The high road, I took it!

With Atlantic storm Sandy beating up New York and New Jersey flight delays and cancellations this week were rather common.  So, I was ecstatic that my flight was only going to be about 15 minutes delayed.  Like the Rolling Stones sang, Time was on my side.  Then we got the news that there was a mechanical problem and a new part was being flown in to fix our airplane.  That should only take about 5 hours!  I was a little distracted and was at the end of the line for rebooking my ticket.  I was reading and in the time it took me to mark my place and stow my book the rest of the passengers made a rush to the counter. 

I walked to another counter where the agents were set up to help.  I was still near the end of the line but it was much shorter than the other lines.  Near the front of the line was a short little man with a scrunched-up face.  I didn't like the cut of that man and it turns out I was right in my shallow assessment of him.  Many gate attendants helped us and were doing a pretty good job getting people booked on new flights.  But, they still had other duties of their job to accomplish.  The woman helping our line was asked to go do something she was supposed to be doing before the flight cancellation.  She made a quick announcement that she needed to run down stairs for a few minutes.  Little scrunched-up face blew up at her.  Luckily for us another agent did the task she was going to leave for and she was able to stay and continue working with our line.  Then he brags to his gang of scrunched-up faced biddies that he made her stay. 

I would like to say I defended the agent and derided the man for his childish and ignorant behavior but I remained quiet.  I figure, it looks worse for a 6'4" man to berate a small, scrunched-faced geriatric man than it is for that gnome to abuse a woman trying to do her job.

Alls well that ends well

As a frequent traveler I don't want to waste any time.  The most important perks from the companies I use when traveling are the time savers.  Sometimes customer service fails and things start to look bad.  I expect the worst and feel like I'll be singing "I Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem, feat. Rhianna.

When I recently arrived in Atlanta, Avis (www.Avis.com) was supposed to have a car waiting for me.  As a Preferred member my name should be on the rental board with the stall number for my waiting car.  This is when things started looking bad because my name wasn't on the board.  Delay #1.  I speak with a service rep and they direct me to a stall where my car is supposed to be waiting.  I get to the car stall on the other end of the parking garage and it is empty.  Delay #2.  I return to the service counter.  I get another stall number with the promise of a car which is located in a further corner of the parking garage in a different direction.  Again, the stall is empty. Delay #3.  I was starting to get a little cranky because of the mounting delays.  My attitude when I returned, yet again, to the service counter was surly.  This time a service rep went to retrieve my car.  As I stood there waiting for my Dodge Avenger, or similar, the service rep pulled up in a brand new Ford Mustang.

My eyes lit up a little and I dreamed a little of cruising the roads of Atlanta in style.  Avis made up for wasting my time.  I don't expect perfection from companies but I expect them to hold up their end of the bargain they used to lure me in as a customer, namely, quick service.  When they don't deliver I want them to make amends.  Otherwise I go to another provider, hence the reason I don't talk about Enterprise Car Rentals.

Planes are not private

I would like to extend my condolences to the gentleman sitting next to me on my last flight.  He was apparently having trouble sleeping because his sleeping pills were not working for him.  He also went through a hectic morning that day because his hotel did not get his wake-up call right.  For him and all people that deal with problems when traveling I dedicate some Sinatra to you, Willow Weep for Me.

I will refrain from a diatribe on sucking it up when things don't work perfectly when traveling.  Suffice to say, with about 2 million air travelers daily (source FAA) there are going to be some people that have less than perfect experiences.  If there is only a 1% problem rate, 20,000 of us travelers will have an issue each day.  Lastly, only idiots rely on wake-up calls from hotels, use the alarm function on your smart phone or the alarm clock in the hotel room.

Whining about your problems on the phone to your loved ones is something we all do from time to time.  Please limit whining to a minimum on the airplane.  On the same note, please don't talk with your neighbor about how well you did on your job interview.  I am pretty sure you didn't seal the deal based on your comments that you never experience conflict in the work place because of your team-work attitude.

Same ticket, different service

You may think that a ticket or reservation is the same no matter where you buy them.  Not necessarily so.  You don't get the same customer service when you buy through a discount travel service.  If everything goes well with your travel schedule you'll be laughing!  (I learned that colloquialism on a recent trip to Vancouver, BC and I love it.  BTW, it means "you will be happy about your decision.")  It's when issues arise that you see the real difference.

You may recall I use an app to help me on my Delta flights.  On my most recent trip to NY I bought my tickets through Expedia.com and thought I got my seats and everything settled.  Turns out, I requested seats but wasn't assigned them for my first flight.  This didn't allow me to get my boarding passes on my iPhone.  As a frequent flier with Delta I assume I get a slightly higher level of service than a recreational flier, which means I get to select my seats when I purchase my ticket.  When I buy through Delta Airlines that is absolutely true but Expedia does not recognize me as a frequently flier, so they treat me like I'm in the song "Message in a Bottle" by the Police.  Now, this did not ruin my trip.  In fact, the total inconvenience amounted to getting a paper ticket when I checked my bag at the counter and then getting my seat assignment at the terminal gate.  Total time wasted in this situation was approximately 90 seconds.

