So we're off on our delayed honeymoon to Paris/Tuscany next Wednesday. Flying AirCanada from Montreal to Paris, then Easyjet (the JetBlue of Europe) from Paris to Venice, and finally returning from Florence through Paris ending up in Montreal.
However, we got a frantic call yesterday from Orbitz telling us that instead of the nice and easy direct return flight from Paris to Montreal we were going to have to fly to Toronto, sit in the airport for 4 hours then take another flight to Montreal. Not a great way to end a romantic honeymoon in Paris/Tuscany. Orbitz said there was nothing they could do and blamed Air France and Air Canada for the screw up (Air France was flying us from Florence to Paris on the return). "Nothing we can do," is just a not so polite way of saying that if you're stupid enough to try to save 50 bucks on tickets by using Orbitz for complicated travel plans, you deserve whatever delays or hassles you receive.
Luckily for us, the representatives we spoke with at AirCanada had about the same opinion of online "travel agents" like Orbitz as we did...totally useless. I knew that AirCanada flew a direct flight out of Frankfurt to Montreal, and so I called them to try to reroute us. At first they tried to say the ticket couldn't be changed because we booked through Orbitz, after a few minutes of polite conversation they were happy to bend the rules and accommodate us. In the end all the representatives I spoke with (had to speak with three in the end because of technical difficulties) were the friendliest, most polite airline representatives I have ever come across. They even went so far as to get permission from Luftansa to fly us from Florence to Frankfurt, something they didn't have to do. In fact, they didn't have to do any of this, since technically they were right that because the ticket was booked through Orbitz, Orbitz had the ultimate responsibility, although they would never admit it.
The last AirCanada Representative not only finalized our changes, but offered to move us to better seats (although stopped short of a free upgrade), made sure we both had vegetarian meals for all of our flights, and gave some great tips about places to see in Tuscany.
The lesson in all of this is that not only does AirCanada rock, and Orbitz sucks, but if you're flying with complicated travel plans, it makes a lot of sense to book directly through the airline, otherwise you're at the mercy of these online "travel agents" that really just care about that volume and very little about customer service.
3 comments:
after all that i sure as shit hope you plan doesn't crash. i hear you love flying.
Nah, me staring out the window for 10 hours holds the plane up, you should try it some time.
Orbitz - a guide to managing your losses with them
If you are reading this basically you like me were suckered into a
deal with Orbitz. I feel for you. You have two options now - you can
rant and rave into the void (I have nothing against that) or you can
get the most you can out of Orbitz with the least (but still
considerable) effort.
Basically the way the operate is with very poor trained, very low-pay
workers in call centers in emerging markets.
They are clueless and cannot really assist you. Getting cross,
shouting, asking to speak to a supervisor - its all useless. They only
give first names, so there is no come back. So in short realize before
you call that you are speaking to someone paid way less than a dollar
an hour, who speaks okayish English, has probably never stayed in
hotel or flown in plane in their lives, doesn't know anything about
the travel business AND has their finger on the hang-up button.
The way the call center workers operate is the moment anything gets
confusing or complicated, or the caller is irate they simply drop the
call. Its no skin off their back, Orbitz (or its sub-contractors)
designed the system to not be accountable. There is no follow up to
the caller that you last spoke to i.e. you cannot actually get them
again. So basically what I did, after about 10 hours of exasperated
calls, was as follows. I worked out exactly what the solution to my
problem was. Basically the person needed to call KLM and change the
reservation. I got her the KLM reservation number in Holland, told her
what buttons to press, phoned KLM in Holland (who said only the travel
agent can do the change), asked them to make a note of what needed to
change. And the talked the Orbitz call center staff through the
process step by step. It worked.
Anyway here are some tips for how to manage your losses with Orbitz:
1) See if you can sort it out yourself first. You will have to do this
anyway to "train" the Orbitz call center staff.
2) If its a small amount of money at stake ask yourself "is it worth
10 hours on the phone to staff who know nothing and can do little?"
3) If it is not a small amount of money or you are stuck here is what to do:
a) Find out exactly what the call center staff will need to do, who
they need to phone, phone the people they need to phone and prepare
them, give Orbitz staff as detailed a description as you can of what
they need to do.
b) Do not get angry or they will punish you by keeping you on hold for
45 minutes and then cut you off.
Important - allocate time to this. Its not a quick call. Set yourself
down, get coffee notepads, get in a comfortable chair and prepare to
spend much of the day on the task.
Good luck
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