Airline Customer Service

Posted on September 1, 2011 by wpengine

It’s no secret that the customer service of airlines is taking a nosedive. We used to get on planes and find nice white pillows upon which we could lay our heads and blue blankets to spread across our laps. (Actually that reminds me of a story. One time, when I went to Thailand I took one of those little blue blankets from the plane in New York and used it on the beach in Thailand as a beach towel, on the train in Thailand as a blanket, and when trekking across the northern hill tribes of Thailand as well. On my way home I kindly dropped it off on my plan in New York. It was basically a rental. Hahah) They fed us with a mediocre meal and as many drinks as you wished. Their goal was to make your flying experience as comfortable as possible. Then things changed.

As fuel prices rose our benefits decreased. They stopped feeding us those meals on little airline trays, and allowed us one drink even if we were dying of thirst. They ripped the blankets from our laps and pulled the pillows out from under our sleeping heads. Now we are just another number, and it is our responsibility to bring food, blankets, food, and drink. Obviously we have seen a huge decline in the customer service realm of airlines.

The interesting thing is that they still have customer service representatives in call centers across America. The job of these people is to help us when we have had a bad experience on our trip. They are available after your trip and they respond by phone or email. Each company has a department that helps clients to “Make things right.” Some of you have never had experience with these people, but I have. I would love to share my experience with you and would love to hear about yours. Share yours as a comment below.

Sunset over Parrita, Costa Rica

When our flight was delayed leaving San Jose the customer service attendant kindly offered me the option to stay in San Jose for another day as I might not be able to make my connecting flight in JFK. She offered no hotel, no food, and virtually nothing else. I was rather disgruntled and told her that we would go to JFK and decide what to do at that point. I guess that the crew needed rest and she told me that it wasn’t deserving of any free services. We boarded the plane and headed off for JFK.

Upon arrival in the JFK airport we were already too late for our connecting flight into Chicago. We found a ticketing booth at JFK and found a lady who was very helpful. I mentioned that our flight was late leaving SJO and we had missed our connecting flight. When she told me that there was no other way home for the night I acted sad, but was actually pretty happy. She gave us a room at the Lexington Hotel, some food vouchers, and a taxi trip to the hotel. We rushed to the room, threw our stuff down, grabbed some food at the restaurant and headed off too Times Square. We didn’t have a lot of time, but it was a great addition to our trip.

Me enjoying our "Delay in New York"

The best part is yet to come. So when I got home and had been settled for a day I wrote an email to the Customer Service team at American Airlines. I explained that the flight had been delayed and my wife had subsequently missed work (A vacation day she didn’t have) and her boss had been rather disgruntled. I had also missed a few appointments. I requested that they give me 20,000 AAdvantage miles for my troubles. When the email response arrived I was pleasantly surprised…

“While we must respectfully decline your specific request, as a gesture of goodwill,
we’ve credited your and your wife’s AAdvantage® accounts with 10,000 bonus miles each.
This adjustment should be reflected in your accounts very soon.”

So, just remember that it never hurts to ask for a little benefit. These customer service reps have the power to issue Frequent Flier Miles to you or $$ off your next flight. If you’ve had a legitimately bad experience, let them know and maybe you will score too.

If you like our posts, make sure you like WorldWanderlusting on Facebook.

Posted in American Airlines | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

American Airlines 75,000 Citi Card

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Brad Christensen

My Wanderlusting Round-trip Journey

There’s an old saying about dancing with the girl who brought you… well today I’m going to dance with the girl who brought me.

Almost a year ago, with a ferocious wanderlust, cheapness in my veins, and a diligent-researcher-brother egging me on, I took the plunge into the world of travel credit card rewards.  My first date was the Citi AAdvantage Amex.

Almost 12 months and about 505,000 miles/points later, here I am, thirsting for more.

Today I’m applying for the Citi Business Amex for 75,000 more AAdvantage miles , and my only regret is that I’m already a cardholder and I can’t also apply for the AAdvantage Visa to round my winnings up to 150k.  Several of our readers logged the 225,000 mile homerun by applying for all three at a time.  If you’re wanting to do the same thing, read the instructions on the flyertalk post diligently and don’t go off half-cocked.  As long as you use your cards cautiously and follow our Before You Apply rules, I don’t think you’ll have any regrets.

I’ve tracked my credit score with CreditSesame.com and I figure that my score has dropped about 18 points over this timeframe.  Much of that might be due to the fact that I was too tempted by 3.6% interest rates in the meantime and refinanced my house.  My wife’s score has remained relatively unchanged.  I’ve never missed a payment, and never paid a dime in interest.

I keep track of all my expenses and spending with the beautiful tool that is Mint.com.  That way I’m never late with my payments and I can always be sure that I have tabs on each and every one of my accounts without having to login to each one individually.

