DeltaFan4Now

Since the 2011 details won't be known until 2013, I guess we'll have to wait to see if you're right or wrong

avidflyer

^

JROCKMN

The only time I really got annoyed was on a HNL-SEA-MSP FLight
I was getting on with my traveling companion
They wanted to stop him and have him check his bag
I was about to ask if she expected he swam with the bag or what.
This was the SAME PLANE we took from HNL to Seattle
Not the same model
The SAME PLANE so unless it somehow shrank in the 45 minutes they cleaned it I suspect his bag would fit. Especially since she didnt stop me and I had the identical roller bag.
I almost became unplesent but she gave up quckly
I understand them pushing when it is a small plane or they are bording group 5 and the bins are full. but this was group #1 on a 757

pitbulllover

Amazing how most of these threads turn into nothing of the original topic.

Not good. Not bad. Just always away from the original topic.

goodandclassy

Alright...

Here is something for your Monday entertainment.

We all like to make fun of Mr. X and Ms. Y for acting like a DYKWIA. Maybe some self-reflection won't be so bad.

In my flying experience, I have rarely, and quite frankly, result-lessly, tried to pull the DYKWIA card, and I wonder if other have had similar (comical) experiences.

Here goes -

I was booked on my annual DL-ticketed AF TATL trip After receiving an op-up the prior year as an FO, I was eagerly looking forward to the flight and hoping the stars would align for me on the overnight flight. Not so much, as I arrived at JFK with two bags and 45 minutes prior to departure. Oops. The agent checking me in said she would let me board but with no bags.

Lesson 1 - Take the boarding pass and run! Gate-check is always an option, with proper airline authorization

I refused to separate, not realizing that there were no remaining seats left the rest of the day. in other words, I was screwed. I was asked to speak with Delta ticketing and reissue my ticket for the day after.

SMS quoted a ridiculous price, and the Delta TA in T1 was no better. Without much sympathy, the agent asked for a change fee amounting to slightly more than I had paid for the ticket. I must have gotten snippy, as the agent snapped right back at me. This is when my brilliant (?) idea to wave the PM card came in. I don't recall the details, but I certainly remember eventually throwing my card on the desk with a statement in the likes of what is this status worth to the airline (before DM!), etc... The agent, even less moved, turned her back and proactively ignored me.

So, not only did I pull a DYKWIA, but I threw in some drama for impact. The result was uh, less than satisfactory.

The rest of the story -
At this point I realized that I should keep my card and that no good will be coming out of T1. I started heading over to T2, where at least i might get a clean slate for my predicament.

After several conversations with different agents, I decided the best outcome is to move the flight to a date where the fare is not double so that I can retain some of ticket value. I approached the podium once again, and explained my predicament to a yet another agent (card throwing aside ). She asked me to hold on and shortly after, she arrived with a supervisory OK to honor the reservation and exchange the ticket for day-after flights for a $200 penalty. You can imagine how glad I was to be paying 15-20% of what the quoted change fee would be. She earned her Job Well Done and complimentary letter with flying colors.

Lesson 2 - No one cares who I am. I have since become a much tamer and reasonable traveler. And have gotten much farther ahead by being po9lite and firm, when both are needed... But, I can't help but grin every time I see a DYKWIA post about or an individual in action - maybe one day they will learn too

Now, it's your turn to share

bonzaiflyer

While I lived in the DFW area, I worked for as the operations manager for a travel wholesaler (travel agency that puts vacation packages together for resale - like the guys who do DL Vacations). Worked out a deal with the CEO to take my honeymoon in the Cayman Islands (well, 2 of the 3 islands). He said fine, but you have to hand deliver a letter to the President of Cayman Airways. No prob, it would take maybe 30 minutes out of a free week.

Flight out of DFW was delayed by t-storms, got to IAH about 45 mins before the KX flight to GCM. Back then, they used a seat map with stickers to assign seats at the gate, first come first served. By the time we got to the gate, there were no two seats together, but I could see on the map that F was empty.

