WOODMAN
Contributor
I am set to leave for Coz in just a couple of days, But there is some uncertainty about me getting back. Here's the whole dirty story:
I started with a vacation package through American Airlines, which gave me air and hotel at a really good price. I have used this route before and never had any real trouble, and set up the entire thing months ago. The fun started this last Sunday, when I get a phone call from AA. The agent was notifying me of a few 'slight' schedule changes. This had happened before on prior trips, and always involved moving my flight times about 10 minutes or so as they fine tuned their schedules. No big problem, except this time the change moved my flight into Dallas/Fort Worth from Coz on the return trip up too close to my connecting flight to MSP, and I would not have time to make the connection. This is the portal of entry, remember, and involves customs, immigration, etc., and takes a lot more time. So now what, big white rabbit? I can't use the return trip the way I planned due to AA's schedule changes. What do I do now, I asked the agent? Well, she said, we are unable to accommodate you on that day, and would like you to fly back either a day earlier or a day later. Not possible, I said. You will have to find some other way. How about putting me on another airline for the return trip? I said. OMG, we can't do that, she said, and you will just have to fly either a day earlier or later. No, I can't said I, and we went around and around like this for a few minutes. Finally I got tired of her and asked for a supervisor, which I should have done immediately when I saw where this was going. Fine, she said, and I was handed off to a supervisor. Not much help here, though. She started wanting me to fly into Dallas/Fort Worth and stay overnight and catch a final flight the next day. So, what happens to us overnight, then, I asked. Well, we can advise you of a few reasonable motels for the night, she said. Wait a minute, I said. You want me to revise my whole schedule due to YOUR scheduling games, and then expect ME to PAY for the whole thing to boot? Oh no you don't, I said. You will have to do better than that. This is YOUR problem, remember, I said. After some more hemming and hawing, she finally said she would have to get back to me on Monday, as she had very limited resources available to her on a Sunday morning. Fine, sez I. And sure enough, Monday morning she calls me and quietly says "we have arranged for you to fly back on USAir on the specified Saturday." Okay, I said. Now, have you arranged seats for us? Well, that's another problem, she says. There are no elective seats available for either of the two flights with USAir for this trip. But, she says, there are premium seats still available, and you can buy those. What? You want me to PAY for seats to get you out of this mess? I said. Well, she said, there is a bank of seats that they do not release until the day of travel, and I am sure we can get you into some of those. But we won't know until the last minute, I said, right? Well, yeah, she said. You can go down to the airport and negotiate with the USAir ticketing agents, as they have more flexibility than we do here. Oh, I said, this just gets better and better. And what about my frequent flyer miles? Well, she said, you can register with USAir and get the miles on a new account. So, I am essentially losing my AA miles for this return trip because of your baloney, I said. I do not use USAir, and a few miles on an unused account would just expire due to non use. Well, we have no control over that, she said. But we will continue to work on this for you, she said.
So, there it stands. I have a return trip on USAir locked in, but no seats assignable as of yet. I am planning on talking to the USAir people on Saturday morning at the airport when we check in with AA for our trip down and hope I can get this fixed then. What an auspicious beginning for this trip! Wish me luck, folks. Woody
I started with a vacation package through American Airlines, which gave me air and hotel at a really good price. I have used this route before and never had any real trouble, and set up the entire thing months ago. The fun started this last Sunday, when I get a phone call from AA. The agent was notifying me of a few 'slight' schedule changes. This had happened before on prior trips, and always involved moving my flight times about 10 minutes or so as they fine tuned their schedules. No big problem, except this time the change moved my flight into Dallas/Fort Worth from Coz on the return trip up too close to my connecting flight to MSP, and I would not have time to make the connection. This is the portal of entry, remember, and involves customs, immigration, etc., and takes a lot more time. So now what, big white rabbit? I can't use the return trip the way I planned due to AA's schedule changes. What do I do now, I asked the agent? Well, she said, we are unable to accommodate you on that day, and would like you to fly back either a day earlier or a day later. Not possible, I said. You will have to find some other way. How about putting me on another airline for the return trip? I said. OMG, we can't do that, she said, and you will just have to fly either a day earlier or later. No, I can't said I, and we went around and around like this for a few minutes. Finally I got tired of her and asked for a supervisor, which I should have done immediately when I saw where this was going. Fine, she said, and I was handed off to a supervisor. Not much help here, though. She started wanting me to fly into Dallas/Fort Worth and stay overnight and catch a final flight the next day. So, what happens to us overnight, then, I asked. Well, we can advise you of a few reasonable motels for the night, she said. Wait a minute, I said. You want me to revise my whole schedule due to YOUR scheduling games, and then expect ME to PAY for the whole thing to boot? Oh no you don't, I said. You will have to do better than that. This is YOUR problem, remember, I said. After some more hemming and hawing, she finally said she would have to get back to me on Monday, as she had very limited resources available to her on a Sunday morning. Fine, sez I. And sure enough, Monday morning she calls me and quietly says "we have arranged for you to fly back on USAir on the specified Saturday." Okay, I said. Now, have you arranged seats for us? Well, that's another problem, she says. There are no elective seats available for either of the two flights with USAir for this trip. But, she says, there are premium seats still available, and you can buy those. What? You want me to PAY for seats to get you out of this mess? I said. Well, she said, there is a bank of seats that they do not release until the day of travel, and I am sure we can get you into some of those. But we won't know until the last minute, I said, right? Well, yeah, she said. You can go down to the airport and negotiate with the USAir ticketing agents, as they have more flexibility than we do here. Oh, I said, this just gets better and better. And what about my frequent flyer miles? Well, she said, you can register with USAir and get the miles on a new account. So, I am essentially losing my AA miles for this return trip because of your baloney, I said. I do not use USAir, and a few miles on an unused account would just expire due to non use. Well, we have no control over that, she said. But we will continue to work on this for you, she said.
So, there it stands. I have a return trip on USAir locked in, but no seats assignable as of yet. I am planning on talking to the USAir people on Saturday morning at the airport when we check in with AA for our trip down and hope I can get this fixed then. What an auspicious beginning for this trip! Wish me luck, folks. Woody