To hoard my points and count them like Ebenezer Scrooge, I use Awardwallet.com.  As if the wind and relentless allergies weren’t enough to spur my wanderlust, I can always spend some time looking at my stack to get the juices flowing.

Wanderlust: It’s a healthy addiction, if there is such a thing.

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Why do credit card companies offer such great deals?

Posted on August 30, 2011 by wpengine

Why do credit card companies offer these great deals?

We’ve had a lot of our readers ask us, “Why are these companies willing to offer these great deals?” I’ve had quite a few people ask me lately, “What is the catch?”  I know that it seems unrealistic, but you have to remember that there are people like the Utahdealdiva that get cartloads of groceries for free.  It does take some discipline to cut the coupons and route your trips to a few grocery stores, but you can do it too.  She does a great job of showing you how to do it too.

Let me outline why I think it is worth it to them.

  1. Transaction Fees- Credit card companies charge the vendor anywhere from 2-5% for each transaction.  This means that if you charge $10,000 on the card, they are going to rake in a minimum of $200.
  2. Annual Fee- Some of these card companies rely on you spending $100 each year to renew the option to have the card.  Let’s say that you keep the card for 5 years, they are going to score another $500 on the deal
  3. Volume Purchasing- They buy the reward points from Delta, American Airlines, Starwood, etc.  for a low price because they are purchasing in large volume.
  4. Higher APR- These card companies usually have higher interest rates than some other cards available.  They obviously count on you using the cards and not paying the balances.  If you run up a high balance then they are going to be scoring big bucks from you.
  5. Other Fees- If you are late on your payment they can charge you $35 per late payment.  I’m sure that they have other options to make money from you on other hidden fees if you don’t pay off the balance each month.

I look at each of these categories, and don’t see any problems with any of them.

  1. These are fees that are built into products.  You are charged the same whether you pay cash or not, so it is the same cost either way.
  2. I don’t plan on paying annual fees unless they give me a good enough retention bonus.  Otherwise I won’t be paying.
  3. I’m glad that they buy them in bulk.  It makes the bonuses either to award.
  4. I never pay interest, so the APR could be 1000% and it wouldn’t make a difference to me.
  5. I am always making my payments on time, so I don’t have to worry about late payments.

Let’s say you are walking by an Allstate office and you see on the window a special promotion that says, “We will give you a free candy bar for getting a quote.” You walk into the office and say, “What is the catch here?  How can you really be handing out candy bars for getting a quote?”

Allstate is more than willing to be handing out candy bars in order to give quotes.  They know that they aren’t going to get everyone’s business, but they are willing to give out a few candy bars because they will make more money from the new business than they spent on the new candy bars.

American Express, Citi, Chase, and all of the others look at it the same way.  They are willing to give up a few dollars in exchange for the potential income from the five different categories listed above.  They have done the math and they know that statistics show that they will make money in the long run.

Learn to wanderlust with us.  Get a free credit score from CreditSesame.com.

Posted in Credit Advice | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Betterbidding.com – Inside information for Priceline.com

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Brad Christensen

Have you ever hesitated to use Priceline.com because you were afraid you’d get a dive hotel or one that is located far from where you’re hoping?

Considering the stock chart of Priceline.com (from $43 in 2007 to $510 today), I’m always surprised to still hear about people who’ve never used it.

I’m a big fan in the right circumstance, and I’ve stayed in some great places at even greater prices.  My personal favorite was when I landed the Belleview Biltmore near Clearwater, FL for something ridiculous like $40 a night.  It’s closed now, and might possibly end up as a retirement home, but it was a hotel with a lot of old character that I really enjoyed.  The ceilings and doors were all very tall, and it had an elegant feeling that transported me back in time.  I’d have never stayed there or even known about it if I hadn’t used Priceline.com.

But we’re not always so lucky.  I’ve heard priceline horror stories.  That’s why I’m  a big fan of www.betterbidding.com.  It’s a forum for priceline and hotwire users, and offers some clarity into what bidders are getting for what prices in different places.  One of my favorite tools is their priceline maps feature, which shows the hotels and prices that bidders are landing on a map in some of the larger markets.

For example, let’s just say that you’re a big Boise State Bronco fan and you’re looking for a hotel in Atlanta for the big game vs. Georgia this weekend. Scroll down and go to the Georgia page, then click on Priceline. If you’re a high roller, see what people have been getting 4* hotels for in Atlanta.  It looks like someone just nabbed the Hyatt Regency Downtown for $50 a night.  If you’re more of a tightwad, like me, you could shoot for a 3* in the Peachtree/Norcross area for $27 a night.

Hopefully this will help you if you’re in the market for some clarity on your Priceline or Hotwire expectations.

 

Posted in Hotels | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Currency and Travel Quiz – Win a Travel Adapter

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Brad Christensen

We’d like to spice this up a bit and see if we can encourage more guesses and commentary on the Sunday Photo post.

