i had a rt flight from SGF-STL-PIT a few weeks ago on TWA. in the 1st place, the cost of the flight was picked up by the univ of pgh. for a medical study i was to take part in.
being the cheapskate and miles maniac that i am, i was thrilled to get a free flight ( and miles ) to a study i was going to be paid well for.
what's more, i was able to stay at the university's expense at a holiday in select. i got american airlines miles for this stay, to boot.
all that was good, but it gets interesting on my way home. my flight out of PIT was slightly delayed...but in STL things were frustrating.
i was told that the delay was due to late arrival of another flight that was to supply pilots and flight attendants. i thought if i complained at the customer service desk, i might get some extra miles...instead i was told we had mechanical probs.
i checked back at the gate, where they told me the original reason. i checked at another service desk and got the same mech. probs. answer.
after finally getting home, i read on a ft post that TWA lies about mech. probs. to save their "best on time" record. that got me thinking.
i wrote an email to TWA customer service from their website detailing my complaints about bad service and my intent to look to other airlines in the future.
i received a very nice and apologetic email today...and an extra 3,000 miles! lesson learned: complain to the top level and get big results in miles.