Blog

So, another day – another airport.  (Surprised?)  I’m in the Amsterdam airport waiting for the flight from Amsterdam to Cologne.  I flew over on Northwest.  (I was finally able to get a free ticket from my mileage to work out on the dates that I needed!  Of course, I keep wondering if hell hath indeed frozen over.) 

I like Northwest airlines for the most part.  When I was in Detroit (because it was free, I think I saw the entirety of the free world), I was disappointed to see Northwest staff behaving badly, though.  (It wasn’t towards me, though.  I have to say that over all – for the most part I have had rather good results with Northwest).  Anyway, there was an Indian family who had some problems with their flight.  (And, I can empathize: as my last flight to France was one of the most horrible I’ve had since I stopped flying American Airlines.  And that was thanks to Continental and Air France.  Though, I finally found out that it was a fault of Continental’s ticketing side, which the rest of the airline is VERY QUICK to say – “Is a separate part of Continental.)  From what I gather, this family had been moved to stand by, and nobody could tell them why, AND nobody could do anything to rectify the situation.  (The family was made up of an older couple, their son and daughter-in-law and a child). 

I can attest to the fact that this situation is grueling.  Continental, because of weather, screwed up and changed my itinerary for my ENTIRE flight both going and coming.  Go figure.  I ended up flying on standby the entire way, even though I had paid for a full price ticket, AND I’m Gold Elite on Northwest, a Continental and Air France partner.  I can’t imagine going through that situation with a child in tow. 

Basically, the airline agents proceed to tell you the same thing the entire time.  “This doesn’t make any sense, and we aren’t sure why this happened, but there is nothing we can do to rectify it.  You will simply have to wait.”  Now, as someone who has been there… That is the WORST thing to say to the poor people who have no idea why they are paying the price for some ticket agent’s mistake.

I can see things getting tense, etc.  The sad part is that it boils down to service.  I try to fly American owned airlines as much as possible, but I can say that more often than not, the service is 100% better on foreign owned airlines.  They are usually a bit more expensive, but since American based airlines have taken on the nickel and dime tactics, it’s almost worth the extra $50 to fly another airline.  (You’d spend almost that much on food in the airport because lord knows, you won’t get any food ON the airplane.) 

Courtesy is another pet peeve of mine.  Airline employees act as though THEY are doing you a favor to get you on that flight.  Last I checked, we were paying for tickets to go on those flights.  You would never guess that from the reaction that most of them would give you.  One example of this is the supersonic passing of the buck in times like this.  “Sir, it’s the ticketing department’s mistake, so there is nothing we can do.  They are a separate entity.”  Granted, from our perspective – Continental is Continental.

I had a good experience once when coming back from Korea.  I wanted to return to the US 3 days early.  I called the Korean Air people who told me that the change would be possible with no fee.  They would simply take care of it the day of at the airport, etc.  I wrote down the name of the person I talked to, time, etc.  I got to the airport, and person checking me in said that they would have to collect a fee because there was something in my itinerary that the ticket agent had not accounted for.  I gave them the info of the person, time, etc.  They said (wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles), “Sir, we informed you incorrectly.  We won’t charge the change fee of $100.  We apologize for the confusion.”  She got the manager to come and endorse the materials, and I had my new reservation.  I was SHOCKED.  (That was on Korean Airlines.  I can recommend the service with 0 reservations.)

Traveling is becoming a more stressful endeavor, and it just seems as though Airlines are doing less and less to alleviate that stress.  In their efforts to increase their profit margins, they continue to sacrifice on service that would build customer loyalty.  (I was just informed today when I checked in that priority baggage handling was no longer a perk of Gold Elite membership on Northwest.)  For those of you who wonder at my pretension of my mileage elite status – When you are on a plane an insane amount, when you have to book international connections and go through customs/immigration, etc. – getting your bags a few minutes early can mean the difference in making or missing a connection.  Not to mention the fact that – if you are flying a specific airline enough to qualify for elite status, why shouldn’t they pay you back for the patronage?  (It’s not like you ever find the Mileage Award ticket you want to book on the dates you need them.)  I heard one guy complaining that he tried booking a ticket 9 months before he wanted to fly, and there were no mileage tickets available. 

So, why am I going to Germany? 

I’ve been invited to take part in a master class with Maestro Kurt Masur.  It is going to be held in conjunction with the BeethovenHaus in Bonn as well as in conjunction with the Beethoven Orchester.  There will be lectures given by professors who do research at the BeethovenHaus (as well as discussions/lectures given by Maestro Masur).  I was quite honored to be invited to take part in this, so I’m truly looking forward to the next few days.  The repertoire is comprised of Beethoven’s first and second symphonies, Leonore 3, and Beethoven 9, though the 9^th symphony is mostly for discussion purposes.

I’ll try to write more when I arrive in Bonn... After a LONG day of travel.