Online Complications
Monday, May 12th, 2008I recently booked a flight on USAirways PHL-SFO-LAX. Printing out a boarding pass from my computer was not a problem prior to my departure and everything went very smoothly. However, the morning I was departing from SFO for LAX, USAirways’ website could not locate my information. I knew this flight was a “USAirways flight operated by United” and in the past I was able to print this boarding pass from a USAirways website. Once this failed, I tried the United website, and had the same problem. Calls to United and USAirways were fruitless as each told me I had to use the other’s website.
Big deal right? Just go to the airport and print out your pass there. Well…it was already the morning of the flight and so, suddenly, what was a leisurely morning became a rush so that I would not get cut out of the flight. When I was speaking to both United and USAirways neither was willing or able to help me - it was very frustrating.
I think some of this stems from the outsourcing of these reservations to other countries. It appears that the outsourced people, however nice, simply do not receive the same training. Of course, the boarding pass should have been printed from USAirways’ website as they were the issuing airline, not United. Of course, I knew that they could not check me in over the phone, but somebody should have been able to fix this.
Kim wrote about our wonderful event at the Hotel Bel-Air last week in her blog. The HBA is the best example of service I can think of. Never are you told that a task cannot be done, the staff are warm and friendly and everything from the food to the rooms is perfect.
The domestic carriers can take a page from the HBA.
-Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO
