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Jul. 17th, 2005 12:17 amWhat a day. Yes, folks. I'm STILL in Vegas, in spite of our noon flight time (that's 3 pm EST).
We're flying Independence Air, and at first, it seemed great. Lots of leg room, big pretty blue leather chairs which are actually quite cushy and comfortable. Friendly, stripped down service, cheap tickets, and so forth. And a nifty in-flight entertainment system to boot.
But at this point, I can say that it really isn't all it's cracked up to be.
The first hint of trouble in paradise was on the second leg of our flight to Vegas. We got on the plane, and there were two people in our seats, and the seats of another couple. We were told it was because we had been rebooked a few months back -- but, given that part of their advertising shtick is that you get to choose your own seat, they should have informed us at that time that we would have to re-select our seats if we cared.
Anyhow, on this leg, we got to the airport early and had a nice brunch at the Prickly Pear Cafe — banana pecan waffles. Then we boarded our flight on time and were ready to go!
Or so we thought. We waited. And waited. About an hour after boarding, we were asked to deplane because of supposed computer problems. A visit from a technician would be necessary, they said. As we got off the plane, I heard a police officer say to a flight attendant, "We'll need statements from everyone who heard him say that." Others saw a man being escorted off the flight at that point, and interrogated at length. They claim that this was an entirely separate situation from the computer troubles they had cited. At this point, we still have no idea what was really going on...
In the meantime, I pulled out my computer and began researching our options. There WERE other airlines that could get us to our destination, but my mother soon discovered that Independence Air has no partner airlines. If we booked another flight standby, they would reimburse us for the value of the Las Vegas - Dulles (Washington DC) leg of our trip. If we got to Dulles, and our connecting flight (which they would NOT hold for us) had already left, they would try to get us a hotel but the hotels looked all booked up. A quick search on Travelocity made it clear that this was not the case — I don't know where they were getting their information.
Eventually, we re-boarded the plane, with the aim to take off as soon as the supposed technician finished fixing the computer. Time passed. The crowd got more and more upset, and it became clear that we were NOT going to make our connection. So, my mother hailed a flight attendant, who told us some astonishing things.
As it turns out, the women we'd spoken with are not employees of Independence Air. In fact, there are no IA employees at the Las Vegas airport at all. The closest actual IA employee is in San Diego, aside from the flight crew itself. The women we'd spoken with are employees of Swissair, a contractor which handles all on-the-ground interactions for IA in Las Vegas. As such, they have no authority to tell us anything about vouchers or such, unless they've spoken on the phone with a real IA employee. They had, but what they responded was in contrary to what we were told next:
IA as a policy does NOT put people up for the night, does not hold flights for late transfers, and as mentioned earlier, has no partners to which you can transfer. So, basically, you're screwed. Oh, but don't blame us — we're just contractors and have no authority to arrange exceptions. (For the record, I don't blame the contractors — it really isn't their fault, for the most part.)
I'd guess that it was two hours after reboarding that they finally deigned to distribute some free soda and bottled water. And about three hours after reboarding, after multiple passengers had all but demanded to be let off the plane, we were told that we could deplane. Not long after we did so, they announced that our flight attendants were at the end of the maximum length shift, and legally had to get an 8 hour rest before they could fly again. So, the flight would be delayed until 1 a.m. Since there were no IA vouchers at the airport, we'd have to go buy ourselves dinner/entertain ourselves for the next eight hours, and keep the receipts; IA would reimburse us for up to $29 per passenger if we sent them those receipts. When this announcement was made, three officers were sitting at their apparent leisure, supposedly for no reason. Who knows if they were there in case we got ugly at the airline folk, or for reasons related to earlier events.
My mother spoke with them as soon as she got off the plane. She was in line right after some other passengers destined for Buffalo, who were not told that they needed to re-ticket to get there (my mother would have said something if she had thought of it at the time...). We switched our flight to a 12:10 a.m. in the hopes of catching the 8:30 a.m. connecting flight to Buffalo, and were told that we had to go retrieve our baggage from the claim area, lug it back to the ticket desk, and re-check it.