We tried to think of a prize that would be a pro pros for our fellow wanderlusters, and we concluded that a universal travel adapter might be just the thing you need.  So, to the winner of this week’s contest, we’ll send you a WorldWanderlusting Travel Adapter.

Where was this photo taken, and what currency do they use there?

I realize that this could easily be anywhere, so I’ll offer a hint in saying that this photo was taken from along a highway that follows the coast along a deep inlet or “arm.”  The drive along this highway is widely considered among the best in the world for its spectacular views.

Incidentally, my travel to this location cost me less than $20 per person and a few thousand frequent flyer miles… it’s a beautiful thing.  If you haven’t seen them already, check out our posts on Flying First Class and the Bank of America travel rewards card.

 

Posted in Travel Quiz | 2 Comments

Wanderlusting Portobelo Panama

Posted on August 27, 2011 by wpengine

I’m sure that a great number of you have visited the two castles that make up part of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.  They have Castillo Morris, and Castillo Cristobal Colon.  I love the feeling of visiting places that have been nearly restored the way they looked many years past.  These forts have been restored and look absolutely beautiful.  It is incredible to see the moats, the cannon balls, the living quarters, and the lookout towers.

If you’ve never been to Old San Juan, it is a great place to visit.  There is a lot to see and it is beautiful.

Brad and I have also visited Panama with our wives.  We did a trip in June of 2008 because we found a mistake airline fare on American Airlines.  We had diligently watched for a great deal and decided to pounce on this deal as it took us from SLC to PTY for $230 per person.  It seems like the taxes were about $100, meaning that AA only got $130 to fly us to Panama and Back.  It was a great deal and we absolutely loved Panama.

When the Spanish came to the Americas they had a few ports that were VERY important to them.  One of those was Old San Juan.  It was usually the last place that the gold stopped at before it headed home for the motherland.  Their conquest of the Americas was primarily for finding gold.  Much of the gold that they found was discovered in the Incan civilization.  The problem that they faced was that the Incan empire was housed on the west coast of the Americas, and they needed to be on the east coast.

The Spanish did their homework and figured out that the most narrow part of the continent was Panama.  They built a fort on the East side of Panama so they could defend the gold that was being trekked across the isthmus of Panama.  The name of this port was Portobelo.  I find it interesting that it isn’t called Porto Bello, which is Spanish for “Beautiful Port.”  Instead it has been named “Portobelo,” which is Portuguese for “Beautiful Port.”

This fort has probably been fixed up a little bit, but nothing like Old San Juan.  It isn’t a huge tourist attraction, but it is absolutely beautiful.  The thing that made it most interesting to me was when I went to Old San Juan after having visited Portobelo.  The similarities in architecture prove that the Spanish build the fort.  The cannons are the same, the lookout towers have the same architectural style, etc.

I know most people don’t vacation to Panama, but those who truly have the wanderlust long to go there. We would love to hear about your Panamanian experience if you’ve ever been there.  Please share it with us.

 

 

Posted in Central America, Fun Travel Stories | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Are Airline Vouchers Transferable?

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Brad Christensen

This is a question that was recently asked by one of our readers.

In most cases, vouchers are non-transferable,  but that doesn’t mean that you can’t transfer them.  I know that doesn’t make a lick of sense, but that’s how it works.

For example, with Delta, if a voucher (e-credit number) is issued to Brad Christensen, then Brad Christensen’s name must be used along with the e-cert number in order to book the tickets, but Brad Christensen doesn’t necessarily have to fly.  The ticket could be booked for John Doe.  Essentially what you are paying for is the e-cert number as well as the name on the voucher.  Then you book the ticket as if you were the holder of the voucher.

Some vouchers are transferable, and may charge a fee.  You kind of have to look at this on an individual level.  Make your seller do the research.  They shouldn’t be selling it if they aren’t 100% sure that you can use it.

The easiest way to protect yourself is to validate the certificate by typing the code into the reservations system.  The seller may be reluctant to offer the code before receiving the money, just as you might be reluctant to offer the money before receiving the code.  Thus, it’s best to use paypal or some other method of payment where you have some form of recourse – basic practice for any transaction.

Theoretically, though, the seller could record the certificate number and later use it, thereby invalidating the voucher they sold to you.  This is one reason I’d only recommend buying a voucher once you’re completely ready to book, so that there’s no time lapse there at all.

If you’re a little skeptical, that’s normal, but if you’re feeling like a seller is really shady, go with your gut and don’t take the risk.

Also remember that one of the beauties of using these vouchers is that you’ll also collect frequent flier miles for the routes you travel.  If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our original post on secondhand vouchers and our follow-up post.

Posted in Delta, Uncategorized, Vouchers | Tagged | Leave a comment