In the grand scheme of things, many travel annoyances are not a big deal. Okay, most travel annoyances are not a big deal. If the airline gets you safely to a destination, close to on-time and without any permanent injuries from being crammed in a tiny seat for X number of hours, then, realistically, they have fulfilled their obligations.
On the other hand, sometimes it’s the smallest things that make the difference between a pleasant and unpleasant experience.
Fair disclosure: Anyone who thinks this forum has too much whining, stop reading now.
I do understand how airlines need to cut expenses. Especially for non-essentials. Playing cards disappeared so long ago many travelers can’t even remember them. And magazines, for example, were a super nice perk but probably cost a fair bit.
Ditto, I can understand cutting meals, although I don’t see why the airlines have to charge such high prices for their little snack boxes and sandwiches.
But some amenities had to cost next to nothing, and they are gone too — For example, the tiny half-ounce package of pretzels or snack mix.
The airline lounges are not immune to the cost-cutting either. United’s Red Carpet Club used to have nice pastries in the morning, then they switched to mini-bagels. Now, apparently even the bagels were too expensive, because the latest morning offering is basically what looks like sliced whole-wheat Wonder Bread.
Another relatively trivial issue, but one several of my clients have complained about, is that some check-in kiosks, instead of spitting out cardboard boarding passes, issue the documents on the flimsiest paper imaginable. Which is subject to tearing, getting lost, and dissolving with spilled coffee.
And speaking of coffee, creamer these days on most airlines is a packet of no-name white powder. Sometimes real milk or half-and-half Mini-Moos aren’t even available in first class. Sad.
So what about you, Consumer Traveler readers. What little cost cutting move bothers you the most?
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
US Airways has reduced the number of ticket agents at their counters making you to use the kiosks. 90% of the time, I check in over the Internet. The 10% of the time that I need to go to the ticket counter, I need to talk to an agent because the kiosk can’t handle my changes, etc. If the kiosk could handle my changes then it won’t be a problem. They might have one agent working the First Class & Dividend Miles Elite ticket counter so the wait is long. By the way, if I was a passenger that paid for a First Class ticket, I would prefer to speak with a person to have a First Class service.
Airline clubs have become another profit center instead of the perk for expensive ticket holders or frequent fliers that paid for the previlige to belong. When I can get it for free just by showing the boarding pass for my free or reduced rate ticket and my credit card then I wonder how many people really pay for access to airline clubs? If airlines are giving away entry the to clubs then it’s no surprise that they don’t offer much. When I was in Continental’s President’s Club in Newark a few weeks ago I had trouble finding 2 comfortable seats for me and my wife next to each other.
To Robert’s point, US carriers’ airport clubs are, and have been, profit centers.
We’ve generally had to pay for our memberships. Now that many airlines sell day passes to the public, or admit people who carry certain credit cards or belong to lounge “networks” (like Amex Platinum cards or Priority Pass, respectively, both of which pay the airline a fee for each customer admitted uner thier arrangements) the airlines should be investing to make their clubs even more compelling.
Wi-Fi is a useful club amenity, but that’s increasngly available across the terminal. The clubs are certainly more comfortable and pleasant than the gates or other public areas in the terminal. Airline CEOs and CFOs seem to love cutting back on ‘softer” touches like food so much, at every touch point, that one really has to wonder whether those executives eat.
What is depressing about the devaluation of airline lounge offerings is that the lounges have always been designed to be self-supporting. They have membership fees to pay for their services.
With the current rounds of service offering devaluation, it appears that the lounges are now being used to subsidize the airline’s general revenues. I used to prefer Red Carpet Clubs to other airline lounges because they continued to offer some decent snack offerings. But they have now sunk to the same level as the other lounges. Unfortunately, I don’t know that any other airline offers a better alternative.