So, we stashed our carry-on in a pay-per-hour locker, retrieved our luggage, and re-checked it. There were more confusing conversations with the Swissair employees and a phone call with IA which got my mother on the phone with some Reservations supervisor, who really couldn't help us anyway.
After going back through security, we had a long, leisurely dinner. We stopped at a Brookstone on the way back to the gate, where my mother bought one of those donut shoulder pillows with a twist. This one vibrates, massaging your neck and shoulders. She is much happier now.
Meanwhile, it looks like the 12:10 a.m. flight is going to be leaving much later due to weather problems from its previous leg, which means we won't make the 8:30 a.m. flight. In fact, the next connection won't be until 12:45 p.m. That means our seven hour trip is being transformed into a 23 hour trip. We'll get home to Hamilton around 4 p.m. barring any further delays or traffic.
What would have satisfied me and my mother? First, a straight answer from the start. It feels like they kept us on the plane just long enough to ensure that we wouldn't be able to switch to another airline. Second, an agent on the ground who has physical vouchers for incidents like this (which do happen!) and the authority to distribute them. Third, there is NO good reason for them to keep us sitting on the plane for three hours. They knew at least an hour before they let us off that we would have to deplane and wait it out; they should have let us off then. And finally, the ideal in customer service: either a no-cost-to-us transfer to a flight on another airline that WOULD get us where were were going, or a guarantee to reimburse us if we chose to get a hotel tonight here in Vegas and try again tomorrow. I wouldn't mind taking a different flight if we could just get a good night's rest!
I find this all to be a fascinating study in old meets new. Back in the day of the huge mega airline, when something went wrong, they took care of you. Now we have these smaller airlines which are struggling to survive. Customers expect the customer service of old, comfortable and spacious seating, and cheap tickets. My guess, however, is that in the "new" economy it isn't possible for them to provide all of that.
I don't know what's going to happen next. I guess I'm just glad I have so much opportunity for entertainment. The WiFi in this airport is free. I have my laptop and the internet, I have the DVDs I brought with me to watch, my iPod, and some books. Huzzah.
Needless to say, I won't be making an appearance at TT or FN today (Sunday). More likely, I'll go home, have dinner, and pass out. It may take me that long to sleep off the jet lag.
We're flying Independence Air, and at first, it seemed great. Lots of leg room, big pretty blue leather chairs which are actually quite cushy and comfortable. Friendly, stripped down service, cheap tickets, and so forth. And a nifty in-flight entertainment system to boot.
But at this point, I can say that it really isn't all it's cracked up to be.
The first hint of trouble in paradise was on the second leg of our flight to Vegas. We got on the plane, and there were two people in our seats, and the seats of another couple. We were told it was because we had been rebooked a few months back -- but, given that part of their advertising shtick is that you get to choose your own seat, they should have informed us at that time that we would have to re-select our seats if we cared.
Anyhow, on this leg, we got to the airport early and had a nice brunch at the Prickly Pear Cafe — banana pecan waffles. Then we boarded our flight on time and were ready to go!
Or so we thought. We waited. And waited. About an hour after boarding, we were asked to deplane because of supposed computer problems. A visit from a technician would be necessary, they said. As we got off the plane, I heard a police officer say to a flight attendant, "We'll need statements from everyone who heard him say that." Others saw a man being escorted off the flight at that point, and interrogated at length. They claim that this was an entirely separate situation from the computer troubles they had cited. At this point, we still have no idea what was really going on...
In the meantime, I pulled out my computer and began researching our options. There WERE other airlines that could get us to our destination, but my mother soon discovered that Independence Air has no partner airlines. If we booked another flight standby, they would reimburse us for the value of the Las Vegas - Dulles (Washington DC) leg of our trip. If we got to Dulles, and our connecting flight (which they would NOT hold for us) had already left, they would try to get us a hotel but the hotels looked all booked up. A quick search on Travelocity made it clear that this was not the case — I don't know where they were getting their information.
Eventually, we re-boarded the plane, with the aim to take off as soon as the supposed technician finished fixing the computer. Time passed. The crowd got more and more upset, and it became clear that we were NOT going to make our connection. So, my mother hailed a flight attendant, who told us some astonishing things.
