I may be what some call young, or what old timers in my neck of the woods call a “young’in”, but man has travel these days has change changed. Our modern day society has become one of convenience and demand that they get their way. It used to be so easy to travel to places. And I am not just talking about the extra security. I have no problems with that. I am sure even back before I was born that individuals acted like the south end of a mule. Despite medical advances, we have not been able to breed this particular trait out of the gene pool. That and drama queens. These idiots are the ones that make travel by air so difficult.
During the Ides of March (March 15 for those who have no sense of history), I had the honor and privilege of traveling to the state of Connecticut to present at their 2012 conference. This obviously required air travel, as I would not want to take on a distance of this magnitude alone in a car (simply due to boredom and the fact I don’t have satellite radio in my truck). Over the past year, our area and United Airlines gave into the demands of society and established air service out of Hobbs, NM. This is pretty awesome because it only involves a 15 minute drive from my front door to the airport. I flew out of this airport in February, and I must say, I grew intoxicated by the mere convenience of it.
Anyway, my particular flight left at 6:45 am and connected in Houston. From there, I would be on a 3.5 hour flight in a packed 767 to Newark then connect on a small plane for a quick hop to Hartford. That morning, as I travelled to the airport, we experienced thick fog. I mean really thick. At the time, I did not think of this as an omen. However, after checking in and avoiding a pat down at the TSA checkpoint, I waited to board my flight. The terminal manager made an announcement that out outbound flight would be delayed thirty minutes to an hour because of the fog. He mentioned that if anyone had a 10 am connecting flight in Houston to check with the gate agent to make other arrangements in case we didn’t get there on time. Well, my next flight left Houston at 10:45. In a selfless act of self preservation, I decided to see if our delay may cause a problem. I happened to be the second person in line and waited patiently for my turn in the Q&A zone of the gate agent consultation.
During my wait, I could not help but hear the very polite and friendly gate agent explain to the customer that he would wind up being placed on standby because there were no vacant seats on his particular connecting flights. After flying several times over the past few years, I have made a few observations:
These simple observations provided me with an AHA moment. Why not butter these people up, treat them with courtesy, and apologize to them (not sarcastically) for having such a stressful job. These individual take berating and nastiness every day but do it with a smile. Toothpaste, mouthwash, and tequila can only take a little bit of the foul taste out of your mouth by having to be nice. I have a lot of empathy for these people who act as the front lines of the travel industry. After the way the previous customer treated the gate agent, I thought I was really going to have to work on this agent to get my travel taken care of.
Fun fact. Look at those name badges and use them. Call them by their first name and introduce yourself by your first name. Don’t immediately start complaining. Find out their name and ask them how their day is going. It totally disarms them.
I did this and it seemed to ease that tension that was present. I politely informed her that I did not know if there would be any problems with my 10:45 connection. She told me she did not think so but went ahead and found me alternatives to get to Hartford. She even went the extra mile and got me confirmed seats on other connections instead of putting me on a standby list. She said that if we did get in late to Houston and I missed my connection, I just had to go to the other flights gate and I would get my new boarding passes. If we did make it, the other reservations would go away. I thought this was great. Even though internally I was annoyed that I would be getting in five hours later than planned, problem was solved. I was going to get there and not have to deal with the hit or miss practice of standby flying.
Hide your boarding passes when at airports and don’t speak about your flights unless you are in a secure area. I have a theory that standby travelers stalk us and will take you out to get their way. I mean, who doesn’t show up for their flight? Just kidding.
By the way, we actually made it to Houston on time and I made my original flight to Newark.
I did run into a snag that I believe affected my return trip, but more on this later. When going through the line in Newark to get on my last leg into Hartford, the scanner made that uh-oh beep. It wouldn’t take my ticket. The gate agent tried to figure it out, but with the long line of passengers behind me he asked if I would mind waiting for a few minutes while he got the other passengers on board. I graciously agreed to this, since my philosophy had worked previously. When everyone else was on board, he did some research.
Apparently, with the changes made at my original airport, and perhaps the merger of UA and Continental, my flight reservation from Newark to Hartford was cancelled. Most people would have freaked out at this moment and unloaded. I just gave him the surprised look and asked him what he suggested I do. He seemed to be taken off guard, but then looked at me and said go ahead and get on board, there happens to be two extra seats. On the inside I was doing the happy dance. I just thanked him for helping me out, and most importantly thanked him for what he did. Never know in the future where or when that will pay off.
Boarded the plane and my original seat was occupied. I informed the flight attendant and told her someone was sitting in my original seat but didn’t want to make her life harder and asked where she wanted me to sit. She pointed out a seat and it was actually one of the premier seats with just a bit more leg room. Awesome.
It may be one of the hardest things to do, but being nice really pay off. Killing them with kindness goes a long way and really helps to make things work out in the end. It may taste bad, but eventually they will invent the “nuclear-blast-clean-out-every-type-of-germ-and-material in your mouth toothpaste. When this happens, maybe all of the belligerent idiots in the world will disappear and flying will be a little easier.
