Many Consumer Traveler posts, including a large percentage of mine, are about when things go wrong on a trip. Notably, the travel industry doesn’t always get high marks for customer service.
Sometimes travelers are unhappy with a situation, when realistically, they have no one to blame but themselves. Here’s a few examples just from the past week.
A business client wanted a ticket she could upgrade to first class. Which means that the lowest available business class fare didn’t qualify. Fortunately her company was willing to pay a higher fare so she could use her upgrade.
But these days United, like most airlines, has about five different levels of business class fares, and while she used one of the higher fare types, it wasn’t the highest.
This morning, she was unhappy because the airline was giving her a hard time about changing the return. This was because they had ONE business class seat left on the plane and they would only change her ticket if she upgraded to the highest fare, about $2,000 more.
Yes, it’s about a $10,000 ticket, and maybe $12,000 full fare is a rip-off, but it’s the price, and clearly United thinks someone will pay it.
Routinely clients complaining about change fees. However, realistically, if passengers book a discount fare and want to make a last minute change, it shouldn’t be a surprise if the airline wants a lot more money.
Many travelers, unfortunately, who change frequently and complain about the fees, refuse the higher changeable fare when they first book.
Last week an acquaintance was complaining big time about a hotel they booked online at one of those “opaque” sites, (Priceline is the most popular, but there are several others.)
Most of those sites are very clear, you are buying a ROOM, period. And they do not guarantee bedding, location, etc. It can be a great deal, but for travelers who really need two double beds, or a nonsmoking room, or a room away from the elevator, then it’s probably a better idea to book through a travel agent or the hotel directly.
The list goes on: Suppliers that say a room, tour or cruise is nonrefundable and then actually mean it; car rental companies note that refueling prices are at an ridiculously high rate, and then charge that rate; hotel rooms and cruise cabins that are actually as small as advertised.
Certainly there are times when some of these important details are not as clear as they should be. But that doesn’t mean travelers should abdicate all responsibility either.
The simplest way around these sorts of problems — know when your plans are fixed, and know what other details matter. When you don’t have time to do the research, call a travel agent and ask them to do it for you (and be prepared to pay their service fee).
Knowing the rules in advance won’t guarantee a trouble-free trip. But it will at least guarantee that if something goes wrong or you don’t get what you paid for, you have a better chance of getting it fixed. Or getting compensation later.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
