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Editor: James T. Crouse
Profession: Aviation Accident Attorney

Category: Airline Travel

Finally, after countless incidents of travelers being left on the tarmac for hours, they have finally spoken up to bring this situation to the attention not only to the airlines, but to the nation. Supposedly the airline industry has heard them - what will be done about it is still yet to be seen, but it's out in the open and we are watching. It's happened for years and Frieda can not figure out why we have let this go on so long. Years ago Frieda was stuck on the tarmac on a plane in Dallas in the summer with the hot sun beating in the window - of course, no air conditioning - we had a "fried" Frieda - it was miserable! Back then it was a rarity (???). Nowadays, it's happening at an increasing rate as the travel industry digs deeper and deeper into a chasm from which it may be impossible to emerge.

It's time for the public to speak up on a couple of other issues - called the "Double Standards the Travel Industry Must Fix" by travel columnist, Christopher Elliot. The "Industry" will never fix anything unless they are pressured to do so and that pressure can come only from passengers/customers whose voices can become very loud and hit them where it hurts - in their deep pockets. As Mr. Elliot states:

No business, except maybe politics, is as two-faced as travel. There's one set of rules for us, the customers. And there's another set for them, the airlines, car rental companies, hotels and travel agencies.

But it's worse than that. See, the travel industry isn't just getting away with its duplicitous behavior. The real crime is, we're letting it happen.

Mr. Elliot's lists the following as the four worst cases of "Double Standard"

#1. Airlines: The airline cancels a flight, there is no compensation to the customer - they owe us nothing - nada. We miss a flight and it costs us everything - we lose our ticket and have to purchase another one usually at the highest rate of the "walk-up" fare. Tough luck for those without whom there would be no flights at all - their customer. Until the airlines become consumer friendly, check the Federal Aviation Administration's flight delay information sight and allow plenty of time to get to your flight. Better to sit comfortably waiting for your flight with a good book at the gate than to try to reason with the unreasonable airlines after the fact.

#2. Hotels: We have to "guarantee" a hotel room with a credit card - which, in fact, doesn't actually guarantee anything except if for some reason you don't show up, they can charge your card for one night's stay. On the other hand, if the hotel overbooks, which leaves us without a room, once again there is no compensation - they don't have to guarantee us anything - nothing - nada. The hotels overbook to an extent to protect themselves from the "no shows" - just like doctors double book their appointments - and this makes sense from their financial perspective. Our chances of actually having the room we guaranteed is better if we book it with the hotel directly (not a travel agency) and if we travel often and use a certain hotel chain, check to see if they have a "frequent guest" program - it's doubtful they will turn away one who is a frequent guest.

#3. Car Rentals: This is not a very effectively managed industry - it isn't rare for them to rent out all the cars in one particular class. This means we, the customer, have to wait sometimes hours for our car - there goes that important business meeting! Sometimes a real quality company will offer an upgrade for our inconvenience, but usually, once again there is no compensation - nothing - nada. Now, what happens if the rental company has to wait for us? Well, let's just say it's not pretty - and not very nice. There is a car industry policy - they keep under wraps - that if the car in the class is not available, we are entitled to an upgrade - Free. Sadly there is not a rule for lessened consequences for making them wait on us.

#4. Travel Agencies: We book a trip - they have our money immediately. They owe us money (refund), don't hold your breath or wait at the mailbox.

Frieda has worked in customer service for years for a large company and in her own business. In both situations it is known if we don't give put our customers first, were not pleasant and polite, and did not bend over backward to service them to the best of our abilities they would not come back to us. We would lose their business. So, Frieda wonders where the practice of "customer service" has gone. In the four examples above, I don't know if it is quite as stated simple because the problems exists across industries - not from one company to another in competition for clientele. Of course, Frieda believes if one company in any of the segments of travel would start treating us like the valued customers we are - word would spread - their business would flourish.

Until that happens, the shame is not on the various companies. The shame is on us - the consumer. We accept these practices - these double standards - and let them get away with it. No one can abuse us without our permission - why are we giving them permission? Parents know children will push the limits until we say "no". This is no different. We, the consumers of these services - the valued customers they keep telling us we are, have a voice - a loud voice, and it time we speak up.