As many of you know I book award tickets for a living, and occasionally I share my more entertaining interactions here. 99% of my bookings are boring, while 1% of the time I run into an agent that just doesn’t get it… and it kind of brings to a smile to my face. They usually…
Continue reading: What does it take to convince a US Airways agent that you can go back in time?
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Hahahahaha! Great post. This sums up just about every experience I've ever had booking an award with US.
Wow it's hard to imagine anyone is that dumb, and then the people they pay to be supervisors is just as bad. Funny story though - at least funny since I didn't have to be the one dealing with the fool!
I'll be glad when I can just interact with the computer system itself...why do airlines still use agents and don't invest in a good AI reservation system that knows all the rules and understands complex requests? I just called Virgin Atlantic to book an award flight on Hawaiian and was given a booking code and told to call back in 24 hours. Why 24 hours when all is computerized I don't know, but I call back and all of a sudden none of the 20 flights between HON and OGG have available award space in any class. That can't be possible - if the first agent told me seats were available on at least 6 flights, they should not just disappear. Should I try again in a week or so?
WHat I love is the agents putting me on hold for 30 minutes to figure things out, and the advertisements telling me that I can just book my award on the web...
Where do they find these people, and how are their jobs secure in this economy? Of all the criticisms I read about UA ICC agents, failure to understand how time zones work is NOT one of them.
I believe this was the agent you spoke to:
http://www.yourememberthat.com/media/12461/SNL_Credit_Card_Commercial_Parody/
What I love is when they don't understand the phonetic alphabet. I had one agent who believed that "Québec" started with a "K".
Love it. I activated a credit card today and the guy kept trying to press the payment protection plan on me. He was clearly reading a script and wasn't listening each time I said "no." It's not his fault, it's just that so many call center jobs are really just people being told to read a screen because computer-generated speech isn't good enough yet. I love it when a company empowers its employees to think for a living.
I think most/many of your posts are pure drivel, but at least this one is funny. LOL.
This is why I pay you to find and book my award travel Lucky! You provide a great service and shield me from the pain. (Thanks as always...)
Good story!
US Airways agent: Where would you like to go?
Me: San Francisco to Hong Kong
US Airways agent: What city in Hong Kong?
You should have just told her you have a flux capacitor so time travel is easy.
Absolutely hilarious, Lucky!
And Mommy Points--Great call on the Doc Brown reference...if only I had a Delorean.
Lucky,
This is EXACTLY why there a business in booking award tickets. If everything was like calling American (which they too have some challenges)you'd probably have to 9-5 it like the rest of us 😉
Keep on doing what you do...
Hilarious!
I thought I was having a rough time last week when an agent was explaining to me that "Catania doesn't have an airport"...because she was spelling it with a "K"...and looking in Germany (since, clearly, Air Berlin must ONLY fly to Germany), but your story is MUCH better!!
I am so glad I'm not the only one! This EXACT thing happened to me. I'm at the point where I think I might just give up on US miles, crazy promotions notwithstanding. Dealing with the agents is just too stressful.
You'd think call center people would have some sense of the geography they need for their jobs. When I lived in New Mexico I'd regularly get statements like "We can't ship internationally." My favorite was a National Geographic call center that thought I needed to pay international subscription rates.
What a funny experience....and then you got her again when you called back.
I wish you really would have recorded the call (like I said -- it is easy with Google Voice)
hehe Permission to print this and hang it up in cubicle? (we supervise a call center)
The airlines have no reason to make booking award flights easy -- thus the lackluster websites and lackluster call centers. I have no hope that things will improve in the future, since there's no incentive for them to do so. Fortunately, we have Lucky to help us.
When on hold with an incompetent agent, make sure you call back on another line before you hang up the first line to ensure you don't get them again 🙂 When you hung up you put her next on the queue to pick up, and then in you come!
Just had this issue two days ago on the same ANA HND-LAX flight! These agents are simply clueless. This issue is independent from the fact that I had to explain that ANA was a *A partner...or that they can actually fly from HND and not NRT. Ugh.
Part of the the problem is the call center is based in Salem. How many people from there have traveled internationally or met some one from another country? Jersey? That is not in the UK, that is clearly in the US.
@Steve Kalman #27 I get that occasionally. I'm still holding out hope for Star Alliance Gold lounge access when flying to ABQ. Unfortunately, RCC guardians seem to have a better grasp of geography... rats! 😉
While I'm sorry you had to put up with it, I'm officially entertained. That's pretty funny stuff.
Very funny indeed ... the above reminds me of this exchange by Albert Brooks in "The Muse": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOVPGlTBknI&
Coins, I see that the USAir agents have you marked too! LOL.
The list:
Starwood
AA
USAir
I'm starting to get nervous for you as a blogger.
At least you get to vent by blogging. The rest of us have to suffer in silence when things like this happen to us.
This lady and the agents should be on UNDERCOVER BOSS on CBS!!!!
Yesterday they had a lady who was under trained, and walla the owner of this vacation chain is going to train those agents personally!
Heard a new one today,
"Sir, although you are paying the $150 change fee for Dividend Miles ticket, you can not change your flights from Asiana to United."
Me: "Why?"
Agent: Because we have already compensated Asiana for your ticket and there is no way for us to get our money back!!! Any changes you make have to be on Asiana only.
Me: Whaaaaatt?