Do as I say, Not as I do

I would like to think I am beyond mistakes when booking flights since I do it frequently enough.  The truth is, I make far too many mistakes and when dealing with airlines it can be expensive.  Much more expensive than the new Mumford and Sons album I want.  I recently booked a trip on Expedia.com while in Canada and made a slight error on the return trip date.  I wanted to return on October 11.  The USofA is unique in that we write our dates Month/Day/Year.  Other countries change the order up.  So, while in Canada and being forced to use the Canadian Expedia site I mistakenly booked the return flight for November 10.

Always verify that you have the correct dates and locations when booking a flight yourself.  You should do this when using a travel agent, too.  They are far from mistake proof.  Boy are they!  I have a doozy of a blog topic about my travel agent using my personal credit card to pay for my boss' business trip.  Back on the topic for today, I got very impatient when booking this trip for several reasons:

1. Delta Airlines has a very poor user interface (UI) for booking flights on line when you want to book multiple city trips and are searching for a compromise between schedule and price
2. Expedia has a better UI for searching for the best value packages but making changes to try different options is challenging
3. I tried using multiple windows to compare prices between different scheduling options and both Delta and Expedia get cranky with you when you try this

After approximately 45 minutes of searching for the best schedule and price I thought I nailed it.  I had a reasonable schedule at a reasonable price.  I booked it as fast as I could, I thought if I waited a minute or two I would run over the arbitrary time period to book the flights before the website changed prices on me.  The ultimate reason I made the mistake was, I am used to making my flight arrangements in about 10 minutes and this took much longer and I got impatient.  My impatience cost an additional $317.60 for a one-way ticket on the correct date.  This is no fun to pay but the cost of changing the original flight was over $600!  Please take my advice and double check your dates, airports, times, destinations, and everything else. 

Don't scare me like that!

On my trip home I am the most concerned about being on time.  I am very easy going until you threaten to keep me from my wife and kids. Or if you start playing George Michael music.  Before I left Toronto I believed everything was on time and going to run smoothly.  I believed this because the Delta Airline mobile app told me so.  There is no reason to think technology would lie to me.  When I got to Cincinnati for my layover I found a place to get a chicken sandwich close to my gate.  On a side note, airport food is not worth writing about in great detail.

I had plenty of time to make the next leg of my trip when I checked the Delta mobile app.  I frequently check my tickets and flight status. I am one part paranoid and one part practical because: 1. I lose things and 2. Flight statuses change.  On this occasion it was the latter, it stated my flight home was delayed.  When my Delta app suggested I book another flight I thought it was my glorious savior.  The idea of dealing with a mistake prone person versus my Delta mobile app, a wonder of technology that loves me, was silly.  When the Delta app suggested I book the same flight I was perplexed.  When I asked my buddy, Delta app, a bunch of questions it stared at me without uttering a word of assistance.  My new best friend was acting like it hardly knew me. Now I had to walk to my gate and talk to a mistake prone person from Delta.  After asking the question, "Is everything on time?"  This person answered me with "Yeah, we'll be boarding in about 20 minutes".  There was no delay and I got home to my family waiting for me at the airport.

I was not happy with my technology buddy.  The Delta app is normally accurate and helpful.  With the Delta app you can: check-in, schedule and pay for any checked baggage, change seats, and get your boarding pass.  There are many more features on this app but I don't use them frequently.  I never learned why the Delta app lied to me about my flight delay.  We aren't on speaking terms yet.

Goat tastes musky

Not the most appetizing title for a blog post about eating out.  I absolutely stuffed myself last night due to pure stupidity.  I met some colleagues for dinner a little later than I usually eat.  Before meeting I stopped to grab a slice of pizza since I was super hungry.  I was also getting some heartburn and thought some food in my stomach would help.  I happened to stop where the slices were big and on sale “two for one”.  So, since I am frugal I didn’t want to waste a good deal I ate two slices of pizza, which amounted to a full half pizza.  When I met my colleagues 30 minutes later we went out for dinner directly.  The only saving grace was the 20 minute walk to the little hole in the wall Jamaican restaurant called Ritz Caribbean Foods on Yonge Street.  I was embarrassed to admit I just ate pizza so I went ahead and ordered a regular meal without mentioning my pizza “appetizer”.   

I ordered Goat Roti with a side of Channa (chickpeas).  Roti is a type of wrap with your meat and potatoes wrapped together.  Goat has a very distinctive flavor that is akin to mutton.  As I mentioned in the title, it is a musky flavor and would be very tough to handle had it not been prepared in a spicy stew.  I was not in love with the meat’s flavor but enjoyed the dish because of the variety of flavors.  Luck was on my side because the portions are large.  I was able to eat my channa and half the Roti and it didn't seem weird to announce I was full.   

When in a strange city, getting a good recommendation can leave you with wonderful memories of the local cuisine.  An unbiased acquaintance will generally provide a much better restaurant reference than a hotel staffer that is directed to point you towards places that pay for recommendations.  My culinary guide in Toronto provided many options across a broad spectrum of ethnicities.  I recommend listening for a person’s first option as it is generally the best option in their mind.  I followed this advice last night and ate a very good meal.  Despite my efforts to sabotage myself with half of a pizza.