Squeaky Wheel

Does this sound familiar?  It is late in the evening and you are standing at the airline gate and find out your flight has been cancelled. On the other hand, maybe your first flight was late causing you to miss your connecting flight.

You are herded with the rest of the poor, stranded souls over to the counter where you may be given a small overnight pack with toiletries and sent to a hotel with a meal voucher and a flight the next day.  You can sometimes get some “extra’s” if you make enough noise.

You may be upgraded to first class, get credit towards another ticket or maybe an extra meal voucher or two.  If your final destination is not to far away from your stranded spot you may even get a rental car to drive instead of fly.

The secret is

1) find out who is in charge, be polite but firm, you only will speak with a supervisor

2) know what you want before you speak with someone, start out big and work your way down i.e.  you may start off with a free ticket and then “settle” for a first class flight the next day

3) If you fly a lot and are a frequent flyer card holder mention that.  If you are flying often with the same carrier you should expect the extra mile.

4) Don’t lose your temper; you catch more flies with sugar than vinegar.  The person you are dealing with is stressed out to the maximum.  If you act nice to them, while still standing your ground, you are more apt to get what you want.  Commiserate with them, tell them you are sure that this is no fun for them either, etc.

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