Tuesday, July 05, 2005

I’ve been back a few days now from the IABC International Conference in Washington, D.C., and am recovered enough to tell the tale.

Our flight out of Dulles was due to depart at 9 p.m., but a number of things indicated that wasn’t likely. Despite the “On Time” reference at our departure gate, several other flights were delayed and a couple had canceled. The lightning flashes were getting closer to the airport. And, sure enough, by 9 p.m. there was a 20-minute delay. By the time we actually flew out of Dulles, that had turned into a 5-1/2-hour delay. We were supposed to land in Oakland, CA at around 11:40 p.m. By the time we actually got home, it was daylight. The newspaper had already arrived. If I had gone to sleep in my own bed the night before, I would already have been up and working.

But it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, thanks to JetBlue. What did they do that other airlines can’t figure out? Here’s a list:

• Frequent updates—The gate agents kept us notified about what was going on. Even when they didn’t have anything new to report, they got on the PA and said, “We don’t have anything new to report. Your plane, which was diverted to Pittsburgh for fuel, is still on the ground in Pittsburgh.”
• Lending comfort—When it was clear the delay was going to stretch out, the gate agents went down the jetway and retrieved pillows and blankets and began handing them out. A while later, they brought up drinks and snacks that had been destined for the flight.
• Compensation—This was a weather delay, pure and simple, and JetBlue didn’t have to do a think to make it up to anybody. Act of God, right? Instead, they gave everyone on the flight a free one-way trip.

Add to that the general good nature of the gate agents and other staff on hand, and it added up to being a lot more tolerable than delays I’ve had with other airlines (not to name names, but they begin with a “U”).

Of course, not everybody is going to be happy with a delay, particularly the clueless summer travelers. At one point, just after the flight finally arrived from its unexpected stop in Pittsburgh, the gate agent had to inform us the crew that had been on the plane was too tired to fly back across the country and we’d have to wait for a fresh crew. (Not the pilots, mind you; we had fresh pilots waiting to board with the rest of us at Dulles.) Behind me, I heard a passenger say, “We don’t need a crew. We can get our own drinks. Something else must be going on.” Clueless summer travelers apparently don’t know that flight crews are primarily there for safety, not service.

Despite these few instances of dissatisfaction, most everybody was patient and relaxed. That’s due mostly to JetBlue’s approach to the situation, which is easy to sum up: Customer-focused. As the big airlines continue to struggle, you’d think they’d figure this out.

Posted by Shel in • Planes
(4) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Sunday, June 19, 2005

I was in two hotels last week—a Marriott in San Antonio and a Doubletree Guest Suites in New York—and they both screwed up in exactly the same way. And it isn’t the first time.

When I do workshops for Ragan Communications, Ragan books the room for me as well as the meeting room. My room is always paid for on the master account, leaving me to pay only for incidentals. Yet in both cases, the folks at the front desk had no knowledge of this. I know for a fact the arrangements had been made in advance, but somehow hotels have a hard time processing this particular kind of information. The Marriott couldn’t even get it right after my contact at Ragan called and corrected the problem. Then, when it was supposed to be fixed, I went to check out, only to find they were still charging my credit card for the entire amount.

Of course, it’s no big deal from a financial point of view; I would just bill Ragan the cost of the room and recover my expense. But that’s hardly the point. These hotels—Marriott and Doubletree (a Hilton property)—are big businesses with sophisticated systems. Why in the world can’t they get this one arrangement right?

Posted by Shel in • Hotels
(1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

I travel enough that I’ve gotten into a groove when I check out of a hotel room. I check everything, everywhere, to make sure I’m leaving nothing behind. But a couple weeks ago, when I was in DC, I blew it. I neglected to check the shelf in the closet and I walked out leaving a pair of shoes behind. I like these shoes. They’re comfortable—my favorite shoes for delivering a day-long workshop. They look good. They’re almost burgundy and almost brown, which makes them distinct without being daring. But at the end of the day, they’re just a pair of shoes.

On his first album, Elvis Costello sang, “I won’t get any older ‘cause the angels wanna wear my red shoes.” Well, somebody at Sofitel must like my burgundy/brown shoes, because they won’t give them back.

I’ve called twice. The first tiime was two days after I checked out. I got the front desk. I explained that I had left a pair of shoes behind and I gave the front desk clerk my room number. “I’ll call you right back,” she said. I waited by the phone. I checked voice mail later. Nothing. So, a few days later, I called again. Again, I got a front desk clerk, a guy this time. I told my story over again. “Let me connect you with housekeeping, they handle lost and found,” he said. “Leave a message with your number, they’ll call you back.” That was about five days ago. Nothing.

