Happy New Year, readers! I apologize for the lack of updates, but it's been crazy busy with the holidays. Let's start off 2012 with an infographic compliments of FlightStats.com on where the various airlines ranked across several key categories.
The interesting highlights:
- Southwest, the only airline where "Bags Fly Free" was 2nd to last in baggage handling, but also ranked the best with the lowest percentage of customer complaints.
- jetBlue had the most delays and lowest percentage of on-time arrivals.
- United didn't do so well in with customer complaints and bumping passengers - no doubt the high number of frequent flyers affecting the later
- American had the most cancellations, lost the most bags, and ranked the worst overall - part of this due to their aging fleet
Here's hoping you have a wonderful start to the 2012 new year!
Check out the FAQ for details.
The promotion:
With Hilton HHonors™, you choose how you earn with Fast Ways to Free Stays. It’s your choice – earn Double Points for each stay or get a free night certificate after only four stays or ten nights when you stay now through December 31 at any participating hotel and resort worldwide. With two ways to earn, you choose how you can get to experiences worth sharing faster than ever.
Starwood just posted an awesome promotion - stay 3 nights and get a free night at one of their resort properties. Very cool. Starwood membership allows you to accumulate points towards free flights and stays at member hotels like the Sheraton and Westin. Learn about the hotel rewards credit card at American Express OPEN.
Key details:
- Stay three times from May 1 through July 31, 2011, at any of our more than 1,000 hotels and resorts across all nine brands and earn a Free Resort Night Award — with no earning limits.
- Redeem your awards at over 200 luxurious resorts seven days a week with no blackout dates through December 21, 2011.
- Register for SPG Getaway Free by June 30, 2011.
Starwood is joining hands with the first social location-based check-in site, Foursquare, to offer additional ways to earn points and a chance to win free resort nights. You can "check-in" on all the offers here.
- Bonus Starpoints confirmed Earn 250 bonus Starpoints when you check in via foursquare with a confirmed reservation at one of our more than 1,000 hotels and resorts between May 1 and July 31, 2011.
- Every check in is your chance to unlock hidden Free Resort Night Awards Every check in through May 31, 2011, is your chance to win a Free Resort Night Award, hidden daily at one of more than 1,000 Starwood hotels and resorts.
- Check in to win a resort getaway With each foursquare check in through July 31, 2011, you’ll be entered to win a resort getaway, including five Free Resort Night Awards and airfare.
Don’t pass up this Delta promotion if you’re a Silver Medallion Member:
- Fly six qualifying Delta segments* anytime between April 1 and June 30, 2011, and you’ll receive double flown miles. (That’s just three nonstop round-trip flights.)
- Then fly and enjoy a 75% mileage bonus on all
- Delta marketed/operated flights flown July 1 through December 31, 2011.
- As a Silver Medallion®, you already earn a 25% mileage bonus. Add that to the 75% mileage bonus and you’ll be earning a total bonus of 100%. That’s double flown miles on all paid Delta flights for six months.
- For this one-time bonus, register today and fly between April 1 and
- June 30, 2011.
Delta Airlines recently posted a blog article outlining their new baggage tracking technology. Here’s an update of their new changes in their words:
- Proactive notifications if your bag doesn’t travel with you. All you have to do is sign up for Last Minute Updates on delta.com or subscribe to have your contact info included in your reservation. We will text or email you if your bags don’t travel with you.
- Checked baggage tracking on delta.com. Now every checked bag has visibility if you wish to track its journey. For example, you’ll be able to see that your bags have been loaded off an aircraft.
- Self-service baggage kiosks in 18 of our busiest airports by year’s end. These look just like our check-in kiosks but they are near our airport baggage service offices and bag carrousels. You can use the kiosk to view a bag’s status, check which carousel bags will arrive on and file a delayed bag claim if necessary.
- All-online delayed bag claim process. Goodbye paper-based manual process. Hello easier, faster online process directly at delta.com!
- Rebates for bags delayed beyond 12 hours. For the rare occurrence when a bag is delayed more than 12 hours, you can apply on delta.com for a transportation credit voucher rebate for $25 for one bag or $50 for two bags.
Kodus to Delta Airlines for proactively addressing one of the biggest frustrations of flying.
I’ve been a die-hard Tumi fan since I purchased my first backpack and tri-fold over 10+ years ago. I’ve been the owner of 5 Tumi products (3 backpacks, 1 tri-fold, 1 carry-on) in the last decade worth well over $2200 dollars. This was the first time I had to actually send a bag in for repairs and I was expecting a hassle-free experience based on the Tumi Guarantee. The whole reason I was a Tumi die-hard was due to the comfort I felt with their lifetime warranty. Little did I realize, they had changed it to a 5 year warranty. I don’t know when this happened, but based on my experience, the "no questioned asked" policy of the lifetime warranty is a far cry from the current warranty and associated customer experience. Settle down for a little story on my Tumi Repair Customer Experience.
