Favorable experience with US Airways Customer Service

[NCMtnBoys]

Just got off the phone with US Airways. I had gone on their website to check to see if the fares for my flights for my Enchantment cruise in September had changed. While checking fares, I didn't happen to see the flight listed that I'm on, so I went to my confirmation and checked. Lo and behold, they'd changed my flight to a later one and I could either "accept" the changes or call their customer service line for more options. BTW, I never got an email or anything indicating there was a change. When would I have found out had I not checked?

 

I was not comfortable with the new flight they put me on. It got me into FLL at 12:02pm, day of cruise (Sat, Sep 5). In the past I never usually fly in the day of a cruise, but decided to this time since it's only from CLT and the original flight I booked got me there at 9:48am, day of cruise. I know people get in at noon and later for cruises, but I was concerned that with any delays or cancellations, it could be too close for comfort to make the cruise if the 12:02pm arrival didn't happen, as there were no other nonstop flights available that would get me there in time. There were other flights, but they all either changed in PHL or DCA - the complete wrong direction to get to FLL from CLT

 

So I called them. CSR answered and I explained the situation. I had done some homework ahead of time so that I knew what options *I* was ok with. I told her that I'd be willing to switch to a flight on Friday and pay for a hotel room out of pocket the night before, just to be sure that I was there for the cruise. All of the flights on Friday were more than I'd originally paid and the the two that would ultimately be the best were $30 more per person than I'd originally paid.

 

She put me on hold for a few minutes, then came back and said that she had gotten authorization to put me on a Friday flight, leaving at 7:50am....yada, yada, yada..."Hold on", I said. I told her we still had to work Friday but would be willing to leave work a little early, and we live 2 hours from the airport. I told her the 6:10pm or 8:15pm flights would work better for us and allow us to work most of the day and I once again reiterated that the change they had made really was uncomfortable for me. (Yes we have travel insurance, but if we missed the cruise, it'd either be cancelled and we'd get a refund, or maybe they'd fly us to meet the ship, but we would miss part of the cruise...and it's only a 5 day cruise).

 

She put me on hold again for more than 10 minutes, came back and said that they could not put me on the 6:10 or 8:15 flight, that the "fares were gone", but could put us on the 10:10pm flight Friday night, which is the last flight of the night to FLL from CLT on US. I told her I was not sure I was comfortable with that. She said I could arrive earlier and try and go standby on the two flights I wanted. I would usually avoid booking the last flight of the night if I could...there is no cushion if something goes wrong. What happens if THAT flight is cancelled...then we're stuck in the airport overnight and right back to square one with the flight the next morning that they originally wanted to put us on.

 

Moving up my negotiation ladder, I then asked her what the next available fare was on the 6:10 or 8:15 flight (at least I knew if there were delays or cancellations we had a cushion). I knew from seeing on the website that it was $30 more per person than what we'd paid for our original flights. She confirmed this amount, and also said there would be a $150 change fee per person. She told me to hang on again and she put me on hold. While I was on hold I decided that when she came back, if she said she had given me all my options, I was going to tell her that I'd agree to pay the $30 per person to switch to the flight I wanted, but would ask if they could waive the change fee. After all, it was THEIR change that prompted all of this, not mine.

 

She came back on the line and said she had talked to a different department and gotten authorization to put us on the 6:10pm Friday flight, she had confirmed our seats, went through all the flight information and restrictions and said "you're all set!".

 

I thanked her and told her I appreciated all she'd done. I figure it's all about negotiation, compromise, flexibility, etc. While I wasn't happy they made a change that, to me, was too close for my comfort and they hadn't notified me of the change, I was still willing to work with them, to an extent, to get it ironed out. I was flexible to change to another day and spend money for a hotel if they were flexible to make the change at a minimal cost. It didn't end up costing me anything with US. I did check my reservation online and all is set for the new flight I wanted.

 

I haven't flown US a lot. My carrier of choice USED to be WN when I lived in Sacramento. Now that I live in NC, the closest WN is to me is RDU (which I have driven there - 3.5 hours - to fly WN). But with CLT and GSO closer (even TRI is closer), I do comparison shop now.

[alidor]

I didn't read the entire thread but if US Air had a significant schedule change, there would be no charge to change to another flight if the one they changed you to wasn't satisfactory. They weren't doing you any favor but in typical US Air fashion, you had to deal and beg for them to do their job in the first place.