All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.
July 26, 2006 10:39 PM Subscribe
How do I get a free airline ticket? I've had two airlines independently lose my luggage this week, and one airline sent me to another airport to get on a flight that was eventually delayed another few hours after my initial flight was cancelled. With all these inconveniences, and the fact that my current trip is open-ended, I'd like to fly home for free. How can I make this happen?
On Saturday, I travelled to EWR to hop on a 9:45AM AirTran flight to Minneapolis via Chicago. Cancelled. I had to make my way to LGA to get on a noon flight that brought me to Minneapolis via Atlanta, and that flight was another two hours late. They lost my luggage, told me it'd be with me by 8AM the next day, and finally delivered it at 5PM.
This morning (Wednesday), I travelled Northwest from Minneapolis to Miami. In Minneapolis, all of their computers were down, delaying and complicating the check-in process. Again, my bag was lost at my destination. They took down my information. At 1AM, I received a call from a Continental representative, saying they had just found my bag on their carousel, with no tags, and they had called my mother's line, listed on the outside of the bag, where they got my cell phone. They had no idea who I was, what flight I had been on, or what airline I had travelled with, and would not have been to find me if it weren't for my own personal tag on the bag.
These are all significant inconveniences, I feel, and as I am planning to travel back to NYC early next week but don't yet have a ticket, I'd like to see if it'd be at all possible to get a voucher of some sort. Who should I contact? Which airline? What should I say? On the phone or in person? The first thing I'm planning to do is contact the AirTran luggage representative I initially dealt with on Saturday, and work from there. Do you have any good ideas? Have you been given a domestic airfare voucher for similar inconveniences, or would I had to have been royally screwed for this attempt to succeed?
On Saturday, I travelled to EWR to hop on a 9:45AM AirTran flight to Minneapolis via Chicago. Cancelled. I had to make my way to LGA to get on a noon flight that brought me to Minneapolis via Atlanta, and that flight was another two hours late. They lost my luggage, told me it'd be with me by 8AM the next day, and finally delivered it at 5PM.
This morning (Wednesday), I travelled Northwest from Minneapolis to Miami. In Minneapolis, all of their computers were down, delaying and complicating the check-in process. Again, my bag was lost at my destination. They took down my information. At 1AM, I received a call from a Continental representative, saying they had just found my bag on their carousel, with no tags, and they had called my mother's line, listed on the outside of the bag, where they got my cell phone. They had no idea who I was, what flight I had been on, or what airline I had travelled with, and would not have been to find me if it weren't for my own personal tag on the bag.
These are all significant inconveniences, I feel, and as I am planning to travel back to NYC early next week but don't yet have a ticket, I'd like to see if it'd be at all possible to get a voucher of some sort. Who should I contact? Which airline? What should I say? On the phone or in person? The first thing I'm planning to do is contact the AirTran luggage representative I initially dealt with on Saturday, and work from there. Do you have any good ideas? Have you been given a domestic airfare voucher for similar inconveniences, or would I had to have been royally screwed for this attempt to succeed?
FlamingBore is probably right, but then a $100 voucher is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
posted by robcorr at 11:11 PM on July 26, 2006
posted by robcorr at 11:11 PM on July 26, 2006
Uh, wow, I'm tired and somehow I managed to leave out "the woman next to me at the podium was trying to get booked and was having trouble." But you probably figured something like that out.
posted by FlamingBore at 11:13 PM on July 26, 2006
posted by FlamingBore at 11:13 PM on July 26, 2006
Ahh well, you ARE flying deep discount, so this could be tough. Northwestern's not a terrible airline, but AirTran is kinda bottom bucket. These airlines don't make their money by bending over backwards for their customers.
Here's my suggestion first and some random thoughts later. You should try to talk to a ticket agent/customer service rep at the airport at a non-busy time (early morning can work). You aren't going to get anywhere with most of these companies over the phone unless you can specifically reach a customer service agent, and even then its kind of unlikely. The gate/ticket agents are basically assistants to God when it comes to getting anybody on a flight at whatever price (free or no), and are most likely to patiently sit and listen to your sob story. I would pick somebody senior with a big smile on his/her face, young agents are less likely to have the authority or know-how.