During the Ides of March (March 15 for those who have no sense of history), I had the honor and privilege of traveling to the state of Connecticut to present at their 2012 conference. This obviously required air travel, as I would not want to take on a distance of this magnitude alone in a car (simply due to boredom and the fact I don’t have satellite radio in my truck). Over the past year, our area and United Airlines gave into the demands of society and established air service out of Hobbs, NM. This is pretty awesome because it only involves a 15 minute drive from my front door to the airport. I flew out of this airport in February, and I must say, I grew intoxicated by the mere convenience of it.
Anyway, my particular flight left at 6:45 am and connected in Houston. From there, I would be on a 3.5 hour flight in a packed 767 to Newark then connect on a small plane for a quick hop to Hartford. That morning, as I travelled to the airport, we experienced thick fog. I mean really thick. At the time, I did not think of this as an omen. However, after checking in and avoiding a pat down at the TSA checkpoint, I waited to board my flight. The terminal manager made an announcement that out outbound flight would be delayed thirty minutes to an hour because of the fog. He mentioned that if anyone had a 10 am connecting flight in Houston to check with the gate agent to make other arrangements in case we didn’t get there on time. Well, my next flight left Houston at 10:45. In a selfless act of self preservation, I decided to see if our delay may cause a problem. I happened to be the second person in line and waited patiently for my turn in the Q&A zone of the gate agent consultation.
During my wait, I could not help but hear the very polite and friendly gate agent explain to the customer that he would wind up being placed on standby because there were no vacant seats on his particular connecting flights. After flying several times over the past few years, I have made a few observations:
- When airline customers travel plans are disrupted, the nastiest aspects of human behavior emerge, mimicking a cross between a silverback gorilla in heat and a rampaging rhino.
- Gate attendants have really no control over the booking and capacity on flight.
- Gate attendants are powerful people.
- Call it what is meant to be, the plan, or karma, but how you act and your actions themselves wind up paying you back tenfold, either positive or negative.
These simple observations provided me with an AHA moment. Why not butter these people up, treat them with courtesy, and apologize to them (not sarcastically) for having such a stressful job. These individual take berating and nastiness every day but do it with a smile. Toothpaste, mouthwash, and tequila can only take a little bit of the foul taste out of your mouth by having to be nice. I have a lot of empathy for these people who act as the front lines of the travel industry. After the way the previous customer treated the gate agent, I thought I was really going to have to work on this agent to get my travel taken care of.
Fun fact. Look at those name badges and use them. Call them by their first name and introduce yourself by your first name. Don’t immediately start complaining. Find out their name and ask them how their day is going. It totally disarms them.
I did this and it seemed to ease that tension that was present. I politely informed her that I did not know if there would be any problems with my 10:45 connection. She told me she did not think so but went ahead and found me alternatives to get to Hartford. She even went the extra mile and got me confirmed seats on other connections instead of putting me on a standby list. She said that if we did get in late to Houston and I missed my connection, I just had to go to the other flights gate and I would get my new boarding passes. If we did make it, the other reservations would go away. I thought this was great. Even though internally I was annoyed that I would be getting in five hours later than planned, problem was solved. I was going to get there and not have to deal with the hit or miss practice of standby flying.
Hide your boarding passes when at airports and don’t speak about your flights unless you are in a secure area. I have a theory that standby travelers stalk us and will take you out to get their way. I mean, who doesn’t show up for their flight? Just kidding.
By the way, we actually made it to Houston on time and I made my original flight to Newark.
I did run into a snag that I believe affected my return trip, but more on this later. When going through the line in Newark to get on my last leg into Hartford, the scanner made that uh-oh beep. It wouldn’t take my ticket. The gate agent tried to figure it out, but with the long line of passengers behind me he asked if I would mind waiting for a few minutes while he got the other passengers on board. I graciously agreed to this, since my philosophy had worked previously. When everyone else was on board, he did some research.
Apparently, with the changes made at my original airport, and perhaps the merger of UA and Continental, my flight reservation from Newark to Hartford was cancelled. Most people would have freaked out at this moment and unloaded. I just gave him the surprised look and asked him what he suggested I do. He seemed to be taken off guard, but then looked at me and said go ahead and get on board, there happens to be two extra seats. On the inside I was doing the happy dance. I just thanked him for helping me out, and most importantly thanked him for what he did. Never know in the future where or when that will pay off.
Boarded the plane and my original seat was occupied. I informed the flight attendant and told her someone was sitting in my original seat but didn’t want to make her life harder and asked where she wanted me to sit. She pointed out a seat and it was actually one of the premier seats with just a bit more leg room. Awesome.
It may be one of the hardest things to do, but being nice really pay off. Killing them with kindness goes a long way and really helps to make things work out in the end. It may taste bad, but eventually they will invent the “nuclear-blast-clean-out-every-type-of-germ-and-material in your mouth toothpaste. When this happens, maybe all of the belligerent idiots in the world will disappear and flying will be a little easier.