I know many of us have lost few things at the airport. We all have wished someone was nice enough to return those things back to us. So here is good news, well news about a good deed. Today at work, JFK airport, a passenger lost his wallet. In his wallet he had credit cards, his license, and NINE THOUSAND AND NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS. Yeah, I guess it’s an everyday thing for someone to travel with that much money. Anyways, the wallet was found but the passenger’s flight to Atlanta was leaving the ground as it was found. What to do, what to do? So the supervisor called the tower (that’s where all the technical stuff with the airplane happens from landing to taking off and talking to the pilot) and had the pilot come back to the gate. The plane finally came back and the wallet was given back to its rightful owner. I guess good people are still in this world and my thanks to all of them.

Let me make this clear before I get into the list. My professor emailed me a Yahoo news article. While I was reading it, I realized some of the things are true, but not all. So I will go one by one and try to explain as best as I can.

1. “Welcome to our crowded plane.” Explained how many times flights are over booked and just because you bought a ticket does not mean you will make that flight. Alright, so that is true. Let’s say an airplane has 50 seats. The airline sells about 60 seats, hoping that 10 passengers will not make the flight. Often that is true, so no harm done. But if all 60 passengers do show up, the gate makes an announcement about it and hope for passengers to volunteer to give up their seat. Yes, yes, I know horrible. But what the article didn’t mention is that those passengers do get some amount of money and sent to their destination either via connection or on the next flight. If none of the passengers volunteer, then we have a bit of a problem. The airline will deny boarding for some passengers and they are what we called in volunteer (INVOLS). Now once again, sorry for the inconvenience, but they get about $500 to $700 per person, depending on the airline, and sent to destination via connection or on the next flight. Hm, I didn’t read this on the article. Let’s move on.

2. “Your hard won air miles are probably worth less.” According to the article, many airlines are making it hard for the passengers to use their miles. Not true. You have to have certain amount of miles to get a free upgrade. Don’t expect to only have two thousand miles and expect to wine and dine on the plane because it will not happen. The more you earn the better your status, the better you get treated. Yes, sorry, it is how it is. I’m only saying things in simple terms. And this also goes for number 6. Like I have mentioned before in one of my earlier posts that using the sky miles card is like using a credit card. These days all we hear is earn points and get this. I’m sure we all know few tiny bits of points won’t get us ANYTHING!

3. “We’ll give you a good deal — if we can get something out of it.” The article mentioned that once you buy ticket from the airline itself, you might get better deals because airlines make out of it. Well I agree. Why wouldn’t the airline want that? Think of it this way, if you are a businessman selling cars, wouldn’t you want to make profit? Or would you rather have someone else sell it for you and you have to share your profit. It’s always better to buy it from the airlines. The reason for that is if you have any problems, we are able to fix it. I have had many passengers I couldn’t help because I don’t have Orbitz or Priceline system.

4. “We love adding fees.” Hidden fees the airline adds. For example, baggage fees or booking it too close to the travel date. I agree with this one. I have a post on how the baggage fees are added in and they might be raising the price once again. For one reason or another, I understand the fees applied if you book your flight too close to the date. It’s just not fair to the people who bought their ticket last year.

5. “Customer service isn’t always our top priority . . .” The article talked about flights being delayed or late. Well, I honestly cannot say anything about that. I’m the person on ground, not in the air. However, I do know that delays don’t just happen for the fun of it. Every time an airline is delayed, it has to pay certain amount of good money, PER MINUTE. So I’m sure the last thing airlines want that to be late.

6. I already covered this in number 2.

7. “Our planes can make travel uncomfortable – and costlier.” The article mentioned how seats are not very comfortable with of course no food and no entertainment. Hm, okay so how do I put this one in a nice way. Well, I agree that there are no more meals on the plane and I’m with the article 100%. However, I do know that JetBlue has a television on every seat with cable. No entertainment? Delta Airlines soon will have television on all flights. Now most of them don’t have television so I guess I understand where no entertainment came from. As for the seats, they are better and now have more leg space. If you want more space, go for the exit row seats.

