A legacy airline with outstanding customer service? Give me a time machine, and I’ll show you one.
LUGGAGE
A few days ago, a Transportation Department official bristled when I suggested that its recent fines against airlines were little more than warning shots. It turns out the DOT isn’t done making its point.
Airlines are really getting carried away with these luggage fees. Last week, I noted that carriers are effectively demanding a ransom in exchange for transporting our personal property. I suggested they might try being more upfront about their fares.
US Airways raised its baggage fees yesterday, setting off what’s sure to be another round of me-toos from its competitors. Luggage fees are almost pure profit, and because there’s almost no pushback from passengers, carriers are getting away with these new surcharges.
Has the airline industry won the luggage fee war? Consider the following facts.
Sidestepping this year-old airline rule was pretty easy up to this point. Flight attendants and gate agents routinely waved passengers with too much luggage through, hoping to avoid a confrontation. But now that baggage fees are generating serious money — they accounted for $1.5 billion in 2008, according to the Transportation Department — airlines are less likely to let the surplus bags slide.
Vivian Rouleau missed her connecting flight to Akron, Ohio, because of baggage. Not hers, but everyone else’s. Worse, her airline didn’t seem to care about the resulting connection problem, even though it seemed to be entirely preventable.
That would be American Airlines, according to the latest government-reported numbers for 2009. The rest of the list may surprise you even more.
Seen the hilarious new music video “United Breaks Guitars” yet? United Airlines has done a mea culpa on the luggage-vaulting incident, and even asked the Canadian country music group Sons of Maxwell for permission to use the clip as a training video. The song “struck a chord with us” an airline spokeswoman said. But good customer service isn’t about responding to a viral video with a sense of humor, as United did. It’s about the little things, like Irena Temple’s ruined photos.
When Pina Belfiore-Benvenuto’s bags were lost on a recent flight from New York to Paris, the missing contents included a digital camera and a watch — two items that her airline’s contract of carriage exclude from liability. And to absolutely no one’s surprise, her carrier told her she was out of luck. Maybe it shouldn’t have.
Airline luggage has been making headlines recently, whether it’s US Airways’ controversial decision to add a $5 convenience fee to some checked bags or Alaska Air’s luggage fee/guarantee. But which airline has the most customer-friendly policy when it comes to checked luggage?
Deric Voelker and his fiancee recently flew from Chicago to Las Vegas recently on Southwest Airlines. The airline lost one of their bags, so they filed a claim, expecting to be compensated. They weren’t.
It’s been almost a year since American Airlines started charging passengers for their first checked bag, a move that every other legacy airline quickly followed. It’s taken almost that long for the luggage industry to catch up to that new reality.
Vivian Polzin didn’t have a choice. A Delta Air Lines employee forced her to check a bag that contained a camera with priceless vacation snapshots. But when the carrier lost her camera, it had a choice — and it decided to hide behind its contract of carriage, which says it isn’t liable for electronic equipment in checked luggage.
One of the presumed silver linings on the dark cloud of airline fees is that if a company charges for a service, it’s responsible for a higher level of care. But at least one airline doesn’t feel that way.
You’ve probably heard about checkpoint-friendly bags, which allow you to go through airport security screening without removing your laptop. But there’s a catch.
Today’s number is 15. As in $15, which is what American Airlines began charging passengers for the first checked bag, effective June 15.
It was just a matter of time. United Airlines said this morning it will start charging a “service fee” of $15 for the first checked bag, following American Airlines’ misguided lead.
The airline industry may be in a tailspin, but you can find people in the business who still care about their customers. Delta Air Lines’ Lee Macenczak is one of those people.
Of all the creative ways of avoiding American Airlines’ controversial new checked-luggage fee, the most obvious is to ship your bag to your hotel. But here’s a tip the travel industry pundits have largely forgotten to include: make sure your hotel knows your plans.
