Mean and Nasty or Sugar and Spice?
 

Since sometimes the best response is no response, I will leave another thread to wither and die regarding mileage "grubbing, groveling" wannabe's. I have found the people on this board to be the exact opposite and generous to a fault so I wonder where all those wannabe's are?

I know I have passed on free flights, upgrades, lounge passes, discount coupons, treated people to lunch/drinks etc., mostly with no quid pro quo. I have similarly been treated to upgrades, lounge passes, fantastic explorations, etc. with no quid pro quo.

I have heard numerous stories of FlyerTalkers and other frequent flyers lending a helping hand in all sorts of mundane as well as unusual situations with no compensation expected or received.

Hardly the stuff of mileage "grubbing, groveling" wannabe's.

Just to set my mind straight, I would like to hear about other's experiences with frequent flyers. Good, bad or indifferent?

I have encountered numerous FFers in my travels (alas, none from this forum), and to a man/woman, all have been very gracious and civil.

I suspect it is because the FF is aware of the various things that CAN go wrong, so are (1) more understanding when they do, and (2) more appreciative of efforts made on their behalf by others.

I'm sure there is the "I'm-the-center-of-the-universe" types, but I've been lucky enough to avoid them as far as FFers go.


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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

I find in my travels, and most gate agents I spoke to agree with me, that business travellers and other frequent travellers are most understanding when there are problems. That is because we know who's really at fault -- it's almost never the gate agent -- and we don't fly off the handle. On the other hand the infrequent traveller assumes the gate agent is there to beat upon.

Just my $.02. Last time my flight was cancelled, I sat patiently in line, smiled at the gate agent, and asked nicely what the problem was and they told me. Everyone else in the line screamed (literally), demanded phone calls, swore to never fly the airline again, assumed it was some conspiracy to get THEM personally....

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

dg1,

I went through the same situation earlier this year when a flight that I was on was delayed then cancelled. I was fourth in line to rebook and had to listen to the 3 jerks in front of me rip the gate agent. When it was my turn, I offered to buy the gate agent a cold beer because he had to take that abuse. You should have seen the look on the jerk's faces when I received a boarding pass for the next flight and they to sit and wait for another couple of hours.

LOL! That's great. I felt really bad for the agent reaccomodating passengers from a cancelled flight of mine on the 23rd of December from PIT to ERI. The person in front of me (who cut a HUGE line), after US Airways was offering passengers hotel and $16 in meal accomodations due to a WEATHER related cancellation, demanded more meal money and, get this, KITTY LITTER FOR HER CAT!! How's that for being understanding? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Anyways, my FF experiences have generally been very positive, and you make a good point that we're usually more understanding of problems, both on the side of the airline logistics and on the side of travelling experiences as a whole. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Great thread, BB!

I make it a habit to

1. be polite and friendly at all times

2. not hold the low-level person at fault. They don't run the airline in any event...

3. smile and make jokes, have good humor (we are all in this together anyway)

4. live and let live...not make a fuss if everything isn't quite right...respect others rights to be left alone as much as is possible in a narrow, claustrophobic tube

5. don't hesitate to make my needs known

I find that frequent travellers mostly do the same, I haven't yet found exceptions in fact.

The above is a bit selfish...I find my experiences in travel are so much better that way, and I believe it makes others' travels better too.

--richard