A reminder when calling res...

I *Love* helping out a fellow Non-rev, after all, no matter what airline we actually work for we're still a family, and flying is in our blood - but still, pass travel is a privilege, and we need to remember that Revenue passengers have to come first.

That being said, last night I got a call from a Non-rev spouse who's damn lucky I'm a nice person, otherwise he'd be flying on greyhound for a long time.

No sooner had I said hello when this guy starts kevetching (putting it lightly) about how long he had been on hold - Umm hello? Holiday evening, we're short staffed and obviously there are other people in the same boat - we handle callers one person at a time.

I can't disclose exact flight loads to you unless I know for SURE, for POSITIVE that I am allowed to. That means I can't just take your word for it that your spouse is an employee, and no amount of being pissy will change that. I need your number. If you are an employee of another airline, I can give generalities, and will normally drop some serious big hints letting you know how it looks, but if you want exacts, I need that number - period. Getting angry because I'm protecting my job won't help.

It's not my fault that the loads are bad, especially on a holiday weekend. It's not my fault some of your fellow employees decided to travel on the same day you did, and it's definitely not my fault that the system isn't working.

Look, as I said, I Love helping non-revs, but I'm also on a time monitor - especially when it's busy. It's customary to ask if an agent has time to help a non-rev. 99% of the time, even when it's busy, we'll make time for you, but there's a limit, and being a complete and utter **** isn't going to help you.

I was utterly shocked by this caller's behavior, and I'm one to let a billion and one things slide - but from now on, if you or your guest is a turd, I'm going to do my damndest to make sure that you aren't going anywhere for a long time...

You've been warned, and it's your own damn fault. http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...IR#>/angry.gif

Have they figured out a way to give chocolate over the phone? http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...#>/biggrin.gif

Yeah - it's a five on the survey! http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...R#>/tongue.gif

Great reminder to all of us to keep our pass riders in check to be courteous and patient AT ALL TIMES when nonreving as GUESTS!!

A very good point indeed, and reminds me of a story from the other day.

At CX we all get a rebated cargo voucher each year, offering us 100kg of online destination sublo cargo at ID90 rates - usually still cheaper than sea freight, but not always. Anyways we are meant to be provided with shipper & consignee details, a packing list, and the rebated voucher. The other day we get a box - no idea what it was - with a rebated voucher stuck to it and a phone number.

I call the number and get a SO's father-in-law who assumes somehow I can find his son-in-laws address in some system because we work at the same company (!). Privacy Act aside, I finally get the address and packing list out of him, and then he requests that it gets sent that night and even stickered the box to say this!

I wasn't in the greatest mood so I emailed the SO himself and told him it is sublo cargo and you can't pick flights, I need more info next time etc. His response was email of the week - "I am so sorry about that. My father in law is so annoying and is going senile. Just one of the many reasons he is not on my staff travel list!"

So yes it pays to be careful of who is doing your dealings with your passes or any form of concession http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/cool.gif

That being said, I have got my fair share of oddities when I have called other airline res centers.

I am always nice, never complain, and always introduce myself with my name, which airline I work for and ask how your day is going (the latter is an Australian thing, every phone conversation begins with each person asking how the other person is, even if you talked 5mins ago). So I do this with AA once, and the response from the guy was "Flight number?" - OK so i guess no time for the niceties in that call center. The next was SWA... I called to make a nonrev listing and she pretty much accused me of stealing a buddy pass. I called and said hey I have a purple pass can I please make a listing SFODAL, and she's all like "who gave it to you? where did you get it?." My response was "Ummmm my friend did, and I used to work there... why do you ask?" The tone in my voice was of clear shock as that was the first rude person at SWA I had ever encountered. Regardless the mood didn't lighten and she replied with "nevermind" and proceeded to spell my name completely wrong even though she read it back correctly.

Such is life http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...>/rolleyes.gif

Yesterday, at our Team meeting we heard about a guy who got a three day flight ban for trying to punch the gate agent!!!

ONLY THREE DAYS!!! http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/ohmy.gif (It was all in the PNR - and my foolish freind forgot the cardinal rule of "OMG PNR's" - you ALWAYS write it down so we can all see it!! http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...IR#>/laugh.gif)

My team leader (who is one of those managers who REALLY honestly rock - I'd go to the wall for him ANY day) said that anytime we get a "Non-Rev behaving badly" to let him know and he WILL send it up to the Pass B.... Bur... Be.. DEPARTMENT.


I RARELY if ever give out my passes - only had one travel buddy in the last two years who's made one trip with me, and the other solo.

I guess it has something to do with being in the industry for so long but I always ask if they have time to help me - even if I have called a special nonrev number! I don't even know if the people hired in the last few years were told to ask.

I have to admit that I have even had guest pass calls escalate to a me as a lead when they are not getting the answer they want from the agent. It always amazes me that they are willing to put the employee's benefits in jeopardy that way and I admit that I actually emailed one of the employees to advise of the tone of the phone call. I figured he/she would want to know the situation so they don't give that person a guest pass again. I have never contacted employee travel as that would really be a last resort, imho.

That particular the passenger was not only a problem with the rez agents (multiple agents) but was quite abusive to the airport agents as well. I actually called the airport to advise them what the person had said she was going to do if she was not boarded so they had a heads up on a potential problem - and they recognized her name before I got any further.

Me, I am very careful about who I give my passes to and I explain, in great detail, the rules of conduct. They are instructed to call me directly if they have any issues and not to hassle the boarding agent for anything.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MRSDS1DONNA @ Sep 17 2009, 02:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Quote:

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I guess it has something to do with being in the industry for so long but I always ask if they have time to help me - even if I have called a special nonrev number! I don&#39;t even know if the people hired in the last few years were told to ask.

