Most of the posts on Consumer Traveler are about problems. Admittedly, airlines, especially, don’t seem focused on making the travel experience easier.
But, last week, Delta actually went out of their way for a client when they didn’t have to, so let’s give credit where credit is due.
In this case, it was a simple spelling mistake in the last name. An “a” instead of a “u,” originally caused by a handwritten note without the top of the “a’ clearly closed off. Easy enough to do, but while the hotel could easily fix it, the airline ticket was a bigger issue. (Especially since the situation was compounded by the fact that the client didn’t look carefully at the email I sent her, and didn’t look at her e-ticket for a week after it arrived in the mail.)
And on top of the misspelling, the ticket, a simple round-trip from Washington, D.C., had a return on American. In general, I avoid putting two airlines on one e-ticket to avoid problems. But, one-way tickets are more likely to result in secondary screening at the airport and have slightly higher taxes. In addition, she was traveling with a friend for a nonrefundable 50th birthday spa visit and the ticket seemed pretty set.
When she noticed the problem, I called both airlines, and they did say I could note the correct name in the record. But both said they couldn’t promise she would get on the flight. Delta, the outbound carrier, said they would have given us a waiver, but couldn’t allow the American name change.
So, yes, we now have a situation where a client was careless and perhaps should pay a penalty. But the alternatives, potentially being denied boarding, or having to buy a whole new ticket, were pretty severe.
But on a second call to Delta, when I asked the sales representative if she had ANY other ideas. The representative suggested, if I could create a new booking, she could refund the original ticket completely.
Since the fare had only changed $20, this was a wonderful solution, and the client and I were both very grateful.
On the other hand, this kind of mistake, as noted in other Consumer Traveler posts, can be a disaster. The best advice, even if you think you are sure that a ticket is correct — check it carefully.
This applies doubly when you are over 40 with aging eyes. A number of letters do look alike, and mistakes are human. You just don’t want to leave it up to TSA to see if forgiveness is part of that day’s policy.
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.)
