DL SMS: A tale of the good, the bad and the ugly
Feb 20, 2010, 3:20 am
#1
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Tucson, AZ, USA. UA 1K, reluctant but * best in class * DL FO/MM. Former BA jumpseat rider and scourge of Dilbertian management and apologists. As LX might - and do - say: "....an experienced frequent flyer of international airlines"
Posts: 3,386
DL SMS: A tale of the good, the bad and the ugly
So, I'm in MNL. And not on the phone to SMS any more, thankfully.
For unexpected reasons (TG ticket cancellation) I was stuck in KUL yesterday morning, needing to get to MNL to connect to CO Mike on Monday. I didn't even know this until midday local at the KLIA terminal.
At first, it looked like I needed to resort to the bus to SIN and then JQ to MNL. But before resorting to those desperate measures, I remembered, aha, thanks to car rental bonuses, I have some remnant SM! Let's see if they're useful in this situation...
As NW regulars know, I've been compelled to do this a couple of times when on the road in Asia and WP came through big time when I really needed them. The WPE line treated it like a challenge - in one spectacular case, solving the problem on a half-used award itin, originally issued from SharkSr's account, with me limited to 8 minutes of payphone time in MNL, delivering same-night KE departure in J to ICN and LAX. Now, that was truly best in class.
Back to the story.
I called SMS to see if I could organize redemption. I confess that I was not actually expecting much, ready for either JQ or CO (I don't want to use OP miles habitually instead of SM because of the EU ripoff situation on SM).
In a nutshell, here are the results of this stressful, real-world redemption request.
1. Agent could see MH codeshare flights. But "I cannot ticket them." No idea why. This took some time, and resulted in nada. She did not seem knowledgeable or willing to find out why she couldn't see them, didn't want to proactively investigate other feasible solutions for me at all.
2. Agent categorically denied that SM could be redeemed for MH awards. Me: but MH is listed as a partner on the DL.COM web page. Her: "We have a ticketing agreement but you can't redeem." Me: "So, let me get this straight, you are telling me that I cannot under any conditions use SM to redeem for MH" Her: "Yes." Me: "You know that's not correct. [Move into speech for supervisor on need for SMS agent training]." End call.
I left a voice notation for the supes, if they listen, explaining why this is utterly unacceptable for an SMS agent - this case showed not just ignorance, which charitably might have been the case with #1, but actively denying partner redemption that's published on DL.COM!! A new low, even for DL agents.
3. Agent Brian worked hard with me, asking what I wanted and trying to make it happen. By this time I had KVS open, with an exhaustive list of possibilities (MH, SQ, combos via NRT etc). He was methodical and thorough, presenting me initially with a suitable SQ ticket KUL-SIN-MNL, with overnight in SIN. No problem. I asked him to check for J on SIN-MNL and he found it. I requested this to be issued J, on those sectors, with Y return. Out of time, I was pleased.
Unfortunately when the e-ticket appeared, it was with the following day in Y. No time to argue, had to check in for SIN on leg #1.
As soon as I got to my hotel SIN, I called SMS again (#4 that day).
4. Agent Jennifer worked like Brian, efficiently and effectively trying to solve the problem. She was able to issued ticket, after obtaining a waiver from the supe for pricing to match what Brian had told me earlier in the day, but she couldn't uncheck me from my SQ flight in Y. I told her I'd try at my end, thanked her, saw the reissued itin showing my new J sector.
Two calls to SQ had me unloaded from my Y sector (I'm surprised SMS agents couldn't do this, whereas I, with no status on SQ, had no problems completing the task through their general res number in SIN).
Showed up this morning for my later SQ flight, gratifyingly I had no problems at check in, and we had nice ride in J on the 772 to MNL.
Summary.
Total time talking with SMS: just under two hours, all told. 30-40 minutes for all calls except #2, which was obviously a total waste of my time.
Result: KUL-SIN-MNL on SQ, J outbound, Y return, for 32.5k SM and 130 USD in taxes/YQ.
Credit where credit is due. Both Brian and Jennifer were great to work with. They gave me no BS, did not try to get me off the phone, and took care of requesting supes and obtaining waivers when necessary. There was a SNAFU with the e-ticket issue - it would have worked, but since I was being charged for J for the outbound and only had a short leg actually booked in J, I really wanted the available longer leg in J too. Overall, for them, ^
However, the first two interactions were a. bad and b. truly awful.
I was obviously compelled to use Skype for all this... the cellphone roaming charges from MY or SIN to call 1-800-BESTINCLASS would have been diabolic, probably greater than the tax/YQ on the ticket.
Factually, I can say, the response was not as good as NW was under the two similar circumstances previously. A mixed response, but all's well in the end.
Incidentally, it was pure luck I had enough remnant SM, because the 32.5k price is inexplicable using the last known intra-Asia award logic (NW's table from last year). And the agents didn't seem to know what it would amount to without going through the ticketing process each time. I was told if I wanted J for my return, it would price at 50k. I have no idea which sectors priced H/L/M or BESTINCLASS and by the end of all this, I was much too tired to care.
But, yes, it is better than 225k from NRT-SIN and I've made my connection.