Man, those must be some shoes. Maybe I didn’t know what I had. Other, that is, with an experience that’ll keep me from ever checking into a Sofitel again. Maybe I’ll give it one more shot. Third time’s the charm, right? In the meantime, I’m redoubling my effort to check everywhere before I check out.

Posted by Shel in • Hotels
(0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Monday, June 13, 2005

I landed at Denver International on a flight from Oakland yesterday and was delighted to find my connecting flight at the very next gate. If you’ve been to the United terminal at Denver, you know you can walk for what seems like miles to get to a connecting gate. Facing no long walk, I thought it would be nice to sit for a bit. There were, however, no open chairs.

There were plenty of chairs not occupied by human beings. But nearly each traveller had put his or her suitcase or briefcase in the seat beside them. And as I stood there obviously looking for a place to sit, not one person offered to move their suitcase to the floor so I might get off my feet.

Does a suitcase need a chair? Is it more comfortable for a briefcase to be seated than it is to rest on the floor? Or are so many travellers so self-centered that they just don’t give a flying rat’s ass about their fellow travellers? I beg you: Keep your bags off the chairs at the gate so other passengers have a place to sit.

Posted by Shel in • Airports
(3) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

The news from the world of travel has been grim. Forecasts of record numbers of travelers coupled with predictions of unstable weather have me cringing whenever I so much as think about one of my upcoming trips. It’s a good thing I don’t believe in signs and portents. If I did, there’d be no consoling me after the trip I took the early part of this week.

I was on a United codeshare flight on USAir from San Francisco International to Buffalo, NY, through Philadelphia. The flight to Philly landed on time, and I had a leisurely couple hours before my 7:30 p.m. flight to Buffalo. The weather outside didn’t look promising, and as it turns out, it was worse in Hartford. Our plane to Buffalo was coming in from Hartford. The delay wound up lasting five hours; our 7:30 p.m. flight left after midnight. Five hours isn’t too bad in many instances, but in this case, it was the difference between a full night’s sleep and three hours’ sleep.

Returning to SFO the next day, I was on United through Chicago. The flight to Chicago was delayed because the plane was still at O’Hare from which dire reports of the weather were emanating. The ticket agent switched me to a Dulles flight, leaving me about 45 minutes to connect to the SFO flight out of DC. Of course, the flight to Dulles was late arriving in Buffalo, but the pilot was routed into Dulles via a shortcut I’ve never seen before, and I was able to make my flight back home, which actually arrived 15 minutes early and half an hour ahead of the scheduled arrival of my original flight from O’Hare.

None of my flights were packed to the gills, especially not with families—at least, not yet. But we’re only weeks away from the start of summer vacation and planes full of clueless, inexperienced travelers. Add that to the inevitable delays we’re facing and it’s not looking good. And of course, I’ll be on the road more this summer than I have in the last four.

I’m not optimistic. I won’t sweat it either. What can you do?

Posted by Shel in • Planes
(1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Monday, June 06, 2005

My flight to Buffalo from Philadelphia is delayed an hour (weather), so as long as I’m sitting at the gate with time to kill, I thought I’d jot a note about an experience at SFO this morning.

Remember the PC-AT? The predecessor of the 286 processor? I think US Airways is using them with their automated flight check-in machines.

I arrived at San Francisco International this morning for my flight to Buffalo, NY, via Philadelphia. The only check-in option was the automated terminal, so I inserted my credit card and followed the prompts. I selected my seats, confirmed everything, then waited while the machine said it was printing my documents. As promised, two documents printed. I grabbed them and the terminal returned to log-in mode.

I made my way to security, stood in line, then finally got up to the person who checks boarding passes and IDs. I gave her my driver’s license and the document I had retrieved from the machine. “Where’s your boarding pass?” she asked after looking at it.

“That’s my boarding pass,” I replied. She shook her head. “You’ll have to go back to the ticket agent and get a boarding pass.”

So I turned around and headed back to the ticketing area. It turns out that what had printed were two itineraries for the passenger who had used the machine before me. My boarding passes printed after I had left; they were waiting with a ticket agent. “But these printed out just when they were supposed to,” I informed him. “It said ‘documents printing’ and these came out, then the terminal returned to the login screen.”

The ticket agent nodded knowingly. “Yeah, the computers are running a little slow today,” he said.

Slow? Glaciers move faster than that!

Posted by Shel in • Planes
(0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

I’m staying at the Hotel Sofitel at Lafayette Square in downtown Washington, DC. Sofitel isn’t one of my regular hotels, and I’m impressed with the room. It’s spacious. The furniture is comfortable and new. The lighting is terrific. The hotel touts its beds, which include feather beds and a “plump duvet.” There is ample closet space, plenty of AC outlets (a serious drawback at many hotels), and separate bathtub and shower in the bathroom. The minibar is automated; if you take an item, it’s automatically recorded and added to your bill.

