 'do it yourself' kiosks are fun to use. They use friendly language like, "Don't worry! You're almost done!"

There are never long line ups...and if the line starts getting long, they actually put more people on the counters to serve you. They are quick and friendly and accomodate anything they can for you.

As you get onto the plane, there is a basket of headphones that says, "Believe us, yours are better" That always makes me smile. Even their little televisions on the backs of the headrests are fun: "You look good in leather" it flirts.

What I really really love about JetBlue is their lack of hierarchy. There is no First class, business class, or economy class. Just class. ;) Lots of legroom for everyone.

What else? It's in the details, truly. Always friendly. Customer empowering. Light and flirty messaging. Comfortable flying. Choice. Those amazing blue chips they serve. Televisions with trashily fun programming (vh1 lists are the best). Baby bottled waters (love those). Great prices.

Man. I wish they flew everywhere.

Best of a bad situation

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 00:05:12 -0800

Last minute travel arrangements, rushed to the airport, had a stop over ... finally arrived just before midnight at the Hilton Garden Inn situated in Carlsbad. I walked up to the counter for my room but was informed (with many apologies) that there had been a water leak and all available rooms were taken. Very sorry but they would have to relocate me to a nearby resort. They had someone there to shuttle me in their van to the resort but before I left they gave me some water and a treat of my choice.

I was surprised when I arrived at this beautiful resort and the rooms were excellent (even better than my room at the Hilton). It was a little inconvenient but I just had to call the next morning and they'd shuttle me back (they had a room for me the next 2 nights at the Hilton).

Well, I was okay with just the relocation but the Hilton didn't stop there. The next evening there was a knock on my hotel door from guest services. "We are really sorry for the inconvenience we caused you. Please accept this basket of fruit ...." It was an excellent basket of fresh strawberries, grapes, orange, apple and banana. To top it all off, they didn't charge me for the night.

1 inconvenience offset by:
         Free water
         Free treat
         Excellent replacement room
         Free basket of fresh fruit
         Free stay
= extremely delighted customer

Some London Lovin'

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:42:34 -0800

Having visited many of the world's capitals, I have come to expect either a very long and expensive (not to mention cost ambiguous) taxi ride or a rickety train to get from the airport to the city centre.

One of the best exceptions is London. Traveling the Heathrow Express is a marvel. Modern, clean, fast, and starting this year -- featuring Wi-Fi on all trains.

Niiicce.

This is love.

Southwest Airlines Rivals Most Others

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:11:53 -0800

When JetBlue doesn't fly to my desired destination (which is often), I turn to Southwest Airlines. Their flight attendants are hands down among the best. They're actually HAPPY to see you.

The seats are comfortable, they always leave and land on time. Their fleet isn't too old like most major airlines. Their website is great!

Above all -- THEY'RE CHEAP!!!

If you haven't tried Southwest yet -- think about them for your next flight!

An airline and a cluetrain

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 09:45:04 -0800

I'm trying something a little different here.

This story is not something that happened to me. It's something that happened to someone I respect very much.

And because I trust and respect that person, the story affects the way I feel about this company. It has an impact on my goodwill towards them.

In this case, the company is United Airlines and the customer is David Weinberger, co-author of a book called the Cluetrain Manifesto—a book that laid the groundwork for Sutori with its vision of markets as conversations between customers and companies.

Here’s the story, as blogged by David . . .

After United Airline's online systems assured me as of 7pm that my 8:40 flight from Boston to DC was only 45 minutes late, I arrived at the airport to be told by the unhelpful person behind the counter that they'd actually cancelled the flight that afternoon. (I'd also checked with a living person over the telephone.)

But that's just your usual traffic snarl. Kafka didn't step in until I said that the subsitute flight they wanted to put me on at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon wouldn't work, but I still wanted to fly back with my ticket on Monday. Fine, said the unhelpful telephone support person, but that will have to be repriced up as a one way fare.

Ah, yes, that's how to develop customer loyalty!

So what do you think?

Does a “second hand” story like this belong on Sutori?

Should it carry as much weight as a first-hand experience?

Air Miles, Aeroplan and the Myth of Free Flights

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:21:06 -0800

We’re planning a bunch of flights in the month of April. We’re departing Canada on April 18, and making several stops before settling into Malta on or about May 1.

My wife Julie has enough Aeroplan points to fly free, round trip, to Europe. I don’t have quite enough. We booked some of our flights this morning, and there was a ridiculous rigmarole to ensure that our seats were next to each other.