We need a few more details. How deeply were you inconvenienced by not having your bag? Is there a suggestion you can give AirTran to improve their future service ("Hey, you guys lost the tags on this bag that ended up on a Continental flight, perhaps there's something you can do to improve your process").
Most important, were these flights delayed or cancelled due to weather? You have lots of rights if the company screws up a flight due to mechanical failure, etc... But any flight screwed by weather is something the airlines are a lot less likely to take responsibility for, even the big names.
posted by onalark at 11:16 PM on July 26, 2006
Here's my suggestion first and some random thoughts later. You should try to talk to a ticket agent/customer service rep at the airport at a non-busy time (early morning can work). You aren't going to get anywhere with most of these companies over the phone unless you can specifically reach a customer service agent, and even then its kind of unlikely. The gate/ticket agents are basically assistants to God when it comes to getting anybody on a flight at whatever price (free or no), and are most likely to patiently sit and listen to your sob story. I would pick somebody senior with a big smile on his/her face, young agents are less likely to have the authority or know-how.
We need a few more details. How deeply were you inconvenienced by not having your bag? Is there a suggestion you can give AirTran to improve their future service ("Hey, you guys lost the tags on this bag that ended up on a Continental flight, perhaps there's something you can do to improve your process").
Most important, were these flights delayed or cancelled due to weather? You have lots of rights if the company screws up a flight due to mechanical failure, etc... But any flight screwed by weather is something the airlines are a lot less likely to take responsibility for, even the big names.
posted by onalark at 11:16 PM on July 26, 2006
I got the $100 voucher Flamingbore mentioned. I wrote a letter to the airline's customer service address listing out in detail each issue I had, including dates and flight numbers. Here is what I wrote at the end of that list:
I understand that sometimes incidents beyond an airline’s control can lead to delays, etc. The sheer number of mishaps, however, all occurring in less than a month, lead me to believe that at least some of these problems were directly because of your company. As such, I would like some kind of restitution, such as a free travel voucher. I am currently at the point where I am willing to spend more money to avoid [company name redacted] in the future.
Please do not contact me if you have nothing to offer. At this point, an apology alone will not make me any happier.
Thank you,
Kingjoeshmoe
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 11:21 PM on July 26, 2006 [1 favorite]
I understand that sometimes incidents beyond an airline’s control can lead to delays, etc. The sheer number of mishaps, however, all occurring in less than a month, lead me to believe that at least some of these problems were directly because of your company. As such, I would like some kind of restitution, such as a free travel voucher. I am currently at the point where I am willing to spend more money to avoid [company name redacted] in the future.
Please do not contact me if you have nothing to offer. At this point, an apology alone will not make me any happier.
Thank you,
Kingjoeshmoe
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 11:21 PM on July 26, 2006 [1 favorite]
Airlines really aren't much in the business of giving out free tickets. The most I've ever gotten for bad service has been 15,000 American Airlines miles after they stranded us in Billing, Montana for 12 hours. I'd write a letter like kingjoeshmoe suggests, but I wouldn't plan on getting any response before your next travel.
posted by MarkAnd at 5:56 AM on July 27, 2006
posted by MarkAnd at 5:56 AM on July 27, 2006
I've had good experiences with Northwest as far as travel vouchers go. I got stranded in the Dulles airport for 23 hours during a blizzard a few years ago and they gave me a free flight home to Minneapolis and a free ticket, and I didn't even ask for it. The circumstances were a little different (we had been on an off of four cancelled flights that day; I was sixteen and on the verge of bawling my eyes out) but I still say it's worth a shot. Write a letter.
posted by irregardless at 6:30 AM on July 27, 2006
posted by irregardless at 6:30 AM on July 27, 2006
Send an official complaint to the DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection hotline, and be sure to make very clear to the airlines involved that you have done so.
posted by brownpau at 6:36 AM on July 27, 2006
posted by brownpau at 6:36 AM on July 27, 2006
Try a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. You may not get a free ticket, but you might get something. For something much less annoying than your problems, American Airlines gave me 1000 miles, for example. Nothing huge, but made me happier.
posted by Amizu at 7:18 AM on July 27, 2006
posted by Amizu at 7:18 AM on July 27, 2006
Yeah, you probably won't get too far with this. I do recall my mother once almost getting a free ticket (she got a voucher for some $350 in the early 80's) due to a flight serving severly rotten food (lucky me I had a different meal... mom was... less lucky, but not as bad as the one or two other people that were taken to the back of the plane with a medical doctor). IIRC, the flight was with Wardair, and they weren't as discount as you might be lead to believe.
