Arrrgh…

I have a bone to pick with the airline industry! Considering the economic mess they are facing you would think they would cut the average consumer some slack.

We (grant participants) are leaving for Boston on 21 June and are returning 25 June ~ actually closer to 26 June since our arrival time is 11:30pm. I also want to visit family in NYC since I am going to be in the general neighbourhood. My plan was to not return with the charter but hop on the ole Amtrak for a sightseeing adventure. It was only going to set me back $62. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

The next step was to ask our director, a.k.a. 'Boss Lady’, to help me change the ticket home. Yikes, she served me my head on a platter ~ “…in the future, when you travel with a group, you need to let the director know early…”! Ummm, I CLEARLY remember telling her at the start of this grant that I was planning to do this AND she wrote it down! Either she forgot or misplaced the paper; my mistake was assuming it would get done. At least I was smart enough NOT to send the email with my less than polite comments.

Anyway, I called the airline’s help line. The operator’s English skills left a lot to be desired but she was able to give me some information. First it was going to cost me $150 to change the ticket, then an additional $138 for flying from NYC rather than Boston. Let’s not forget the $62 for the train! Grand total: $350. Not worth the headaches with'Boss Lady' or the airlines. Operation Plan B: I booked my own flight departing on 29 June and returning 8 July for a grand total of $218!!!!

My question, why the $150 to change the ticket? I was not cancelling the trip. What happened to customer service? Now I need to let ‘Boss Lady’ know that I didn’t mess up her paperwork; lesson learned.

ttfn,
~ba