8. “Even we don’t understand our pricing.” I don’t even understand what they were trying to say. In my words, international and domestic flights are two different things. Business class is for international, they are cozier and wider then first class. And the reason for that is because the flights are longer.

9 and 10. “We’re at the mercy of old technology.” “You’ll wait because the system’s broken.”
I agree with this one that many times the system crashes and the passengers end up paying for it. But once again, for every delay the airline pays for it. I don’t have much experience in that field because that goes into another part of the airlines. If it makes you feel any better, Federal Aviation Administration has made airlines pay for their wrong doings. They have also told couple of the airlines not to use the old airplanes. So YAY for planes with television!

Well there you have it. There are always two parts to every story. Airlines aren’t angles but they are not that bad either.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-34002773

After all the commotion about an armed man on the same flight as President Obama, I know that many of you aren’t feeling safe flying as well. I understand what you are thinking. If the President can have someone on the same flight with a gun, what are the chances of us having someone on the plane with a gun? Well let me answer that for you. There are people who check in guns but no one is allowed to carry it on. But yes, for whatever reason, somehow, someone is able to bring a gun on the plane, then what? Well don’t be scared. There is someone on the plane to protect us all. I’m not allowed to give more information but do know that when you fly, there is security with you, at all times. So enjoy.

Make sure you don’t have change or keys in your pocket. For guys, a belt will always beep, so that comes off. For girls, if you are wearing sterling silver jewelry, it will beep. So to make things easy, if you want to wear earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, try to keep those things in you hand or carry on and wear it after security or you will be sitting there for twenty minutes to take everything off and then put on again.

So after debating myself whether I should interview a frequent/first/business class passenger or a Supervisor from one of the airlines, I figured I should interview someone who travels more often and can give advice on traveling smart. I interviewed a passenger who now knows me by my name. But once again, no names will be mentioned here, so I will call him Mr. Doug.

Before you reached the status of frequent flyer/platinum (which is the highest frequent flyer status can get) were you treated any different?
Yes, I was, even when I first enrolled for frequent flyer, I was still treated like a normal passenger. You start getting the special treatment when you finally pass the frequent flyer and silver status. When you are gold, you do get some point, and when you are platinum, you better believe, airlines will go all out for you. And now they never say, you are late, go in a different line!

Why is that most of the frequent flyer don’t like to use the kiosk? What are your feelings about passengers using kiosks?
Well as you know, I mostly use the kiosk, I don’t feel or think that I am at all important and can’t do anything on my own. No. But like you said, many of the frequent flyers don’t like using the kiosks because they are so used to the old fashioned ways, going up to the agent and that was it. But they need to understand that technology has taken its place everywhere, including the airport, so HECK, why not. I don’t want to stand in line for 20 minutes for a boarding pass, I’ll do it on my own. And I’m sure you know this as well, that some of them are very snotty, thinking they are too good to do their own work.

Have you ever had a bad experience at the airport? And how did you manage to deal with the problem?
I actually don’t remember any bad experience. I mean yea when I started traveling through my company, I missed one of my flights, which made me miss my connection. It wasn’t the airline’s fault. I guess it was still bad because I was SUPER late for my meeting, but I managed. I am good like that. On serious note, the airline was very helpful and re-routed me to my destination. I guess traveling all this gives you so much experience nit just by going somewhere but experience at the airport itself.

Any advice for all types of travelers?
Travel light if you are going somewhere for few days. If you are going away for few months, try to carry only important stuff. Don’t over load on clothes. It’s easy to move around with less luggage. Always be prepared for anything that might come your way. Things are bound to happen. It might snow, rain, hail and your flight might be cancelled, with your whining and complaining, it’s not going to stop raining or anything but it will ruin your mood.

For my readers, can you describe first class, food and service?
Well no jet lag. Seats are very comfortable. None of those little crackers. Let me tell you, awesome food! I know before people used to say airplane food is sickening. But we get cheese, wine, any types of drink you want, snacks, fruits. You name it, we get it. I’m only traveling first/business class because my company pays for it. If I was traveling on my own, I wouldn’t, maybe once for the experience, but other than that, I wouldn’t. It’s very expensive. Travel first class if it doesn’t hurt your pocket.

