Customer Service

Whoa: American Airlines Is Treating Executive Platinum Members Like It’s 2007

February 26, 2021By Edward Pizzarello11 Comments

What a long, strange trip it’s been. American Airlines is treating some of their best customers like they did a long time ago. The airline industry has been through so much the past 20 years. I traveled a bit here and there for work in the 90s. I never really traveled enough to earn elite status until 2000, and then started chasing status in earnest in the wake of 9/11 as business travel returned. Leading up to 9/11 my father was a road warrior who traveled almost exclusively with TWA. […]

The Disaster That Was My Recent United Airlines Award Redemption Experience

July 10, 2019By Edward Pizzarello18 Comments

What should you do when 150,000 miles disappear from your United Airlines account? How about when an agent promises to return 65,000, only to have another 20,000 disappear? My solution was to spend 9 hours on the phone. None of it worked. Find out what did. Buckle in, this is a long one.

Another Video Of United Airlines Treating Customers Poorly

February 28, 2018By Edward Pizzarello8 Comments

How many videos of airline customer service employees acting poorly do we need before real service improvements? It seems we still haven’t hit that number.

Hotel Review: Park Hyatt Vienna, Part 2. Restaurants & Amenities

August 11, 2017By Edward Pizzarello1 Comment

Park Hyatt Vienna

Part 2 of my review of our stay at the Park Hyatt Vienna. Restaurants, bars, spa, pool and fitness center. Just an awesome property.

United Employee Cancels A Customer’s Airline Ticket Because He Videotaped Their Argument

May 9, 2017By Edward Pizzarello18 Comments

We’re past the point of shock when we see bad customer service by an airline employee, right? This is a unique story of a high-stress situation where the employee fails to perform. Who’s at fault?

My Wish List For The New United Airlines CEO

September 9, 2015By Edward Pizzarello12 Comments

Now that United has removed their CEO, it’s time for the airline to focus on improvements. But, where should they start?

Should The Airlines Be Regulated (Again)?

May 15, 2015By Edward Pizzarello3 Comments

Is it high-time to regulate the airline industry again? That’s what one voice is saying. Here’s why I think that’s wrong.

Radisson Rewards Program Changes May Be Positive For Members

It was just a couple of weeks ago that we learned the Radisson Rewards program would split in two. That might seem like an odd decision for a loyalty program. Ultimately, it didn’t have anything to do with customer preference or the like (it’s actually a regulatory issue). It’s notable (maybe only to me) that Radisson is one of the first hotel chains I have memories of. My father was a road warrior and used to book us at Radisson hotels for family vacations. This was back in the day […]

Targeted Awesome Offer, 1,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles For Each Night At Hyatt!

As we start to return to travel after what seems to be the worst of the pandemic, travel companies are starting to flex their ability to encourage customers to travel. Early on, though prices were low we didn’t see too many promotions. That was probably an indication that airlines and hotels didn’t think they could convince people to get out there and book a trip. We’ve actually seen fewer incentives than I would have expected so far. Low prices are certainly an incentive, but I don’t think that alone is […]

It’s Time To Stop Losing Sleep Over No-Notice Devaluations

Let’s cover the basics before the pitchforks come out. Plenty of time for those in a few minutes. But first, a few clarifying statements: At a high level, the miles and points you earn today will be worth less in the future. Airline and hotel loyalty programs will make changes to the value of those miles and points in a variety of ways. In many cases they will not provide notice. When programs change value without notice, you will frequently see bloggers and other members of the miles and points […]

Air Canada Launches Cool New Feature: Status Pass!

If you live in the United States and haven’t been paying attention to Air Canada, continue to do so at your own risk. Since the middle of last year, Air Canada has been announcing new components of a completely reimagined loyalty program under a familiar name, Aeroplan. While it’s certainly good news for Canadian residents, it’s also good news for US residents. When Air Canada announced the new program last year, there was plenty to be excited about. New status perks and new credit cards were really enticing. In two […]

United Cuts Deep On International Flights at Dulles

The pandemic has yielded plenty of unexpected decisions by airlines and hotel chains over the past year. Recent moves by United Airlines aren’t all that surprising in general, but the depth of the cuts did surprise me. It’s clear from these cuts that United doesn’t think international travel will come roaring back as more vaccines find their ways into people’s arms. United Cuts International Flights At Dulles Airport The Points Guy reported on a deep number of cuts on international flights at Dulles Airport. Dulles Airport, located outside of Washington, […]

I Flew Frontier, Saved $400 And Didn’t Die. My Frontier Airlines Review

Those low-cost carriers always have very appetizing fare sales. Who wouldn’t want to pay $20 to fly somewhere? But, what does $20 really buy you? I found out exactly what Frontier does (and doesn’t) offer customers on my first flight with them recently.

How To Use New Metro Silver Line To Get Between Dulles and Reagan National Airports

People talk about how bad the traffic is in places like Los Angeles with plenty of adjectives. And, it is quite bad. But, the traffic in DC is what I refer to as “stealthy bad”. It doesn’t get the same press that LA traffic does, but a trip that normally takes an hour can easily turn into a 3-hour ordeal. With visiting dignitaries, protests and construction as variables, weather can also wreak havoc on a system that consistently backs up during rush hour. For those of us that live in […]

Update: American Airlines Variable Choice Plus Pricing A Feature, Not A Bug

I have to admit, I was pretty pleased with the original announcement that American Airlines was creating bundled pricing that included change fees at a lower apparent cost. Things got a little better when American also announced they were expanding the timeframe you could request a same day change to your flight. And, then things started to get a bit screwy. It started with just one flight I couldn’t get to price right with Choice Plus as an add-on. But, then I did a bit more digging and found out […]

A Summary Of United Airlines Global Services Benefits

As travel has gotten more stressful the benefits of elite status are even more valuable. In some cases, what used to be free for everyone is now only free for those customers that fly most frequently. I value my American Airlines Executive Platinum status more highly than any status I’ve earned, including 1K service with United Airlines. However, Global Services is another matter. For those not aware, Global Services is an invitation-only status level that United bestows on their best customers. What defines a best customer? Well, United doesn’t list […]

Is Foursquare Dead?

Venture Beat doesn’t think so, and I’m not 100% sure they’re wrong. But, before I discuss the article, a little background on why someone allergic to social media like me became a Foursquare nut. A few years ago, a company called TopGuest came up with this concept where you could earn airline miles and hotel points for checking in at various places on Foursquare. I can’t say I thought it was a terribly good business model, but they convinced a bunch of hotel chains to hand out miles for this. […]