Comments on: Joe’s holiday air travel tips: it’s ‘us’ vs. ‘them’

By: customer feedback management

customer feedback management — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:49:45 +0000

Isn’t there some rule or regulation that allows a consumer to demand to be put on a competitors flight if the current flight won’t be able to get them there on time. I think it’s regulation 200 or something.

There are always ways around holiday travel difficulties, but sometimes I think they are more of a headache then the original plan.

By: Joy

Joy — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:53:38 +0000

These are very valuable tips Joe. Thanks fro sharing.

By: John Duncan

John Duncan — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:46:56 +0000

Thanks for this info. Here’s another scenario that happened to me (Delta):

I arrived at the gate an hour early for an “on-time” 4:30 departure. At departure time, there was no plane. Departure was delayed 1 hour at this point. Thirty minutes later, departure was delayed 1:30. The incoming flight arrived. The airline announced that they were waiting on the crew, and the flight would leave 2:30 late. It’s now 6PM. This game continues for three hours.

By the time they cancel the flight, it’s 9PM. They knew full well that the flight was never going to leave. I then had to wait in line to get the complementary hotel stay and miss a day of work for an afternoon flight the next day.

Why did they do this? I am pretty sure it’s because they are required to put you on another airline if one is available when they cancel the flight. So, instead of helping you out, they take your money and lie to you all night, and then, oops, sorry, there aren’t other flights.

By: Chicky

Chicky — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 22:12:04 +0000

You go, Joe! You put a ton of great pointers into a small space. I’m going to print out your column and keep it with me the next time I fly! Thanks for the good info.