As it turns out, the women we'd spoken with are not employees of Independence Air. In fact, there are no IA employees at the Las Vegas airport at all. The closest actual IA employee is in San Diego, aside from the flight crew itself. The women we'd spoken with are employees of Swissair, a contractor which handles all on-the-ground interactions for IA in Las Vegas. As such, they have no authority to tell us anything about vouchers or such, unless they've spoken on the phone with a real IA employee. They had, but what they responded was in contrary to what we were told next:
IA as a policy does NOT put people up for the night, does not hold flights for late transfers, and as mentioned earlier, has no partners to which you can transfer. So, basically, you're screwed. Oh, but don't blame us — we're just contractors and have no authority to arrange exceptions. (For the record, I don't blame the contractors — it really isn't their fault, for the most part.)
I'd guess that it was two hours after reboarding that they finally deigned to distribute some free soda and bottled water. And about three hours after reboarding, after multiple passengers had all but demanded to be let off the plane, we were told that we could deplane. Not long after we did so, they announced that our flight attendants were at the end of the maximum length shift, and legally had to get an 8 hour rest before they could fly again. So, the flight would be delayed until 1 a.m. Since there were no IA vouchers at the airport, we'd have to go buy ourselves dinner/entertain ourselves for the next eight hours, and keep the receipts; IA would reimburse us for up to $29 per passenger if we sent them those receipts. When this announcement was made, three officers were sitting at their apparent leisure, supposedly for no reason. Who knows if they were there in case we got ugly at the airline folk, or for reasons related to earlier events.
My mother spoke with them as soon as she got off the plane. She was in line right after some other passengers destined for Buffalo, who were not told that they needed to re-ticket to get there (my mother would have said something if she had thought of it at the time...). We switched our flight to a 12:10 a.m. in the hopes of catching the 8:30 a.m. connecting flight to Buffalo, and were told that we had to go retrieve our baggage from the claim area, lug it back to the ticket desk, and re-check it.
So, we stashed our carry-on in a pay-per-hour locker, retrieved our luggage, and re-checked it. There were more confusing conversations with the Swissair employees and a phone call with IA which got my mother on the phone with some Reservations supervisor, who really couldn't help us anyway.
After going back through security, we had a long, leisurely dinner. We stopped at a Brookstone on the way back to the gate, where my mother bought one of those donut shoulder pillows with a twist. This one vibrates, massaging your neck and shoulders. She is much happier now.
Meanwhile, it looks like the 12:10 a.m. flight is going to be leaving much later due to weather problems from its previous leg, which means we won't make the 8:30 a.m. flight. In fact, the next connection won't be until 12:45 p.m. That means our seven hour trip is being transformed into a 23 hour trip. We'll get home to Hamilton around 4 p.m. barring any further delays or traffic.
What would have satisfied me and my mother? First, a straight answer from the start. It feels like they kept us on the plane just long enough to ensure that we wouldn't be able to switch to another airline. Second, an agent on the ground who has physical vouchers for incidents like this (which do happen!) and the authority to distribute them. Third, there is NO good reason for them to keep us sitting on the plane for three hours. They knew at least an hour before they let us off that we would have to deplane and wait it out; they should have let us off then. And finally, the ideal in customer service: either a no-cost-to-us transfer to a flight on another airline that WOULD get us where were were going, or a guarantee to reimburse us if we chose to get a hotel tonight here in Vegas and try again tomorrow. I wouldn't mind taking a different flight if we could just get a good night's rest!
I find this all to be a fascinating study in old meets new. Back in the day of the huge mega airline, when something went wrong, they took care of you. Now we have these smaller airlines which are struggling to survive. Customers expect the customer service of old, comfortable and spacious seating, and cheap tickets. My guess, however, is that in the "new" economy it isn't possible for them to provide all of that.
I don't know what's going to happen next. I guess I'm just glad I have so much opportunity for entertainment. The WiFi in this airport is free. I have my laptop and the internet, I have the DVDs I brought with me to watch, my iPod, and some books. Huzzah.
Needless to say, I won't be making an appearance at TT or FN today (Sunday). More likely, I'll go home, have dinner, and pass out. It may take me that long to sleep off the jet lag.
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