Richard Turen
I don't enjoy spending my Sundays working on air problems -- especially when, as I may have mentioned before, my firm does not issue airline tickets. But with air supplied by cruise lines, there is no choice.
It started two Sundays ago when I got involved in a major client problem. My clients were to board a ship in Athens in three days. Their flight out was canceled, and they were issued a new three-stop itinerary. Their luggage was somewhere at Charles De Gaulle. The good news is that they had used Apple AirTags. They knew where their bags were on a map of the airport, but no one would get them. No one would help them.
The cruise line said that it had no way to retrieve lost luggage. The airline said they could not handle it since the airline that actually lost the bags was a small intra-European carrier. I could not reach them on the phone.
The hotel concierge explained that, no, "we do not assist guests with such a thing." It was the hotel chosen by the cruise line -- a very good five-star line.
I was contacting everyone, and, toward the end of the day, I sent the client some email addresses they had requested. One of them was a sort of generic email supposedly belonging to Delta's CEO, Ed Bastian.
After six hours and canceled plans, including a date night dinner with my wife, I stopped working.
Early Monday morning, I was ready to start all over again when I noticed an email from the client. Bastian's office had actually responded to their email and assured them that their luggage would be arriving that afternoon.
Last Sunday, a new problem. A VIP couple flying to Europe to join a 34-day cruise was told that they could not leave the day they had arranged for. No way.
I called the air department at their five-star cruise line, and they found a way to book the guests in their preferred business class on the same flights two days later. The airline wanted an additional $7,200 per guest for the trouble. Reluctantly, and with no other options, the guests decided to pay it. Of course, they had previously paid for business class as part of their cruise ticket but no matter, they had to pay $14,400 for two new tickets arriving just one day before their ship was set to sail.
The last-minute, very "full-fare" tickets were issued, and the guests went to the airport and took their place in the priority business class line.
Then, without warning, the gate agent made an announcement. I want to be careful not to misquote my clients, but the announcement was made twice, instructing guests in the priority line who had booked directly with the airline to remain in line. Those guests who "booked through a travel agency or some other third party like a cruise line" should move to the economy line.
One hour later, my clients were told that their seats had been given to customers "who booked with us directly" and that they were going to be downgraded.
This weekend, I am fighting to get some part of their $14,400 returned. The airline has thus far refused, saying the guests bought new business class tickets the day before flying at "list price." They offered them $650 for the downgrade.
I am not listing names because I make it a practice to not take advantage of my space here. I will not fight this in print.
Ours is the dream-fulfillment business. Yes, we have beaches and castles and charming cities high on a hill. But travel can also be a battleground. Sometimes you have to suit up.