Tag Archives: United

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DEPARTURES

It Has Been Rough With United, but I’m Staying For Now Because of Jeff Smisek

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By Lakshmi:

For many years now, our entire family has been loyal to the Continental brand, including the airline and their credit cards.  We have varying levels of elite status and now with the takeover, we have been forced to transfer our loyalties to United.  Like the multitude of customers who have cribbed and screamed about the integration woes, we felt the pain first hand.  Missed upgrades, special meals not showing up, reward errors, plane delays, we faced all this and more.  One weekend, my husband (A Platinum 1K) and I (Gold) decided that we were going to take advantage of some of the competing status matches to see if our loyalty would be better rewarded.

That was the weekend we were forced to be on the phone with United to resolve an award issue involving passengers on multiple itineraries.  Despite regular calls to the United 1K line, we got little in terms of service till we were close to pulling our hair out.  That’s when we found Jeannete Vasta.  Jeannette stayed on the phone, gave us tips, got each of the tickets sorted out and we did not realize till we bid adieu that she had stayed much past her shift end time to help us out.  We got amazing service and since Jeff Smisek had claimed to read customer emails, I decided to pen a note to applaud Jeannette.  The note outlined our ongoing frustrations post integration and how employees like Jeannette were key to keeping customers.  Within 30 minutes I got a response back….from the man himself.  Now, that is pretty impressive.  There is many a CEO who claims to be close to customers, but this one was proving it to me.  I had a new-found respect for Mr. Smisek and the challenges he was encountering.

Fast forward three months, and I had just spotted a promotion involving United’s credit card on their website.  If you spent $1,000 within a specified time, you would get 5,000 points.  My husband and I signed up and blogged about it as well.  Within a few days, the travel blogosphere was lighting up with complaints.  Some said United had withdrawn the offer.  We checked and for a few days, the offer was no longer there.  Then we heard that United had amended the terms and conditions sneakily to now limit the offer to those outside the US.  And sadly that was true.

Thus for the second time in three months, I penned a note to Jeff Smisek.  I told him about the journey.  I relayed how tactics like this were not helping me be loyal to brand United.  And I included screenshots of the old and new offers.  I was disappointed when I did not hear back within 30 minutes!  But, now I know why.  Mr. Smisek had delegated it for investigation and today I got a call on behalf of him.  They had read my complaint, they were apologetic and they were making amends and ensuring we got the promised points.    Less than eight hours later, United had delivered on its promise.

As someone who is passionate about customer engagement, I have to say I am very impressed with Mr. Smisek’s responsiveness.  And if a CEO can work towards this during turbulent times, I would like to believe that United has a chance to wow and delight.  So for now, thanks to Mr. Smisek, I’m staying.

DEALS

Earning/Redemption Opportunities at Carlson, Wyndham and Marriott

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By Lakshmi:

-  Club Carlson:  From now through September 30th,  Club Carlson is offering 10,000 bonus points for every two night stay at any of its properties in Asia Pacific.  Brands included under the Club Carlson umbrella include Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson®, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM, Park Inn by Radisson and Park Plaza® hotels.  To be eligible, you need to preregister at

https://www.clubcarlson.com/secure/offers/5246654?campaignUrl=10000points

Club Carlson brands in Asia Pacific have a special up to 30% off promotion rate as well.  Book the Hot Deals Offer and you can save up to 30% when you book by 9 September and stay a minimum of 2 consecutive nights by 30th November 2012. To check rates, click here:

http://www.radisson.com/hotdeals-asia

The discount stay can be combined with the bonus points offer to enable a “rewarding” experience.

- Club Carlson:  From August 1st through September 30th, Club Carlson offers members 50% discounts on award stays across 47 Radisson, Park Plaza and Park Inn hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa.  When you make a reservation, use the code 50REDEEM to take advantage of this promotion. To make a reservation, click here:

http://www.clubcarlson.com/

- Wyndham Rewards/United Mileage Plus:  If you belong to both Wyndham Rewards and United Mileage Plus, you can earn four times the miles after your second stay, if you book directly with Wyndham.  To register for this promotion, click here:

https://www.wyndhamrewards.com/trec/consumer/promoReg.action?promoCode=S12SUMMERunited&promoRuleCode=S12SUMMER

- Marriott: Register for Marriott Rewards MegaMiles. Start earning triple MileagePlus® award miles at more than 3,600 participating hotels worldwide beginning with your second stay now through October 31, 2012.  To register, click here:

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/promotion.mi?promotion=MMF2&stop_mobi=yes

DEPARTURES, EATS

Order a Special Meal on a Flight – Find Out You are Not Special!!!

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By Lakshmi:

All of us at Paupers are vegetarian.  Raised vegetarian and continue to be vegetarians by choice.  And since we are on airplanes a lot, we are well acclimated to the world of special meals….AVML (Asian Vegetarian Meal), HNML (Hindu Meal), FPML (Fruit Plate Meal), the codes are encoded in our brains.  And the airlines we have flown most frequently (Continental and now United) have educated us repeatedly on the method to the madness of requesting a special meal.  Request it at the time of reservation, confirm that it is in your record a week before departure and then confirm again 48 hours prior to departure.  This is a mantra we follow religiously.  So, why then have we had such terrible luck with our special meals?  We can’t answer that, but let me share our mishaps.

Our meals don’t arrive.  This has happened a multitude of times, and it is a real blessing (NOT) when it happens on a 15 hour non-stop!  You know this early on, since special meals are served first and if you don’t get your food in that round, then you know you are hosed.  So here’s how a conversation goes.

Me:  ”Excuse me, but we had ordered special meals for all of us.”

Flight Attendant (FA): “If you ordered a special meal, we would have served it.  Would you like chicken or beef?”

Me: “Sorry, we are vegetarians, so we can’t eat this.  Are you able to provide us with some salad or bread if there is no special meal?”

FA: “You know, you really need to order special meals ahead of time for it to make it.” Or we hear, “Can you show me if your boarding pass shows you ordered a special meal?” Or better yet, “This is all we have, do you want it?”

Me:  ”Yes, we did order it, we fly all the time and always order it.”

FA: Mumbling to another attendant, “It’s going to be a long flight.” Turning over to me, she goes, “Let me see if we can find some food for you after we have completed service.”

Me:  ”Thanks.  We appreciate your help.”

And the outcome?  We either never hear back or are served a few packs of pretzels or crackers.  On a rare occasion when we have had a really sensitive soul, the person has apologized for the error, brought us something like a salad and rolls and given us a customer service card to complain.

On the few occasions that we have got a vegetarian meal, it has been rarely lovely.  More often than not vegetarian seems to be equivalent to inedible….hard crackers or bread that you can’t sink your teeth into, grains that have an overpowering smell that it is hard to eat, and occasionally, a piece or two of fruit or veggies.

Now, this is in economy class.  Fast forward to my business class travels and yes, you’ve guessed the outcome.  There is plenty to cater to my every dietary whim and apologies are offered for me not having enough of a selection when I’ve eaten for two.

Complaining about our meals has never got us a response.  So while I continue to request special meals, viewing it now as a statistical game, we buy food and snacks to last us for the journey.  The kids have declared that they will not eat the food served.

Have you requested a special meal?  Have you had better luck?  We’d love to hear back.