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Top Airlines of the Year

MSNBC released the results of an airline survey by Zagat. Here are some results:
  • Top Economic Class: JetBlue. With newer planes, younger crews, and first-check bag free, I flew JetBlue several times after I moved to Syracuse.  
  • Top Premium Class: Continental. I am not sure if it will sustain after the mergers with United.
  • Top Frequent Flyer Program: Virgin Airlines.
  • Top Best-Value-for-the-Ticket: Southwest. I often flew Southwest when I was in Texas. I hope Southwest will fly to Syracuse soon.
  • Top Flight Entertainment: JetBlue. I really like the individual “entertainment system.” I recalled that I flew Singapore Airlines in 2001, when I first experienced my individual game/movie system in my seat. Entering 2011, I wonder why there are still very few airlines that adopt this concept.
  • Best Airport: Portland, OR. I agree that JFK and LaGuardia never brought me any pleasant experiences. Period. In terms of big airports, I like DFW the best.
I shared a family story about how a person may build or ruin a company’s reputation in the summer. Customer service is just crucial in the service industry. What are your experiences with airlines and/or airports? How did the services you experienced affect your impressions to the airlines and/or the airports?

 

Comments

  1. My overall experiences with airlines and airports have been fairly good with a few exceptions. I have to say my worst experiences flying has been with American Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Not only were their prices ridiculous, their customer service was just not up to par. The attitude of their employees was not friendly and left a bad impression on me I will definitely not be flying with these airlines again.
    The world service in an airport by far has been LaGuardia, I recall two summers ago, my first time being in LaGuardia and realizing it was such a small and under developed airport. The customer service was not like that of JFK, which I feel is exceptional. Besides the busy traffic at JFK, I feel it is one of the best airports in the US, this is probably because I live in NYC and am used to the so called "New Yorker attitude" and way of life. I also like Denver International Airport, I think they have some of the friendliest and nicest employees by far. My experiences flying with AA and Frontier, and traveling from LaGuardia left a bad taste in my mouth so to say, and as a result I will try my hardest to never again travel with them. I agree with Zagat's ratings and love JetBlue and their service.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Without a doubt, my most memorable customer service experience at an airport was at JFK before I started my semester abroad in London. I had taken a connecting flight from Washington, DC and had mistakenly left my Passport on the flight from DC. As I was checking in for my flight to London, I realized I had left it on the plane, which was a Delta flight. I had to run to the Delta counter to have them help me get my Passport from the plane. The customer service desk actually got the plane to stop on the runway before taking off for a flight to Canada so they could check for my Passport. It turned out that it wasn't on that plane, but they did find it in the Lost and Found. I was so traumatized from the experience, and the people at the counter and at the airport were so helpful and kept me calm throughout the experience.

    This was one of my first experiences with JFK, and left me with a great impression of the airport and its staff. Customer service is of the utmost importance, always. In my situation, I was already traumatized and afraid I had lost my Passport. Not only would my abroad experience have been delayed, but bad customer service would have caused me to panic even more.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Most of my airline experiences have been positive with the exception of a US Airways flight from Orlando to Binghamton during December of 2008. I had been in Disney World with some college friends for a week when a snow storm rolled into upstate New York the evening before I was expected to fly back home. The chaos began when my flight out of Orlando to Philadelphia was delayed by ten hours. Not only did this delay make no sense at all (airport attendants said that the alterations were made to "beat the storm"), but I was then stranded in Philadelphia for the next 26 hours because all flights out were cancelled. To make matters worse, the airline refused to take any responsibility for their poor judgment call (flying me out of Orlando late), and would not assist with finding, reserving, or paying for a hotel. After I finally got back to Binghamton, almost 2 days later than originally planned, my luggage was not recovered for a full week following my return.

    US Airways refused to subsidize any costs I endured due to my flight issues. The customer service department even rejected any responsibility towards the extra parking fees applied to my car for my delayed return, and refused to refund the $50 I paid to check my luggage after they lost it for a week. I'm not a difficult person to work with, and there were several opportunities US Airways could have utilized to improve my personal experience and regain my support. But because personel literally did nothing to help with tnhis disastrous situation, I will never fly with US Airways again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Most of my experience for airline services have been good but there is one bad memory from the service. It was united airline, when my mom came here in syracuse at the beginning of my college year, on the day of heading back to korea, her flight was cancelled for some reason.
    It was not us, it was them but they just said "sorry the flight is cancelled". Also they were acting like not gonna do anything about it. No rescheduling or refunding or anything.
    I felt even racism sort of from their reactions.
    Since the day it hsppened, I never use the united airlines.
    I strongly agree with the fact that the customer service is crucial in the service indusry.

    ReplyDelete

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