She booked on Aeroplan, I simultaneously booked on Air Canada, and then we immediately called Aeroplan to get her seat moved next to mine. That’s the prescribed strategy, and it’s absurd.

But that’s not really the subject of this post. My flight on Air Canada was about CAN $750. That’s quite a good price, in my experience. Julie’s ‘free’ flight, turned out to be a little over CAN $300. That’s three hundred bucks worth of fees and, I don’t know, ‘plane oxygen usage’ surcharges. $300 is, as you know, a lot more than free. I felt more than a little screwed.

I think we can all agree. Unless you can afford the glorious first class, air travel blows.

United we do NOT stand

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:40:05 -0700

Took a business trip recently and flew via United Airlines. As any semi-frequent traveller will attest to, you are continually innundated with the "thank you for flying with us" and "sit back and enjoy your flight with us" messages. From now on, I'll be saying "no thank you" to flying on United.

Delayed out of Miami, I connected in Chicago (at 7:30pm EST) only to find out my last leg home was cancelled. Tired, hungry and anxious to get home, this was not a good sign. Especially when I saw the line up at the (non)Customer Service desk.

When I reached the counter (time check: 9:00pm), I learned the following:

Next available flight was 9:40am next day (13 hours away)
My luggage could not be retrieved for my overnight stay because the airport is 'too big' to figure out a complicated task like that. Great, no toiletries or change of clothes.
The 50% vouchers they offer for seedy motels in the area are all sold out. (Hey, let's not forget: "It's not their fault about the flight".
Better yet, there are NO hotels within 2hrs of the city due to 5 conference in town. Anyone who's been to Chicago knows that this happens way more frequently than should be humanly possible.
The airport food vendors were shutting down as we speak. No food.

The United rep at this point just sort of threw up his hands. Signs of problem-solving skills were undetectable (I mean, how important is that for this type of job, REALLY?). Fortunately I had some complemented with a little luck. I was able to get one of the last seats on the last flight out to Seattle. Arrived there after midnight PST to shuttle over to a nearby hotel, nap for 2 hours lying down (sleeping sitting up in airport terminals and on planes is brutal), shower, throw on my dirty clothes and head back to the airport at 4:00am for my last flight home.

A one-connection 10 hour trip turned into a 22 hour trip. Got my luggage two days later. Found out United Airlines spends little to no amount of time thinking about the United travel experience of their customers. I wonder why they didn't call me when I got home to say "thank you for flying with us" and "we hope you enjoyed your flight"????

Intercontinental Hotels Group - (Holiday Inn): False advertising, Deceptive practices, Noise - Multiple Consumer Complaints

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:53:51 -0800

This is the worst hotel chain outfit we have experienced. Other consumers have also complained: As of this writing, according to the Better Business Bureaus* of Salt Lake City and Atlanta, the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) has failed in both their Guest Services division as well as Corporate Headquarters. Why? Consumer complaints have not been settled.

Here is our experience:

Have you ever needed a relaxing weekend vacation? Or wanted to spend a birthday enjoying another locale? We did, and thought Nashville, Tennessee would be a scenic and relaxing place to visit. The Holiday Inn of Nashville (Antioch) TN at The Crossings was booked during August 2007 for $108.49 per night. Upon arrival, the place seemed run down. The staff varied from jittery to frustrated. The hotel room had a faint hint of what smelled like animal urine - but it was not enough to deter weary travelers after a long drive. The air conditioner was turned on as the window did not open for fresh air.

About 10:30 PM, we heard a locomotive engine and boxcars. Looking out the window it could be discerned that the hotel was placed adjacent to a railway! The rails had been hidden by shrubbery, but the locomotives and boxcars were visibly and highly audibly apparent. And the trains kept coming all night... The room curtains were cheap looking and did not cover the window completely because they were too narrow. The room seemed poorly insulated against noise. Ear plugs rated at 33 decibels along with pillows were tried but did not block the noise enough. A hotel ad statement was on the bathroom counter promising: "Making your stay a complete success is our goal. Just let Manager on Duty or desk staff know if any part of your stay isn't satisfactory. We promise to make it right or you won't pay for that part of your stay." Unable to sleep, the front desk person (Art) was asked for help. Although the situation was explained and we were exhausted and needed sleep, he stated only two rooms were left, and in all probability would not be much better. There was no help from the hotel personnel. Only about two and a half hours of broken sleep was possible near morning. We were not able to continue with the Nashville plans due to exhaustion and feeling unwell after the Holiday Inn experience.