I would trade it all—all of it, I tell you—for a coffee maker and a full-size ironing board.

I consider these two items—along with high-speed Internet access—essentials for business travelers. I’d take shoddy furniture, limited AC outlets (I carry a power strip with me wherever I go), a lumpy bed, a shower-tub combination (or no tub at all), and crummy flourescent lighting as long as I could make a pot of coffee when I wake up and iron my clothes.

Here at this upscale Sofitel, there is no coffee maker and only a table-top ironing board, which is tantamount to no ironing board at all. If you’ve never experienced the joy of a table-top ironing board, imagine the board sliding around on top of the desk while you’re trying to iron while you’re unable to slide a pair of slacks all the way up the length of the board.

For all the money Sofitel obviously invested in these rooms, you have to wonder what led them to omit these two indispensable items.

Posted by Shel in • Hotels
(3) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

My seat on the JetBlue flight to DC this morning was 3A. that puts me in the very last boarding group, which usually means the airline is going to have to check my bag because all the overhad space will be gone by the time I get on board. And this was a pretty full flight.

I get on board and notice that all the overhead doors are closed in the front part of the plane, even though nobody in the first five rows had taken their seats yet. So I ask the flight attendant: “Those are already all full?”

“No,” she said. “I close the doors so people sitting in the back won’t put their bags up there. I want them to be available to people sitting in the front of the plane.” So even though I was one of the last 20 or so people to board, there was plenty of room for my carry-on. That absolutely rocks.

Posted by Shel in • Planes
(1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

I’m flying JetBlue today for the second time. The first time was also a round-trip from Oakland to DC. The first time was fine, although I never actually watched any of the television that so many people find to be one of JetBlue’s best, most innovative features. Anyway, I’ll report from the road.

Posted by Shel in • General
(0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Monday, May 30, 2005

I was sitting at the San Antonio airport, getting the last installment of “For Immediate Release” edited and uploaded. It was easy, since San Antonio’s airport has WiFi access at one of its food courts. It cost $9.95 to tap into the WiFi network for one day. That’s steep, since I pay $30 (three day’s worth) for a month of access through T*Mobile. But when you have no other choice, you just pony up the payment and do your work.

I made my connection at Los Angeles International Airport, and needed to get online again. My day’s worth of access through Never2Late, “a member of the Airpath Provicer Alliance,” didn’t help, since LAX is affiliated with Bongo, a completely different provider. I would have had to pay another $9.95.

This situation is no surprise to frequent business travelers. Familiarity certainly breeds contempt, though. Since I don’t believe the WiFi providers are involved in a massive conspiracy to bilk travelers, I have to believe it’s just a case of massive stupidity in the marketplace. Not too many people are familiar with the National Exchange Carriers Association (NECA). I only know of them because I’ve done some consulting work for them. This group administers the payments long-distance telephone carriers make to use local telephone companies’ networks. That’s why you can make a long-distance call and only get billed by your provider, even though your call went over some other local company’s lines.

Why can’t the WiFi industry figure out a way to do something like this? The balkanized nonsense of paying whatever company happens to be servicing the airport or hotel you happen to be in is getting ridiculous, particularly when you wind up in two airports and a hotel in the same day.

Posted by Shel in • General
(0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

I’m sitting in a Courtyard by Marriott in San Antonio. Second night here. My daughter dropped me off at the BART station on Tuesday morning. I took BART from the Concord station to MacArthur, transferred to the Fremont line, got off at the Oakland Coliseum station and caught the AirBART bus to Oakland International. Took a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Vegas, connection on a Vegas-San Antonio flight. The cab driver didn’t know where the hotel was. The hotel took my driver’s license to make a copy for identification purposes and neglected to give it back. This morning’s cab driver was pissed off that I only wanted to go a mile to my client’s offices.

And this is a goodtrip.

So I’m thinking about this, and about the miserable travel experiences I had last week (Tuesday to New Orleans, Wednesday to Ottawa, Thursday to New York, Friday back home) and wishing for the umpteenth time that I had a blog where I could talk about it. I don’t really care if anybody reads it; I just need an outlet for the next travel-related aggravation to arise (and it will arise, sooner rather than later). And sitting here in my hotel room in San Antonio, I finally decided to stop wishing I had it and just create it.

So here it is.

If you want to feel better about being stuck in the same city and never getting to travel for business, this is the blog for you. It’ll make you feel better. As the tagline says, if you wish you could travel more for work, be very careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

Posted by Shel in • General
(8) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink