Dave Siciliano
Final Approach
I just made reservations for a 14 year-old-niece on a major and it was a nightmare. First tried on the internet and you can't book a minor on there, but the policy wasn't very clear; so, I called. It was nuts. Got some woman in India that couldn't explain things. She quoted one fare and when we went through all the gyrations: who's dropping her off (my niece), whose picking her up, whose paying for the ticket, etc. the final bill was $240 more than the reservation initially quoted. That wasn't acceptable!
So, I called customer service: another joke. Held for 20 minutes. Finally got someone that sounded like they knew what they were doing. She directed me to another reservations agent---in India. Well, guess what. Booked flights and when my niece showed up to get on the plane they wouldn't let her board!!
After a lot of haggling, they changed her flight. Seems if they are 11 or under, they must pay extra to be accompanied. At 12 to 17, one can opt to have them accompanied (which we wanted). If accompanied, they can't take the last flight of the day, but they booked the last flight even though I had explained this to them. One lady wanted to charge me an extra fee for each leg--stop enroute. It was nuts.
My niece finally had to leave at 6:20 A.M. in order to meet their requirements!!
I thought it was bad before--now I may get better service on Greyhound!!
Returning today, my Dad--who is 84, had to stand for two hours to get her to a gate agent and through security. They were going to miss the flight--he finally found a supervisor to get through security. They had to run all the way to the plane and they closed the doors after my niece boarded. Dad was exhausted.
Dave
So, I called customer service: another joke. Held for 20 minutes. Finally got someone that sounded like they knew what they were doing. She directed me to another reservations agent---in India. Well, guess what. Booked flights and when my niece showed up to get on the plane they wouldn't let her board!!
After a lot of haggling, they changed her flight. Seems if they are 11 or under, they must pay extra to be accompanied. At 12 to 17, one can opt to have them accompanied (which we wanted). If accompanied, they can't take the last flight of the day, but they booked the last flight even though I had explained this to them. One lady wanted to charge me an extra fee for each leg--stop enroute. It was nuts.
My niece finally had to leave at 6:20 A.M. in order to meet their requirements!!
I thought it was bad before--now I may get better service on Greyhound!!
Returning today, my Dad--who is 84, had to stand for two hours to get her to a gate agent and through security. They were going to miss the flight--he finally found a supervisor to get through security. They had to run all the way to the plane and they closed the doors after my niece boarded. Dad was exhausted.
Dave