I have to admit that I have even had guest pass calls escalate to a me as a lead when they are not getting the answer they want from the agent. It always amazes me that they are willing to put the employee&#39;s benefits in jeopardy that way and I admit that I actually emailed one of the employees to advise of the tone of the phone call. I figured he/she would want to know the situation so they don&#39;t give that person a guest pass again. I have never contacted employee travel as that would really be a last resort, imho.

That particular the passenger was not only a problem with the rez agents (multiple agents) but was quite abusive to the airport agents as well. I actually called the airport to advise them what the person had said she was going to do if she was not boarded so they had a heads up on a potential problem - and they recognized her name before I got any further.

Me, I am very careful about who I give my passes to and I explain, in great detail, the rules of conduct. They are instructed to call me directly if they have any issues and not to hassle the boarding agent for anything.[/b]

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I was hired the summer before last, and I saw something somewhere, but can&#39;t remember where. Probably buried in the fine print somewhere, definitely not very well emphasized. Part of the issue is that I had to be there for 6 months for ZEDs or the NW/DL Fly Together program, and I was just fine using RADAR, so I didn&#39;t really need to call much. The only call I made was to DL before I realized I needed 6 months to fly them, and I wanted to know how SLC-HNL or ATL-HNL looked.

I&#39;ll admit that I didn&#39;t ask if they had time, but it was a slow time I&#39;m pretty sure (late at night, though I don&#39;t remember the day of the week) and I know I was polite (I almost always am on the phone with others, having worked at tech support before and knowing that&#39;s the way to get what you need)

I&#39;m pleased to hear there are some Reservation Specialists out there who understand what a sub load/non rev ticket is.
Even more thankful to hear that they are willing to assist.

Huge efforts dealing with our national carrier.
Go through the motions of :
Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, I&#39;m a XX Employee. I have a standby/Non Rev/Employee ticket on XX.
May I please check some flight loads for XX 000 from LHR/XXX, or should I call back later in the day.

" I don&#39;t understand / Can I have your ticket number "
" Well, no, I haven&#39;t had the ticket issued yet, at this stage I would just like to know what my chances are"
" I&#39;m afraid I cannot help you, you will need to speak to your own travel department "
" My staff travel department cannot look at actual flight loads on your airline, they can see what I can see in our system "
" I&#39;m sorry, but I cannot help you. You do need to speak to your own staff travel department "

A call the following day :

" My name is XXX, I&#39;m calling from XX, may I please refer you to a PNR "
" Yes, what is the locator "
" I&#39;m afraid that since I created the reservation in our system I don&#39;t have your locator, the system did not generate one in the OSI nor SSR field "
" What are the flight details "
" Give flight details "
" Are you the passenger "
" No. It is my father "
" I&#39;m sorry, but due to confidentuality I cannot disclose anything "
" I understand that, but I can give you anything you need from our PNR since I created it and I ticketed it "
" Sorry, I&#39;m unable to give you any details "
" I&#39;m not looking for any details. XX Generated a message that the flight was sold against status, it was booked and ticketed the same day. At this stage I would like to know if there is anything you can to assist me - it has been ticketed and the availability showed open in our system and the PNR was ended before I ticketed it "
" Let me check "
" Sorry Sir, we cannot assist you "
" What should I do? "
" You need to speak to your Manager "
" Why do I need to speak to my Manager, I am a Manager and my overall Manager sits in Chicago "
" They would know what to do "
" I doubt it. Is it possible to speak to a Team Leader please "
" They will tell you the same I have "
" That&#39;s as maybe. However, please may I speak to a Team Leader " ( On Hold for a few minutes )
" Sorry, You should have a number to call, this is the Agency Help Desk number you need to speak to "
" I tried that. It requires an IATA number before you can proceed to speak to anyone, since we are an airline, it does not recognise our IATA number and the call is terminated "
" Sorry, then you will need to speak to your Manager for the number to call "
" My Manager will not have the number and which number and which Department are you referring to "
" Sorry Sir. I&#39;m unable to assist you "
" Ok, here&#39;s the situation. I sold a seat on your airline for my father. 2 days prior to travel I checked the PNR to ensure there were no schedule changes. At this point I notice HX sectors and the vendor remark sold against status. I will not be able to purchase the same fare again, it has a pre book period.

I won&#39;t continue.

The end result.
In the first instance, I flew with QF.

In the second instance, I cancelled the PNR, had the ticket refunded and gave AZ my money.

Moral : I yearn for the good old days !

Haha isn&#39;t BA all online listing now? I found the system quite easy to use and T5 a breeze.

Unless of course by home carrier you meant AZ, and in that case I understand http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/cool.gif

Yes, BA is.
However, in order to check loads, you need to go through the procedure of listing - which also requests for a ticket number - unless you enter a fictitious one.
At MAD airport last week, I would not have been accepted for a flight closing in 15 minutes without it, I had to run around looking for internet access to list.
Strangely, Iberia doing their check in offered me their flight instead and informed me they will accept me without a listing.

True, but a listing is a listing. In the same vein you commented on my other post about e-ticket ZEDs and how fixed routing would require more tix, more work by agents etc etc. In this case, no listing means the check in agent has to make you one, or create a PNR - which is really a back end task! http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/cool.gif

Not really. It&#39;s simply entered as a &#39; go show &#39;.
There is no need to create a PNR.

"Unless of course by home carrier you meant AZ, and in that case I understand cool.gif"

http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/ohmy.gif http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/ohmy.gif http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/ohmy.gif http://www.nonrev.net/forums/style_e...DIR#>/ohmy.gif