What is the purpose of the BF concierge
 

I flew EWR-ZRH in J last night.

The gray-coated BF concierge hopped around the cabin for a while. In each case where she stopped to talk to a passenger, she was asking them if they were a OP member or if she could sign them up. In the row in front of mine, the passenger said they weren't and the concierge asked if they had status on any other airlines.

In no case did she say "welcome back MR. or Mrs. bla bla" to ANYONE that she wasn't trying to sign up. I'd expect a "welcome aboard Mr. entropy, we appreciate your business, is there anything we can help you with [shower, etc]".

Is the purpose of these concierges to provide service or poach high rev travelers?

Generally I have found the BF concierge offers a showers in your arrival city and sometimes can help when issues arrise but mostly they just bounce around the cabin welcoming people aboard and signing up high revenue pax for the OP program.

Dan

I have found the concierge to be pretty worthless from a consumer standpoint. In my first trip in BF years ago, from reading the literature, I expected the concierge to get the BF pax and walk them through passport control as a group (that is what the literature says). I was surprised when the concierge did absolutely nothing. Seems to me that CO could make more use of the position. Apparently the concierge has quite a bit of power (more ability than GA or TA). I think they are there mostly to solve any problems that may arise.

I had flown BF to europe several times before I ever saw the concierge or someone who introduced himself as such (there may have been one before and I just didn't notice). The first time I saw one and saw him talking to some of the other PAX he clearly he seemed to be arranging airport transportation for them. I sort of said, oh, I didn't know such a service was available. He seemed to be not that forthcoming and either he asked or I volunteered that I had upgraded using miles for the BF seat and that seemed to imply that such services were not available to me. It may be that he didn't say that, but this was the impression I got from the interaction. Are the concierge's just for PAX who are not using miles in some way? I wasn't in a total award seat but had paid the higher coach fare plus miles to upgrade (which I usually do).

Scott is MD of the Customer Experience, or something like that. perhaps he can shed some light on the concierge's official duties. it must be spelled out somewhere. has anyone done a search on CO.O.L? maybe they have something spelled out.

(the same issue arrives with the butler when i stay at the st. regis. what are they supposed to do, officially?)

I think their job is to make you feel that you are getting your $$$ worth. A few times when in BF and they approached aboard, wishing me a safe flight etc and asked if they could help with anything, when I said sure and asked them a few questions , they basically were clueless and tried to tell me where to get an answer.

I had a nice experience with the BF concierge in HKG a couple of months back. The concierge was standing at the BF check-in for my return flight. While I was checking in, he took my business card and laminated it for the luggage tag. But the part that I found more interesting was that he looked at my record and (re-)apologized for the inconvenience I had on my incoming flight (no IFE for the BF cabin). In addition, he told me that CO had already deposited some miles in my account for the inconvenience.

Nothing earth-shattering, but just a couple of nice little things that I appreciated.

I know what I like the BF Concierge for . . .
 

I am a BIG BF Concierge fan . . . since it is he (she) who is the guardian of the beloved, elusive, joyous Op-Up (when they bump Plats from Y to BF if Y is oversold and BF is not). I have sweet talked many of them to make sure they knew I was Plat, available, and ready to accept their most generous offer if it became necessary to do so.

And have many Op-Up experiences to remember. Especially ones where I was able to drag my traveling colleague into BF with me - those are especially satisfying. One time, my colleague (who is definitely "seat challenged" when sitting in a tight coach seat) thought we had not been so lucky so she boarded (2nd row in 757 (yuk!) to EU somewhere). Minutes later, they handed me BF boarding passes for me and my friend. So I played with her . . . boarded the plane, made eye contact with her, shook my head "NO" with a sad face, then suddenly smiled ear to ear with a "YES!", waving her new boarding pass. She was so confused - but once she realized we were movin' on up, she was grateful beyond words. There's no better feelin'.

I have to agree with divrdrew - I haven't seen much use for the concierge on any of my BusinessFirst flights (beyond the time we got an OpUp to CDG!). I too would be curious to know what kind of services that they can offer besides damage control during irregular ops and asking if you want access to the arrivals lounge.

I certainly havent seen the customs assistance as noted on this page:

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...concierge.aspx

ahhh...memories. i almost want to break into tune but, alas, i am at work. :)

I've had several positive experiences with the concierges. On every IAH-LGW flight I've taken (always in BusinessFirst) the concierge has always offered to make a call to the LGW BusinessFirst arrivals lounge to let them know I was requesting a shower upon arrival. Each time I've arrived at the LGW lounge they knew I was coming. Granted that's not a big deal, but on one flight we were about an hour late landing at LGW, and then the wait for passport control was over 90 minutes. This put me past the normal closing time for the LGW BusinessFirst arrivals lounge. However, because the concierge in Houston had let them know which passengers they should be expecting from CO 4, they stayed open for us. When I arrived at the lounge they explained that it was after their normal closing time, but because the concierge had made reservations for those of us on that flight, they had waited for us.

I've also had a concierge escort the BusinessFirst passengers to passport control at CDG last September. However, I really didn't consider that much of a service. Basically she just led the way, but we would had made it there just fine without that minimal amount of assistance. However, this same concierge was very helpful in providing directions to the RER/TGV station at CDG.

The ones in IAH are hit or miss. The HKG concierge is always helpful. The concierge in CDG usually just walks around scowling and looking generally annoyed.

^@:-)Too keep passengers out of BusinessFirst..The BF Concierge is at All flights with a BF Cabin to ensure there are no comp. ugrades..they go thru the upgrade list for every flight and lets say an agent in ATL upgraded you because your a Platinum traveling on a high fare from EWR to FCO as a goodwill gesture..The Concierge would Downgrade you and notify you at the gate since CO does not allow "comp" upgrades on flight with BusinessFirst..I have seen this happen several times and its due to outstation agents mis-understanding of the BusinessFirst Upgrade preocedure..or basically they dont understand that there is NO upgrade on those flights (except in case of oversell..and then the concierge will descide who to upgrade)so..this is the agent who makes sure nobody gets an unpaid upgrade or a comp upgrade..They even check the passengers onboard the aircraft to make sure nobody has snuck into BF..by going to each passenger and saying goodbye (by name) right before gate departure..All in all..this makes it fair for the BF paying passengers and ensures there are no free Upgrades to BF...CO allready has the most generous domestic upgrade programs in the industry..Im glad CO insists on keeping BF special.

Same here. Very nice to have the personal attention. I even got a card in the mail signed by the concierge. Yowser!

I equate the concierge to a "table captain" at a 5 star restaurant. They're there basically to make sure everything flows smoothly during the boarding process, and insure every guest is treated well and remembers the experience. On my trip to LGW in Jan, I was offered a shower, and they knew who I was when I walked in the door at the PC( I was the last one to arrive). On the way back, I don't recall one being offered.

I wouldn't be surprised if they are the final person to assure all necessary service items are on the plane. (or at least sign that they are)

And I'm sure maintaining the integrity of the cabin is a part of making the experience memorable :D