Why the human touch is best for troubled travelers

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The human touch still beats technology during problematic delays.

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My client had a business class ticket to Paris from Newark, which meant the trip should have been a pleasure. Even with delays due to bad weather in New York, the plane was only an hour late. Then there was a mechanical issue on the tarmac, and soon it became apparent that fixing this problem was non-trivial. This appeared to be a problematic airline delay.

She emailed me early in the delay process and I noticed two seats left the following day, so I held one. After a couple of hours, the flight returned to the gate, and United soon announced they had another plane. The new flight would not be ready until midnight, East Coast time. To make a long story short, the second plane boarded went out to the tarmac and had mechanical issues. When plane number two returned to the gate, it was almost 3 a.m., and the crew had timed out, which meant the travelers weren’t going anywhere. This was indeed a problematic airline delay.

My client had dozed off and was not one of the first off the plane when she collected her things. She told me United told them they had to get in line to get their ticket reissued. And, in the middle of the night, only a couple of agents were around to help.

(A side note: Many airline computers must sync reservations and tickets. I have learned that having a reservation on a flight that wasn’t ticketed for that flight means the reservation can and will be canceled, usually within a few hours.)

Learn more: Why isn’t there a “best hotel” in town for me?

United had added a second flight for the following day, so I grabbed a seat on that as well.

I called United. The first agent confirmed that because the original ticket showed used, neither United nor I, as a travel agent, could reissue it, and she would indeed need to get in line. I politely hung up and called back. The second agent was friendly but indicated the same thing. As nicely as I could, I informed her that wasn’t workable. It was now well after 3 a.m., and passengers had been at the airport for 11 hours. Moreover, our agency is a big United producer, my client’s ticket was expensive — paid business class — and indeed there was SOME solution.

The second agent then went to talk to her supervisor and after a few long minutes, said they had figured out a way to make an exception. She asked which flight the next day we wanted -— I chose the new second flight because it was leaving earlier — and United then somehow reissued the ticket. So my client was finally able to go home and get some sleep before returning. She mentioned as she left that the line was long.

Fortunately, United’s added flight was uneventful, although the regularly scheduled flight the following day was 2-1/2 hours late.

Now, as this went, nothing I did was rocket science, but it does illustrate the power of persistence. And, it shows the limits of technology. A traveler without a travel agent could have called United directly and possibly done the same thing, especially if they got someone helpful. But some situations just can’t be fixed online or with a kiosk.

The extra complications, in this case, were threefold:

• First, the new flight, which United created to deal with the stranded passengers, didn’t show up in regular availability.
• Second, airline clubs were closed when the plane was finally canceled at night, and the airport had very few employees around to help.
• Finally, and most importantly, because the plane had departed — twice — the computer figured passengers had flown already, and you cannot exchange a used ticket. Eventually, the supervisor, or someone, could finally change the ticket status back to “open.” Then it was relatively easy for the airline to adjust it for the following day. In some ways, the details matter less as travel gets more complicated than programmers may have planned.

The short moral of this long story. When things get difficult, get a human involved. If you don’t have a travel agent, look for the shortest line possible, and if that line is more than a few people long, get on the phone as soon as you can. (If you have enough status for a preferred airline phone number, make sure you have that number.)

When you reach a human, if someone seems unhelpful, I never have a problem apologizing, saying it’s a bad connection or something, and hanging up. (Don’t be rude — airline people can and WILL document your record in ways you don’t want.) And, when you get someone helpful, be politely persistent. Almost anything airport agents can do, phone agents can do as well. This is a secret when calling about problematic airline delays.

More from Travelers United: The 24-hour rule: You have a full day to correct mistakes

When there are big problems at the airport, it pays to have a travel agent’s help.

Even if travelers decide to wait in line for an actual boarding pass, talking to a travel agent or a phone agent increases your chances of getting on the flight. Every minute of waiting adds more time when other fliers dealing with the same problematic airline delay can outmaneuver the patient passenger while chasing the same solutions. Nothing personal, but if some people are going to be stranded for days, you don’t want to be one of them.