First a little background - I’m a frequent traveler and use my carry-on every week. I own a Tumi 20’ inch carry-on which recently had two clip brackets break on me under normal wear and usage. While it still worked, I was worried the other side of the clip would break and prevent me from locking in my clothes and also keeping the suiter flap closed. I had several other things which needed repairing:
- The handle no longer has a spring when opening/closing
- The plastic corner guards and back guards had come loose
- The wheels weren’t smoothly rotating
- The leather corners protectors were ripped
I had held off on sending in the bag for repairs because I didn’t want to deal with multiple returns, but after the clips broke I felt now was the time to take advantage of the lifetime warranty. The first thing I did was bring it into the Tumi store where I had originally made the purchase. The sales representative was happy to help me send in the bag for repairs. This is where I learned about the $25 shipping fee. I figured for $25 it would be worth getting it repaired, but was surprised this was part of the warranty cost. I told him the reason for wanting the repairs and showed him the broken clips. He filled out the form based on the damage and was about to close out the transaction when I asked him about getting the other items repaired. He seemed annoyed and flippantly said, "You can ask them to repair whatever you want." So I had to go through the form and manually tell him what else I wanted to get "repaired". He seemed genuinely bothered I was trying to take advantage of the warranty. WOW. Talk about bad customer service from the get go. You would think he would look at your bag and tell you what else should be fixed.
Next I asked for a "loaner" and he brought out a random assortment of old and dilapidated carry-on bags. I certainly didn’t feel like a Tumi customer when I looked at the poor selection he offered. I picked out the only 20’ carry-on available - something circa 1990. I opened it up to find the suiter add-on was missing from the flap - I needed this to keep my shirts and jackets from getting wrinkled. At first he said that was all he had, but after a bit of prodding he said he would look for the add-on in the back. He finally came back with a few and luckily one fit the zipper although I don’t think it was the original for the bag.
I finished the transaction and went home. I hoped this would be the end of an already poor customer experience. Little did I know.
A few days later I received a call from Tumi Repair. Here’s a summarized recap of the conversation:
TUMI: Your bag is out of warranty so you’ll have to pay for out-of-warranty repairs if you want it fixed.
ME: What do you mean? I thought it was a lifetime warranty.
TUMI: No, it’s 5 years. (This is when I found out Tumi’s Lifetime Warranty was no longer in existence)
ME: Fine, but I know I haven’t had the bag for 5 years. How did you determine it was out of warranty?
TUMI: We looked at the tracer number and determined the bag was manufactured in April of 2005. Since bags typically go to outlets after 6 months we used a date of Sept 2005 to determine you are out of warranty.
ME: Well I know I didn’t have this bag for more than 5 years.
TUMI: Then you need to provide a receipt for when you purchased it.
ME: Okay…I’ll see if the Tumi store has a copy of the receipt and get back to you.
So I called the Tumi store and they were able to fax me a copy of the receipt. The date was April 2007. Not only did I have to get the receipt from Tumi myself (you’d think they could just call the Tumi store and validate the purchase date) their rationale for adding 6 months was either a total fabricated lie or I was ripped off because I purchased a bag almost 2 years after the manufacturing date and it was not from an outlet store. You can’t make up things like this. Anyways, I sent in the receipt and waited for a response.
A few weeks later I get another call from Tumi Repair:
TUMI: We’ve evaluated the repairs required and determined none of the repairs fall under warranty coverage. We only cover wear and tear damage if they are related to defects in manufacturing, but we’ve decided to go 50% on a few of the repairs (lists out the handle, wheels) but you’ll have to cover 100% of the other repairs and also all shipping costs since nothing falls under the warranty.
I nearly lost it when I heard this. I asked them how they determine wear and tear due to manufacturing defects and I couldn’t get a straight answer. I had paid over $600 dollars for the bag and I would be paying well over 30% of the original price in repairs WITHIN the warranty period. I couldn’t be more livid. Why would I spent $600 on a piece of luggage only to pay an additional 30% premium within 3.5 years of the purchase? I jumped at the ridiculous ambiguity of the "wear and tear due to manufacturing defects" clause - how was this not normal wear and tear? One could argue the clips, handle, etc. should last longer than 3.5 years and if it didn’t under normal wear and tear, then it was a manufacturing defect. The Tumi representative could sense my anger and said he would escalate to a manager.
A few days later I received this call from Tumi Repair:
TUMI: We’ve re-evaluated the damage and determined everything will be covered under the warranty. The manager looked at your bag and agreed this was normal wear and tear and should be covered. We’ll also be informing the repair evaluation group to ensure they update their warranty evaluation process so this doesn’t happen again.
I was certainly glad with the response I heard, but it didn’t change my impression of the Tumi repair experience. I would definitely think twice about purchasing a Tumi bag after going through this warranty fiasco. You only get one chance to give a good first impression. Tumi bombed this one. I would dread ever having to go through this same process if I needed to have something repaired under the new Tumi warranty. Did I truly believe they would fix the process so I wouldn’t have to go through again? No way.