If you have a relative coming to the U.S. from another country, please make sure you provide them with an address. It’s the law, they will not be able to exit the airport till they put their address on the customs form. Also, if you have someone traveling who does not speak English, write them little notes to help them out. Trust me, they do help a lot and they don’t have to be in English. We find someone to translate, so no worries.

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Spring break came and it was gone before we all realized it. I clearly remember the airport as a mini jungle the last few years during spring time. However, it seems like it was the total opposite this year. Where were all the European tourists that come to States and then fly to the Caribbean islands? In six hours we basically dealt with about 7,000 to 8,000 passengers and this year it was half of that. The agents were just sitting around and taking care of the few people who were still traveling and were very excited about it. The biggest group we got was about thirty students traveling to Orlando, woo-hoo?
On April 7th, we (all of the agents) stood around and talked how it was really boring since the summer rush hasn’t started yet. An agent who doesn’t want to disclose her name, who will be called Sara, has been working with the airline industry for twenty-five years said, “What do you expect, with all these charges, who the hell wants to travel?” said Sara, about forty-five.
It was about 4:30 a.m. on April 8th (and yes I am crazy enough to work at 4 a.m.) and finally the crowd started to come in. First flight going out at six o’clock was over booked, and all the passengers showed up for it. That wasn’t the only crowd I’m talking about, two flights going to the Dominican Republic were full. All of those Spanish-speaking passengers chattering away. For one second, my friend Annie and I looked at one another and wished we never hoped for the summer rush, what did we ask for. Annie was sitting next to me at the first class check in counter. I took all the passengers, trying to get them out as soon as possible and tried to explain the charges as well as I could. But that wasn’t going too well but I did what I had to do. With a sympathy smile on my face and sorry on my lips, what could have I done? It’s my job. With a smile on Annie’s face, she was stuck with one mean first class passenger. I looked over as her eyes pleaded for me to help her. Annie started the job in November and doesn’t have as much experience dealing with some jerks as some of the other agents. I took over for her and she took over my counter.

“Sir, I’m very sorry to tell you that you have missed your cut off time and will not be able to make it this flight. However, I will do my best to put you on the next flight to Miami,” I said. The look on his face was definitely not pleasant and I knew what was coming, two seconds later, “I don’t believe this, my flight is not leaving for another 30 minutes, I DON’T CARE, put me on that flight, I’m a platinum member, I fly with you guys all the time, and I’m sure you would like that to keep happening.” For business purposes, I cannot tell his name, so I will call him Mr. Jerk. Sadly, I couldn’t get him on the flight, but for some odd reason I was very satisfied that my supervisor didn’t change the time and allowed him on the flight. People like him try to get away with everything. If he was to act a little nice, not that he would’ve gotten on his original flight but he definitely wouldn’t have had to go through all the stress. We face about two hundred passengers like him. Regular passengers also act like that but for some weird reason, after getting mad they come to understand it was their fault that they have missed the flight but they love involving the supervisors (oh well, let them take all the anger).

As the day progressed, the rush calmed down. So did many of passengers anger. It was finally 8:30 and it was time for my break. But since we were short on agents, I had to stay back to deal with some more drama. I moved from my counter and went back to stand with Sara at the lobby. We both stood there greeting the passengers and telling them to use the kiosks. As we stood there, we saw all kind of people. Now I’m not here to judge, and I usually don’t but some people don’t know how to travel. Let me explain. A girl, about twenty years old walked in with high heels (what we call hooker boots) and a mini skirt with a jacket. Ok so explain, why wear a mini skirt when you have to wear a jacket? But other than looking like a bad runway show, Sara and I started talking about how the passengers’ load were so much higher last few years. Sara mentioned that the prices aren’t the only thing that has changed, many of the agents attitude has changed as well. They are not as nice or helpful as they used to be. Now they are more concerned just getting out of work and making money, nothing else. “The airline industry has changed drastically,” she said.

The day finally ended with laughs and jokes, bad runway show and dealing with many more Mr. Jerks. It’s an adventure working at the airport, you meet many different types of characters!