It’s the little things that matter.
customer service
When it comes to using technology to improve the travel experience, Vail Resorts is known as one of the most progressive resort companies in America. I’ve interviewed CEO Rob Katz several times about Vail’s EpicMix initiative, and RFID-enabled ticket system that integrates with social media. Version 2 of EpicMix goes live next month, and I thought I’d check in with him to see the progress.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
It’s hard — maybe even impossible — to do service right if you think your customers are idiots.
You may have missed it, but Continental Airlines and United Airlines officially tied the knot on Oct. 1. And guess what? You might actually like the new United Airlines.
Virgin America begins service to Orlando tomorrow. Remarkably, the three-year-old airline has stayed off my radar, when it comes to customer complaints. I asked David Cush, Virgin America’s chief executive, how he’s done it.
Spirit Airlines, as you might have heard, is trying to raise $300 million in a public stock offering. Here’s the Form S-1it filed last Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
I met Allison Ausband, Delta Air Lines’ vice president for reservations sales and customer care, earlier this year in Atlanta after she’d taken over for Perry Cantarutti. I followed up with her earlier this week to see how her new job was going. Here’s our interview.
The Department of Justice green-lighted the Continental Airlines-United Airlines merger late last week, and now the corporate celebrity wedding seems like a done deal. The combined airline will be the world’s largest, but how will it do in the customer-service department?
This isn’t a political column, but when I heard the next president of the United States, Sarah Palin, announce she belongs to the party of “no” — actually, make that the party of “hell no” — I thought for a moment she was talking about the travel industry.
Let’s take a break from the seemingly never-ending stories of customer service failure to recognize a few companies who did the right thing without being asked.
Since the Icelandic volcano with an unpronounceable name erupted last month, I’ve covered the questions and the resulting fallout on this site.
The Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals is holding its annual conference in Atlanta this week, and I was fortunate enough to be an invited speaker. I shared my thoughts about travel and customer service with a select group of SOCAP members from the travel industry yesterday.
Because it charges for pretty much everything that isn’t bolted down on the plane, Spirit Airlines is a favorite target of this site’s readers. So when Spirit does right by one of its customers, it’s got all the makings of a man-bites-dog story.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this story. In the olden days — before “no waivers, no favors” — fees were routinely overlooked by helpful ticket agents. But in the era of ancillary revenues, where airline employees are evaluated based on the amount of money they collect from passengers, even a few dollars can be cause for celebration.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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