As consumers, we’re bombarded with emails and push notifications from companies requesting feedback. Whether it’s a pizza order, an Uber ride, a flight, a hotel stay, or a phone call with a customer service representative, the requests for feedback are endless.
Continue reading: Post-Flight Airline Surveys: Why They’re Typically Worth Filling Out
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Strangely I've never gotten one of those (and I get a fair number) when things turned into a self induced airline cluster. Also at least for AA there are useless questions like did the "gate agent smile?" I certainly can't remember so I just mark yes.
Recently on a regional Qatar flight, I've seen how a flight attendant came by and gave surveys only to the twelve people in the extra legroom seats. No wonder Qatar Airways is the #1 airline in Economy 🙂
I never skip these surveys. If a U.S. carrier asks for feedback, I take the opportunity to lay out exactly how disappointing and substandard their flight attendant service is.
"Companies will frequently throw out the most “extreme” responses, both positive and negative, which really eliminates much of the feedback"
Removing outliers (especially big ones) is commonly (almost always) done for statistical reasons, because they tend to skew the results.
The hard-copy surveys I've gotten have been exclusively on board long-haul first class flights, and I've received them on Lufthansa, United, and Singapore. They are pretty substantial and quite long, and can take up to 30 minutes to fill out. Because the lead f/a is the one who distributes these, they have a lot of discretion as to whom receives them, and I suspect that they're given to those pax who appear to have appreciated the inflight service the most, but I can't prove it.
LH especially has emphasized to me the importance of customer feedback with these surveys.
The dilemma: sometimes I want to tell an airline that I had a mediocre or negative experience but I don't want to get some poor schmo in trouble. Like, even if an FA was kinda rude I don't want to get them called on the carpet. And that's what happen with NPS. If you don't report an absolute five star experience, it's treated as a disaster.
You should always complain about anything good in these surveys.
That way airlines don't need to lie when they take away benefits based on customer feedbacks.
My standard are pretty high. I pay an enormous amount of money for air travel. I expect a clean airplane and a reasonable experience. To me, those are all solid average or 3 on a scale of 1 - 5.
Broken IFE, non-functioning wifi, a half-eaten sandwich in the seat pocket or an awful crew is a 1. Pretty hard in US domestic travel to get above a 3 on my scale.
I keep them brief, and mostly positive (thanking individuals). The surveys are never random and can ultimately be sourced back to you, especially if sent to your email, using your frequent flyer account, etc. So, if a conflict ever got bad, what you say can and will be used against you.
I always fill out the ones from AA, because I want them to know how much they suck and that despite living in Dallas and being lifetime Platinum, unless I can pay with miles I look for any other competitor to fly.
For a year, I filled out the Delta surveys almost exclusively with one message – when an airplane's wifi is inoperable, passengers should be made aware ahead of time so they can plan accordingly (let their bosses know they'll be offline, end conversations they may expect to continue in the air, etc.). Then, one day, they started doing exactly this. Probably a coincidence, but...maybe not?
I had an outstanding Alaska flight a couple months ago in PE and wrote a praising note naming the names of my SFO based crew. To my delight and surprise I had 2 of the same crew a week ago and they remembered my note and I was upgraded to F after the door closed. How cool is THAT ???
Sometimes do and sometimes don't. Usually, I don't BECAUSE instead of asking for what you want to say, positive or negative, you are forced to answer a large number of questions that, at least to me, are irrelevant. If you don't answer ALL these questions, you are unable to submit the survey.
I I want to write something positive about someone who did a great job, I also (like Lucky) send an email to the airline if possible (on UA, there is a certain email to use, which the going-to-be-praised employee will gladly give you.)
Lucky, maybe you could provide a list of airline emails that we could use to send in positive remarks?
In the minimum at least they are asking. So many companies don't care what you think.
As mentioned in a previous post, CEO's and upper management should be using their own products as consumers, even under cover so they have a real experience.
Which airlines would you specifically provide the surveys for and what about hotels?