As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, airline passengers need to know how to deal with a system that squeezes every nickel, dime, and dollar from them. Dealing effectively with airlines that view their customers as “the meat in the seat,” as a British Airways flight steward once indelicately put it to me, can make the difference between losing money on a ruined trip or getting a satisfactory credit/refund.
I’m an experienced traveler, but I still learned some new tricks recently. I had to reschedule a flight to attend a shooting competition in Switzerland. Something went wrong with the online rebooking. Instead of the $5,459.21 refund I expected, I received $72.91. Customer service reassured me I’d have a full refund in 7 to 10 calendar days. On the 11th day, they said the waiting period was up to 13 business days. When that date came and went, customer service suddenly did a 180 and informed me I’d received my full refund a month earlier — $5,386.30 of my business class fare had seemingly vanished. A kind agent tried to escalate the case, but Swiss Air Lines customer service representatives had no direct way to contact the Swiss Air Lines refund department staff. The airline’s computer programs continued to report that my refund had been issued.
I was caught in an algorithmic limbo and urgently needed a real human being, not an AI assistant (the airline’s AI assistant was particularly inept), to get me out of it. I needed to escalate the case myself. What I learned can be applied by any airline traveler.
The first step is to know your rights. The Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection features a simple-to-use dashboard covering everything from family seating and lost baggage to tarmac delays, refunds, and overbooking. Click on any category and you’ll find up-to-date information on passenger rights and airline obligations.
The OACP also outlines voluntary agreements individual airline companies have made with DOT for flight credits and compensation for delays and overbooking. Check out your airline before you travel to see what options are available if the airline disrupts your trip.
Not every airline employee will offer you the full range of options during a disruption. On a trip to Norfolk, Virginia, a few years ago, the baggage conveyor belt broke. Luggage from four flights piled up in a massive heap. The American Airlines employee told passengers to return to the airport the following day to retrieve their luggage. She didn’t offer delivery service or refunds. The airline’s obligation, however, was to deliver the baggage directly to customers’ homes or hotels. Moreover, we were also due baggage fee refunds. Most passengers left without their luggage. The savvy few lined up to provide addresses.
In my Swiss Air Lines case, the OACP website helpfully explained requirements for foreign airlines to operate in the U.S. It also has an online consumer complaint form that all airlines are required to respond to by law within strict time frames. I submitted the complaint form, following my usual rules of staying cool during a dispute. Despite rising frustration, in every communication with Swiss Air Lines, I remained factual and polite. The goal is to get someone to help you, not hate you.
Travel blogs suggested contacting the airline’s CEO when trying to resolve intractable problems. It took some diligence on Swiss.com to find the CEO’s address. I sent a letter via certified mail. You shouldn’t expect to reach a CEO. The objective of contacting the CEO’s office is to get an assistant to forward the matter to the relevant office for resolution. Problems coming down the corporate ladder get dealt with much more rapidly.
During my search for the address, I stumbled on an online form for the press to use to contact Swiss Air Lines or request interviews. Swiss Air Lines won’t answer public inquiries via the media form, but because I’m a writer and have covered aviation safety issues, I requested an interview about refunds and included the link to my author’s website. If you’re not a journalist, you can still enlist the press to help untangle travel problems. Try contacting the Wall Street Journal’s Dawn Gilbertson or Conde Nast Traveler’s ombudsman.
DEMOCRATS RECKON WITH LOFTY OBAMACARE PROMISES AFTER SHUTDOWN DEFEAT
Many credit cards feature compensation for trip and baggage delays, covering hotels and incidental costs such as meals, toiletries, and clothes. If you travel often, a card like that is handy. Within days of submitting the OACP complaint and contacting Swiss’s C-Suite, a stream of emails from various corporate officers reported on my refund’s progress. I replied cordially to each one.
Despite my initial frustration, I’m now eagerly looking forward to that spring trip to Switzerland!
John B. Roberts II is an author and seasoned world traveler. His most recent book, Reagan’s Cowboys: Inside the 1984 Reelection Campaign’s Secret Operation Against Geraldine Ferraro, is part detective story, part political thriller, and a great airplane read.