For unexpected reasons (TG ticket cancellation) I was stuck in KUL yesterday morning, needing to get to MNL to connect to CO Mike on Monday. I didn't even know this until midday local at the KLIA terminal.
At first, it looked like I needed to resort to the bus to SIN and then JQ to MNL. But before resorting to those desperate measures, I remembered, aha, thanks to car rental bonuses, I have some remnant SM! Let's see if they're useful in this situation...
As NW regulars know, I've been compelled to do this a couple of times when on the road in Asia and WP came through big time when I really needed them. The WPE line treated it like a challenge - in one spectacular case, solving the problem on a half-used award itin, originally issued from SharkSr's account, with me limited to 8 minutes of payphone time in MNL, delivering same-night KE departure in J to ICN and LAX. Now, that was truly best in class.
Back to the story.
I called SMS to see if I could organize redemption. I confess that I was not actually expecting much, ready for either JQ or CO (I don't want to use OP miles habitually instead of SM because of the EU ripoff situation on SM).
In a nutshell, here are the results of this stressful, real-world redemption request.
1. Agent could see MH codeshare flights. But "I cannot ticket them." No idea why. This took some time, and resulted in nada. She did not seem knowledgeable or willing to find out why she couldn't see them, didn't want to proactively investigate other feasible solutions for me at all.
2. Agent categorically denied that SM could be redeemed for MH awards. Me: but MH is listed as a partner on the DL.COM web page. Her: "We have a ticketing agreement but you can't redeem." Me: "So, let me get this straight, you are telling me that I cannot under any conditions use SM to redeem for MH" Her: "Yes." Me: "You know that's not correct. [Move into speech for supervisor on need for SMS agent training]." End call.
I left a voice notation for the supes, if they listen, explaining why this is utterly unacceptable for an SMS agent - this case showed not just ignorance, which charitably might have been the case with #1, but actively denying partner redemption that's published on DL.COM!! A new low, even for DL agents.
3. Agent Brian worked hard with me, asking what I wanted and trying to make it happen. By this time I had KVS open, with an exhaustive list of possibilities (MH, SQ, combos via NRT etc). He was methodical and thorough, presenting me initially with a suitable SQ ticket KUL-SIN-MNL, with overnight in SIN. No problem. I asked him to check for J on SIN-MNL and he found it. I requested this to be issued J, on those sectors, with Y return. Out of time, I was pleased.
Unfortunately when the e-ticket appeared, it was with the following day in Y. No time to argue, had to check in for SIN on leg #1.
As soon as I got to my hotel SIN, I called SMS again (#4 that day).
4. Agent Jennifer worked like Brian, efficiently and effectively trying to solve the problem. She was able to issued ticket, after obtaining a waiver from the supe for pricing to match what Brian had told me earlier in the day, but she couldn't uncheck me from my SQ flight in Y. I told her I'd try at my end, thanked her, saw the reissued itin showing my new J sector.
Two calls to SQ had me unloaded from my Y sector (I'm surprised SMS agents couldn't do this, whereas I, with no status on SQ, had no problems completing the task through their general res number in SIN).
Showed up this morning for my later SQ flight, gratifyingly I had no problems at check in, and we had nice ride in J on the 772 to MNL.
Summary.
Total time talking with SMS: just under two hours, all told. 30-40 minutes for all calls except #2, which was obviously a total waste of my time.
Result: KUL-SIN-MNL on SQ, J outbound, Y return, for 32.5k SM and 130 USD in taxes/YQ.
Credit where credit is due. Both Brian and Jennifer were great to work with. They gave me no BS, did not try to get me off the phone, and took care of requesting supes and obtaining waivers when necessary. There was a SNAFU with the e-ticket issue - it would have worked, but since I was being charged for J for the outbound and only had a short leg actually booked in J, I really wanted the available longer leg in J too. Overall, for them, ^
However, the first two interactions were a. bad and b. truly awful.
I was obviously compelled to use Skype for all this... the cellphone roaming charges from MY or SIN to call 1-800-BESTINCLASS would have been diabolic, probably greater than the tax/YQ on the ticket.
Factually, I can say, the response was not as good as NW was under the two similar circumstances previously. A mixed response, but all's well in the end.
Incidentally, it was pure luck I had enough remnant SM, because the 32.5k price is inexplicable using the last known intra-Asia award logic (NW's table from last year). And the agents didn't seem to know what it would amount to without going through the ticketing process each time. I was told if I wanted J for my return, it would price at 50k. I have no idea which sectors priced H/L/M or BESTINCLASS and by the end of all this, I was much too tired to care.
But, yes, it is better than 225k from NRT-SIN and I've made my connection.
Feb 20, 2010, 6:55 am
#2
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Tokyo
Programs: NW Diamond, LH SEN, PC Spire - RA, TG PlatHyatt Diamond
Posts: 585
Last edited by spunk_tokyo; Feb 20, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Feb 20, 2010, 5:38 pm
#3
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Tucson, AZ, USA. UA 1K, reluctant but * best in class * DL FO/MM. Former BA jumpseat rider and scourge of Dilbertian management and apologists. As LX might - and do - say: "....an experienced frequent flyer of international airlines"
Posts: 3,386
At least this experience wasn't :-: best in class :-: But soon it won't be possible at all. Another improvement to SM.