Fast forward 3 weeks later and the Tumi store finally informs me my bag is ready for pickup. I was pretty frustrated it took so long to fix the bag, but was happy to have my Tumi back after wheeling around the terrible loaner for almost 6 weeks. I looked at the bag and noticed Tumi had just repaired exactly what was "checked" on the form. There was a plastic guard which was clearly scuffed up but they fixed only what I has requested. (Note to readers - I advise you to check every single box on the form because Tumi will only follow what’s on the form instead of going out of their way to give you a great experience) I took the bag home only to realize they forgot to return the suiter add-on. It was the original reason why I sent in the bag for repairs and Tumi had failed to return it! WOW. The story doesn’t end here. I called the Tumi store (which is about 40 minutes away) and told them the situation.
ME: Tumi forgot to return the suiter for my carry-on.
TUMI STORE: Oh really? Okay, come to the store and we’ll give you a new one.
ME: How do you know you have one which will fix my carry-on? (She just ASSUMED they would have one.)
TUMI STORE: Tell me your tracer number. (I read them the number) Yes, we have that one in stock.
ME: Should I bring in the carry-on bag?
TUMI STORE: No need, you can just pick it up.
Fortunately for me, I didn’t trust they would have it in stock so I brought my bag to the store. Of course, the suiter they had did not come close to fitting my bag. The sales rep’s explanation, "Oh you have an older model!" Had I listened to her, I would have had to make a trip back home only to find the suiter did not fit and come back to the store again. Unfortunately for me, they said they would have to have Tumi send one which would fit and it would take another week. I left the store with my original loaner. Back to square one, almost 8 weeks after my Tumi was sent in for repairs and still without my original carry-on.
Tumi, you’ve lost a fan and a life long customer. My next luggage purchase won’t be a Tumi. You can bet on that.
Hipmunk has put together a nice visual (with a touch of humor) highlighting the changes to baggage fees since the year 2000. I didn’t realize the IRS allowed baggage fee revenue to be tax free. It’s no wonder travelers are being gouged. Kudos to Southwest for not imposing baggage fees like the other airlines.
As a frequent traveler, I can immediately tell when I've been given a sub-standard room, especially when visiting the same location several weeks in a row. Rooms on the same floor with the same amenities can provide totally different experiences due to It's one of the primary reasons to get to know the receptionists who work the Monday morning & afternoon shift. They're really your only guarantee to getting a decent room week after week.
Some aspects of a poor room experience include small things like an alarm clock which doesn't work, lights which need replacing, a poorly working themostat, a sink which doesn't drain, a weak shower head, a broken phone, or a poor wireless signal. Now imagine if you could specify more than a "high floor", "extra pillows", or "king-size bed" when reserving your room. That's the aim of Room77, a start-up focused on guaranteeing a better room experience based on experiences from frequent travelers.
Mashable provides some background and insight into Room77:
Years ago, Brad Gerstner, now the founder of hotel-search startup Room 77, would maintain a running list of his favorite hotel rooms on his BlackBerry. Friends got wind of the list and started asking for copies, and Gerstner started thinking about the larger problem, a problem of information asymmetry: Hotel front desks have all the information on rooms, while the consumer has nothing.
It took years — and countless hours with Gerstner and friends walking through hotel hallways and gathering floor information — for the full Room 77 concept to materialize into a functional hotel room database and search engine. Today, travelers can turn to Room 77 to get the run-down on nearly half a million hotel rooms in 18 different cities.
Why might a traveler want access to this data? For starters, any frequent hotel visitor knows that each stay can vary drastically depending on room size, bed quality, balcony or view. Consumers often demand higher floors or rooms with views to circumvent bad experiences; but most often, guests are slotted into rooms as hotel clerks or computer algorithms see fit.
It's a great idea and hopefully it works out for Brad and Room 77 because we'll all benefit from a better room experience and perhaps spur hotels to do a better job of maintaining individual room experiences versus managing to an aggregate experience - perhaps by providing incentives to the maintenance folks to proactively resolve room issues.
Dear United Airlines,
Do you realize how terrible your United Express (aka Mesa Airlines) flights really are? I imagine the only reason frequent flyers submit to such a poor flight experience is because they want/need to keep their status. I flew United Express twice to check for a fluke, but it turns out the bad experience is consistent.
Pros:
- Direct flight
Cons:
- Seats indentions are permanent making the seats extremely uncomfortable and equivalent to sitting on a rock
- Seat backs are actually leaning forward; reclining them make turns them to a 90 degree angle
- Must check in bags no matter what even a 20' bag defeating the entire purpose of having a carry-on
- Retrieving bags after landing requires an totally inefficient process whereby baggage handlers bring up bags and folks are stuck in the walkway guessing if their bag has shown up
- Everything is old, disgusting, broken from seat belts to trays
- The plane rarely leaves on time and sits on the tarmac forever before unloading
It's really a shame how status has created such high switching costs, frequent flyers are willing to endure such poor conditions without so much as a peep. Southwest, you will be happy to know I am returning even though my Monday commute now has a connection after you took away the direct flight only because your competition is so terrible.
Had to rant. Happy Monday.