Asked the agent for an upgrade so we could sit together. "Sorry, we can't do that, and we didn't order any F meals anyway" was the response. My replied with we don't need meals, we'd just like to sit together. Handed her my business card since we were the largest holder of block seats on their flights and pulled the DYKWIA on her. That didn't do anything. Pulled out the envelope addressed to the President of her airline and said I'm supposed to hand deliver this to him. Still nothing.

My new bride looked at her and said "but we're on our honeymoon". Bingo, F seats. And when we boarded, magically there were meals and we got a bottle of rum and champagne to take with us......

avidflyer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dofmkbQIhg

aerostl

accidentally pulled the card in what I thought was an anonymous survey for elite members staying at a Courtyard by Marriott in FL.

I was in one of those months where the on-the-road-5-days-a-week grind of my job was grating, the engagement I was running was a hardcore turnaround with a very volatile staff situation. I was gone from 5am monday to 7pm friday, working 16 hour days, then putting in another 8-12 hours on the weekend while my poor husband had to try to keep me sane, manage the household, and hold on to his job. Needless to say, I was pretty grumpy.

I extensively filled out the "other comments" section that they put in the elite survey. Well, the next time I checked into "my" hotel (I stay at the same place for 3-6 months at a time... actually not that bad) the GM came out and outlined his plan for dealing with everything I had b*tched about in my feedback (most of which boil down to "you hotel doesn't feel like my house. fix it."). I was mortified and from the panic in the GM's delivery, I'm guessing he thought I was pretty dissatified with my stay...

Having an excellent travel agent who KNOWS who I am and knows that I (and my colleagues) are bankrolling his kids college fund have thankfully prevented me from going too DYKWIA on the airlines... and Marriott knows better than to be "overbook", 'specially since I have a solid 3 to 4 weeks booked out most of the time.

PowerFlyer

My one and only "overt" time using status occurred last march at JFK:

After a nightmare trip on the A train, I showed up to the counter exactly 58 minutes before departure with a suitcase that needed to be checked (liquids). After being told they couldn't check the bag, I flashed the card and then stared down the agent until she finally printed a tag.

Never felt the need to pull the card before or since.

goodandclassy

I was so hoping there would be a lot of flying papers at the end!

goodandclassy

powerful indeed

Late checkin with bags is probably a whole new thread in my experience. time(liness) and i don't mesh.

edscholl

my gf and i were in vegas a couple years ago. a buddy was crashing with us, so my gf called down for a cot, and they said that they couldn't bring one up for a couple hours, and there'd be a $100+ fee. i said, "tell her we're platinum." so she busts it out, and they immediately apologized and brought one up for free. and my gf never made fun of us for our status whoring again.

FlirtatiousFlyer

oh man now THIS would be awesome airport service for diamonds. way better than just the meet and greet for customs on intl flights.

jascp

I like they way you say, "thought the bins were already full...". It is my observation that 'full" is almost entirely a SWAG. I have rarely not found space after they FAs announce the overheads are full. Sometimes it means cramming a coat into the back of the bin, and I always ask politely before I do, or rearranging a rollerboard wheels out and up, or simply opening a bin that was loudly proclaimed "full" only to find it half empty.

I have seen this enough times to know that the supply of space is very elastic depending on the FAs. When I am not in a DM "I am a god mode", I will actually help a fellow traveler rearrange a bin to make space, much to the dismay of some FAs.

And diitos to all the polite ways of bringing "doesnt fit" items on board.

Oh yeah, do DM tags help carry ons fit more easily? I think my bags got much smaller when I put those tags on.

Klm is Dead - Long Live KLM

Exactly. If people don't want to fly to get where they need to go in the US, then they can just choose to take a high-speed bullet train, or choose one of the many Nationally operating bus services with connections to every town and city in the country, or ...

Hang on a minute. Americans don't have as much freedom as citizens of other developed countries and don't have a practical choice at all for the most part to get where they need to go long distances. So, the remaining airlines, protected by anti-trust immunity, are becoming local monopolists, but without any oversight of the market to ensure that they properly meet peoples', markets' and the Nation's needs.

The US airline industry may go the way of the Dodo bird following the example of the hundreds and hundreds of other industries in the US that have disappeared before them. However, that does not mean that people will have more wealth or more freedom or more choice. On the contrary. Without a return to self government, the current trend is sure to continue instead.