It pays to be an airline employee…or does it?

Airline travel could not be more stressful or disappointing. But airline employees and retired employees have it pretty well with non-revenue travel as a benefit. Or do they?

Apparently not, based on the air travel experienced yesterday and today of my friend and his wife, a flight attendant who just retired after nearly two and a half decades of employment with US Airways.

My friend and his wife arrived at their home airport in Providence, RI, yesterday to depart on a Fourth of July family vacation to Florida, and were pleased to be able to take advantage of their employee-earned non-revenue travel benefits. Luckily, they were able to make the flight to Charlotte, as non-revenue fliers are the last to be accommodated when there are empty seats.

However, their luck ran out. About an hour after arriving in Charlotte, their connecting flight to Florida was suddenly canceled. No reason for the cancellation was given (is anyone surprised?) until they pressed for an answer from a gate agent who finally said, “Says here maintenance.”

Of course, they were unable to retrieve their checked luggage. They stood by for a flight to an alternate Florida airport, but there were no seats. They ended up spending the night in Charlotte on their own dime, because displaced passenger accommodations are not offered to non-revenue passengers.

This morning they managed to get on the first flight to their original destination, but upon arrival, their checked bag was not there. They waited in line behind about 50 other passengers whose bags also did not arrive, and once they reached baggage services, inquired about the whereabouts of the bag and were told, “I have no way of knowing, we don’t have the equipment to track bags. We’ve got a new system where all the bags are scanned as they come off the airplanes, but we haven’t been trained on it yet, and who’s to say it will even work. I’ve filed a claim for you, as a courtesy. However, as airline employees, I need to tell you we won’t deliver this bag and frankly, I have no idea when we can even get it here.”

What? A courtesy claim? How could that be?

Well, it seems that since they were traveling non-revenue, US Airways does not guarantee the arrival or delivery of their luggage. In fact, the claim form reads:

THIS REPORT AND CLAIM DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE LIABILITY – DO NOT DELIVER.

And handwritten underneath that statement was, “Bag will not be delivered.” That is, if it ever arrives at all.

As my friend’s wife said, “This is just one more example of how much they ‘care’ for us.” Indeed.

June 28: CO 2256 AVL-EWR

This trip report is going to contain a little more detail because I have not flown them in a year and I am being attentive to the little things I notice!

I arrived AVL and there was a line at the CO check-in, but two kiosks wide open! Why is it people do not “trust” or use them?

Anyway, I went to a kiosk, entered in my CO number, and I printed my BP. I had the option of looking at other flight options, changing seats, printing a receipt, and printing CO Currency, which is how CO handles on-board purchases–you pre-pay for drinks, etc., and you get a voucher to give to the FA.

Towards the end of the transaction, it asked me if I wanted to go ahead and AUTO CHECK-IN for my return on July 5 and I could select e-mail as an option! So I selected e-mail, so CO will e-mail me my BPs 24 hours in advance of departure! And if I want, I can reprint at a continental.com or at a kiosk. I have to say, I fell in love with CO all over again just by interacting with such a SMART kiosk and technology system. I SO WISH that they flew closer to me!

We boarded and departed late due to a late arriving inbound aircraft. It was an ATC delay both ways. We were given a wheels-up time of 12:15 pm, 17 minutes late, and took off at exactly that time.

The first officer introduced the crew. According to him, the FA’s name was “Boss Lady” (really Kimberly) and the aircraft’s name was Ashley, “but don’t let her size fool you!” I like it when a crew has a sense of humor and interacts with the passengers!

Kimberly first gave us mini pretzels, two bags each, as the flight was not full.

She then offered a full bev service. I had a margarita using one of my CO currency coupons, upon which Kimberly commented, “Oh, a ‘big girl’ drink!” And, I responded, “And I’m a big girl and I’m not driving!”

This was a quiet, relaxing, uneventful flight–just the way I like it–except for a few bumpy, towering cumulus clouds upon descent.

We landed at 1:45 pm, about 15 minutes early. We were supposed to arrive at CO’s pod in Terminal A, gate A25, but at the last minute we were redirected to C99.

I LOVE this direct to EWR!

Grade =A