Miami Airport Turns to Disney for Customer Service Training

by Catherine Bodry on

It’s no surprise that airport personnel might need some sprucing up in the customer service department. After all, dealing with angry, delayed customers day after day is bound to make even the most serene Buddhist monk a bit frazzled. But rather than send employees to airport charm school, Miami International Airport is looking to Disney for a model of excellent customer service.

So far, 400 airport employees have attended classes at the Disney Institute. There, they’ve learned that when things go wrong, it’s not their fault — but it is their problem. Knowing that, they can, I hope, exude sympathy and understanding.

While personnel won’t be donning Mickey ears anytime soon, they’ll still be easy to spot in chipper tropical shirts. And really, it’s pretty hard to feel grouchy in a bright, palm-treed polo. Right? Rrrrrrrright….

[via Msnbc]

PostSecret: Travelers Unload Their Baggage

by Kelly Amabile on

The anonymous aspect of travel lends itself well to secrets. This is what Frank Warren reminds us in this New York Times business article from a few days ago. Secrets set free on postcards — have you heard of the PostSecret project yet? We mentioned it here over two years ago. Now, several books and many more postcards later, the secrets continue to flow. Warren’s newest collection of postcard submissions, A Lifetime of Secrets, hit shelves this month. He is currently on tour promoting the book.

The postcards Warren has received and compiled into his books are not solely about travel. But in his short New York Times piece, he reflects on the ones that are inspired by airplanes, terminals, boarding passes and pilots.

What are your travel secrets?

I’ve got a few that involve long-distance relationships from years gone by, when frequent flights and expensive phone calls ruled the day. Warren’s piece inspires me to scribble something secret on a postcard and send it along (see submission address at bottom of page). Do you have some travel-related secrets – gripes, pains, jokes – that are yearning to break free? If so, find yourself a postcard and set your top-secret travel tales to the wind…

Smaller Airports a Traveler’s Pleasure?

by Jamie Rhein on

My dad LOVES flying out of Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York. Once he found out he could get out of the Hudson Valley in upstate New York without heading to Newark, JFK or La Guardia and the hassle that comes with mega airport travel, he heads to Stewart if he can find the connections.

This summer when I landed at the airport in Bellingham, Washington and found the Hertz car rental counter so close to baggage claim that I could pick up my bag and rent the car at the same time, I was hooked on the simpler life. I’m not alone. According to Gary Stoller’s article in USA Today, business folks often prefer smaller airports without all the amenities that the bigger ones do.

Convenience is the reason. There isn’t as much traffic to get to them, car rentals, as in Bellingham, are closer, gates aren’t miles apart to get to or for connections between flights and security lines are generally shorter.

Not all small airports are equal, however. Some lack in speed when it comes to uniting passenger with bags. Austin-Bergstrom airport in Texas is one of the culprits. This slower than molasses in January approach landed it on the bottom of the ratings. Texas generally does airports right, though. It has the highest ranked airport as well, plus a few high ranking others. William P. Hobby airport is number one. Dallas Love Field is number two. San Antonio International Airport is three and El Paso is number four. I found it interesting that Port Columbus International (in AP photo, Jay LePrete) is ranked number 17, only two higher than Austin-Bergstrom. If it’s not one of the best, I have to say, it’s not bad. As a helpful hint, Wendy’s has $1 meal options, but you have to go there before you go through security.

Large airports still have a large fan club in tact. If you miss a connection, it’s more likely you’ll get another flight fairly quickly. Plus, there’s more to do to pass the time in airports geared for keeping the masses entertained while they wait.

Booking Stragies for Hub Captive Flyers

by Grant Martin on

If you happen to live in a city where the airline market is dominated by one carrier (Minneapolis: Northwest Airlines, Houston: Contintental Airlines, etc), you’ve probably been subjected to the semi-monopoly that they can impose. It irritates me how they can complain about rising fuel and air traffic control costs while they charge 350$ for a one way flight from Detroit to Columbus Ohio. Yes, that’s 161 miles.

The thing to remember is that the price of tickets is dictated by the number of open seats and the demand for them; unfortunately demand is higher in hub cities where you have little choice of your carrier. But if you can get to a small feeder city where demand is lower, the price will often go down.

Take Detroit and Flint. The price for a DTW-SEAttle flight between October 15 and 22 is 716$. Plug in FNT-SEA though and you’ll get 536$. Often times, the leg from FNT will connect in Detroit anyway and you’ll get on the exact same flight that was 200$ more departing from Detroit. Sure, Flint is an extra 30 minutes away and you have to connect, but I’d do it for the extra money and frequent flyer miles in my pocket.

Another thing is, you don’t have to fly all the way back on your return trip. If your flight is from CDG-MSP-STC (Saint Cloud, MN), you can just get off the plane in Minneapolis and have your buddy pick you up from there. Be careful though, bags will check through to your destination (domestically) and the airline will cancel the rest of your itinerary. Just be cautious, plan well and more of often than not you can work the system to your advantage. And you didn’t hear that tip about skipping flights from me.

Bizzaro NWA/UPS 757 Takes to the Skies

by Grant Martin on

If you happen to be flying Northwest on or near a transatlantic (TATL) route in the near future, keep an eye out for the 757 with a UPS rudder. Looks like Northwest needed a replacement part and the only thing they could find was from a UPS jet. I guess if it comes to operating with a ridiculous looking plane for profit versus a broken plane with no profit you have to go with the money; but its also easy to see here how high of a priority aesthetics are.

A plane like this reminds of driving around in my hometown in West Michigan seeing the beat up junkers with off-color fenders and hoods. Heck, for a couple of years I even drove a ’93 Ford Ranger that was tarp-blue with black quarter panels. And from my past experiences with these type of vehicles, well, it makes me kind of feel like this plane is kind of jerry-rigged.

But hey, it flies, right? Off the top of my head, the TATL 757 flies between Detroit, Hartford, Amsterdam and Dusseldorf, so if you’re in those areas, stay alert. Here’s another picture.