We talked to the morning front desk person Alex affirming that the stay had not been satisfactory. He was aware Art Milbert (General Manager) had been spoken with in early morning hours. Alex stated that the noise was a problem on one side of the hotel, guests had complained, that the hotel was going to be remodeled with added sound insulation on the side of the hotel adjacent to the tracks, but that the train tracks were placed after the hotel was built (seemingly in an effort to avoid responsibility and avoid keeping their refund promise.) Government and online maps proved Alex's statement false: They show the tracks present over 20 years before Alex stated the hotel was built.

We sent a letter to the Holiday Inn (Intercontinental Hotels Group) Guest Services division and relayed the situation. A Ms. Amanda Hopfensperger of Guest Services slowly responded via mail and did not supply a refund as advertised but instead sent $50 in proprietary Holiday Inn coupons good for partial payment on a future stay at a Holiday Inn. We returned the coupons to her and affirmed the need for a refund as advertised. We have been ignored, there have been no further replies from them. The Nashville BBB** was contacted to no avail: The BBB had a summary "Customer refused refund" etc, after Art Milbert contacted them. But it was not true because no refund had been offered. Since E-mails went unresponded to, the Nashville BBB was telephoned, the situation explained again, and it was pointed out that no refund had been offered. After a fellow there briefly reviewed the material, he said "They're not offering you a refund and we can't make them issue it. They're not a BBB member. What I can do is change the summary. I will call you back later today." Although they changed the wording of their summary, it was still not accurate and seemed biased. The fellow never did call back.

In comments forwarded by the BBB, Art Milbert admitted the hotel was built after the railroad when faced with the map data. But he then claimed their hotel policy is to inform guests about the trains beforehand: It was not true in our experience - No one forewarned us about any trains or ongoing noise problems at all. If they had, we would not have gone there. Mr. Milbert also stated "we had received" complaints and "addressed them" which was misleading: the implication was that he and Ms. Hopsfensperger directly followed up with us in an attempt to resolve matters. He did not follow up and contact us, only Amanda Hopfensperger from Guest Services in Salt Lake City sent the one initial letter but did not provide the refund as promised in their advertising. Art Milbert did however admit we had "a bad experience," which is an understatement. In our experience, we feel this Holiday Inn was of inferior quality and did not honor their advertised claims but rather used deceptive practices. The hotel room as we experienced it did not allow us proper sleep or rest. The vacation and what should have been an enjoyable birthday in Nashville was ruined.

There have been many other online complaints regarding Holiday Inn and IHG at multiple websites. Sometimes the person reporting the complaint asked the Internet community where to go for help. For informational purposes only***, resources to complain to include:

Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Response Center:

Federal Trade Commission

CRC-240

Washington, D.C. 20580

Tel: 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357)

web: http://www.ftc.gov/

The Attorney General in your state.

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*Article reference only:

Salt Lake City BBB (IHG Guest Services complaints):

BBB, 5673 South Redwood Road #22, Salt Lake City, UT 84123

web: http://www.saltlakecity.bbb.org/

Atlanta BBB (IHG Headquarters complaints):

BBB Headquarters, 503 Oak Place, Suite 590, College Park, GA 30349

web: http://www.atlanta.bbb.org

InterContinental Hotels Group, Guest Relations, P.O. Box 30321, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130-0321

InterContinental Hotels Group

Suite 100

3 Ravinia Drive

Atlanta, Georgia 30346

Nashville-The Crossings
Holiday Inn
201 Crossings Place
Antioch, Tennessee 37013
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**The Nashville BBB seemed to want to close the complaint prematurely. They stated via letter the case would be closed if a response was not made within 7 days. It was only by a margin of one day that the BBB online system was able to be used to respond as it did not function the first time. Multiple E-mails went unresponded to by the Nashville BBB. They also withheld information provided by the other party until after they had closed the case, thereby not allowing inaccurate information to be addressed by us. They stated the complaint was "outside the bounds of arbitration." A local BBB person stated that what they are doing "does not make sense" and had suggested we telephone the Nashville BBB and write an online report, amongst other helpful information.

BBB

Middle Tennessee Headquarters

201 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 100

P.O. Box 198436

Nashville, TN 37219

web: http://www.gobbb.org/

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***Disclaimer: Nothing herein should be considered as legal advice