If nearly killing some of your passengers doesn't excite airlines into free tickets, nothing will short of dead passengers (They don't have to pay at all! HA!).
The $100 voucher is probably as good as you're gonna get.
posted by shepd at 7:44 AM on July 27, 2006
If nearly killing some of your passengers doesn't excite airlines into free tickets, nothing will short of dead passengers (They don't have to pay at all! HA!).
The $100 voucher is probably as good as you're gonna get.
posted by shepd at 7:44 AM on July 27, 2006
I'm sorry but this question is ridiculous. There's nothing in anything you've written that in any way entitles you to a free ticket. This is the bargain you made when you chose to fly on a bargain airline - crappy service, cut corners, and "we'll do our best" level of guarantee.
This is specifically what you're buying when fly on a full-service airline and pay full fare - the ability to KNOW that schedules will be respected and they're going to work do make you happy if that doesn't happen.
So - if free tickets and satisfaction guarantees are important to you, then next time you should choose to buy a service which offers these.
posted by mikel at 8:21 AM on July 27, 2006
This is specifically what you're buying when fly on a full-service airline and pay full fare - the ability to KNOW that schedules will be respected and they're going to work do make you happy if that doesn't happen.
So - if free tickets and satisfaction guarantees are important to you, then next time you should choose to buy a service which offers these.
posted by mikel at 8:21 AM on July 27, 2006
And if you do end up calling, please remember to be polite. That alone might get you quite a ways. Otherwise, you might not have a whole lot of luck. Airlines are awful for getting free tickets from.
You might also want to take a deep breath and thank god that you got your luggage back. Both times. And had someone from Continental actually go through the trouble of calling you. I don't know if you travel a whole lot, but that's some sort of an airline miracle right there. Sure, they shouldn't lose the luggage in the first place, but many folks that have their baggage lost either never see it again or it shows up weeks later. It sounds like you got pretty lucky.
posted by drstein at 10:39 AM on July 27, 2006
You might also want to take a deep breath and thank god that you got your luggage back. Both times. And had someone from Continental actually go through the trouble of calling you. I don't know if you travel a whole lot, but that's some sort of an airline miracle right there. Sure, they shouldn't lose the luggage in the first place, but many folks that have their baggage lost either never see it again or it shows up weeks later. It sounds like you got pretty lucky.
posted by drstein at 10:39 AM on July 27, 2006
I'd add that in my experience the people you get the most free shit out of are the gate agents, particularly if you're calm and polite and simply ask for it. Doesn't much help you in this circumstance but in the future if you're bumped or inconvenienced that's the time to ask.
posted by phearlez at 5:00 PM on July 27, 2006
posted by phearlez at 5:00 PM on July 27, 2006
Response by poster: Thanks, all! Of course, politeness is the name of the game - and I will be perfectly happy with receiving no compensation at all.
mikel, beyond being useless your comment is utterly absurd. Thanks for trying...
posted by thejoshu at 5:23 PM on July 29, 2006
mikel, beyond being useless your comment is utterly absurd. Thanks for trying...
posted by thejoshu at 5:23 PM on July 29, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
I was traveling into Chicago last Thursday and all flights were being cancelled. The connecting flight we were catching in Salt Lake was at 9am and was to arrive in Chicago at 2:45pm. She wasn't going to get to Chicago until 10:45pm THE NEXT DAY. She got a $25 voucher.
I, on the other hand, got booked on a earlier, though eventually delayed flight later that day. I'm assuming because I'm a frequent flyer.
Complain intellegently, but I don't think you're going to get far.
posted by FlamingBore at 10:59 PM on July 26, 2006