How willing are you to try something different?
 

Good Morning....

When you're standing in line along with a hundred others to rebook a replacement flight for a cancellation, what's going through your mind?

What do you do to maximize a strategy to get you on your way?

If you got advice on what to do outside of waiting in that line for your turn, would you take it if you felt it was too much to ask of you? That it was unconventional?

Would you schlep your bags....?


Just wondering....

I have no idea what you're talking about.

"If you got advice on what to do outside of waiting in that line for your turn, would you take it if you felt it was too much to ask of you?"

By definition, no.

?????

Hahaha

Two travelers, exact same advice given. It meant doing something different than totally depending on the airline to take care of you.

Legacy carrier meltdown in two major connection cities; no flights out on them.

One seat out on alternative carrier. First one who got the seat turned down the advice given due to inconvenience. Other one took the advice, schlepped his bags out from initial carrier, claimed the turned down seat, and got out and home. First traveler, miserable...

Airline employees are no longer encouraged to do beyond what the automated screen spits out. Alot of that great drive and knowledge is gone.

Can anyone relate?

As stated above - if it is "too much to ask of me", then no, I wouldn't choose to do something that I feel I shouldn't do.

Unconventional? That has many meanings. Go down to another service center at another terminal with shorter line? Call by phone rather than stand in line? Sure. Yell "Fire" so everyone gets out of line? Probably no.

I feel like I need to place an order with Rosetta Stone to follow this conversation.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

Op.. I would do what I believe is reasonable and best for me.. Depending on the options, i would fly out, or book a better flight for the day after, if my schedule allows me and I received an acceptable complimentary place to stay for the night.

What would you do?

I hate waiting in long lines to resolve a problem. I always consider reasonable alternate strategies, such as calling an agent on the phone. For example, when my arriving flight was sitting on the tarmac at ORD on a night with bad weather, waiting for a gate to become available, I started working the system from my mobile phone:

• I called the airline and learned that my connecting flight had already left.
• I asked if they could endorse me to another carrier leaving later that night. They said nothing available.
• I confirmed a seat on a flight the next morning. I switched to a 10-ish departure for convenience instead of the 0630 flight they initially offered.
• I inquired about hotel allowance and learned that there would be none because weather was the culprit.
• Next, I called a popular hotel chain and booked a room at the nearest hotel with availability.
• Finally, I called the specific hotel and asked about their airport shuttle. I learned that it would stop running by the time I arrived in the terminal.

As a result of this planning, I passed through the airport pretty quickly once the flight deboarded. I noticed the huge line of people at the airline service desk. It was easily 200 people long. I saw frazzled faces and heard raised voices. I walked straight past it. I also walked straight past the hotel shuttle area and went directly to the taxi stand. 40 minutes after the aircraft cabin door opened, I opened the door to my hotel room and began winding down for the night. My fellow passengers who joined that customer service line were probably still waiting for help.

That depends on the nature of the advice and the credibility of the person offering it. What are you getting at?

Well put ^ :p

Everyone has their own travel preferences, and one thing I've learned after quite a bit of air travel over the last few years is to respect others' preferences. Aisle or window? Bulkhead or exit row? Delta or United? Redeye or 7AM? I even know a girl who legitimately prefers flying coach to First, and declines upgrades even when her UA 1K husband can easily obtain them.

All of that is great - as long as they're not intruding on my experience, everyone's entitled to handle their travel to their own satisfaction. I'd never want a coworker or friend booking travel for me - heaven forbid I end up on WN - so I certainly respect when someone else feels the same way.

The same, of course, applies in airports. Being a frequent traveler, I usually know what I'm doing in irops situations, and I often offer help to others nearby. Sometimes it's politely declined, sometimes it's graciously accepted - I'm fine with either, but I am typically more than happy to offer assistance if I'm in a position to do so, and I'm not insulted at all if someone declines.

Sometimes, these situations can be great fun: I took denied boarding compensation on a recent international flight, and the gentleman behind me in line was going to the same destination; he accepted the same (highly creative) reroute I'd come up with on a whim - turns out he's a FlyerTalker and I made a new friend in the process. (I'm not sure he expected that I would be intentionally rebooking on an MD-11 flight to get a chance to experience one for the last time, though... :p)

I guess the moral of the story is, go with the flow. Be helpful to others - share the customer service phone number, point out the nearest rebooking assistance desk, etc. - but then step back and let that person make travel decisions for themselves.

My $0.02

Precisely! ^

When I travel revenue (which is almost always now), I am a meticulous planner. The day of the trip I print out at least 3 alternate routings, I have all the airlines on speed dial, and am prepared for anything! :p

I've been lucky though, and have never missed a connection in my relatively few flights.

Another thing that helps is knowing coworkers for other airlines...if I have issues, I give a friend a call at that airline, and they do what they can for me.