My experience flying Delta Air Lines

I’ve done a lot of business travel over the years but I’ve rarely participated in frequent flyer programs. That only makes sense because I don’t mail-in rebates either, even if it could save me hundreds of dollars. In fact, even if I did mail in a rebate there’s an excellent chance I’d throw the sealed envelop with the check into a basket and not open it until long after the check is expired.

I don’t like being exposed to needless bureaucratic processes because it’s disrespectful to customers (or students, employees, citizens, etc.). This is a key pillar of lean manufacturing and one that is often forgotten or only receives lip service from management to the detriment of both the business and its customers.

As a side-note, this is where it helps to be in a relationship with someone who does not share your personality traits. Kelly doesn’t mind mailing in rebates, so when the salesman says, “And there’s a rebate!” and I say, “Who cares?” Kelly says, “I’ll mail it in!” and I say, “Fine. You can keep the money.” At least it comes back to our household. She opens her mail before it fills up a laundry basket.

As anyone who has done any traveling over the past decade could tell you, airline travel has gone from bad to worse, to the point where now it sucks royally. It’s a key factor in why I started this blog. I need a place to vent over the stupidity of airlines and air travelers. I’m generally an optimist but air travel could make a misanthrope out of the Dalai Lama.

The bottom line is that I’m so frustrated with air travel that I’ve decided to attempt to obtain status on an airline just so I can be brought up to sub-par treatment. Frankly, I think the idea of creating layers of importance for customers is infuriating. But the message has gotten through loud and clear. If you don’t have status on an airline, you’re just lucky to have a seat on a plane so sit down and shut up.

So I decided that going forward I’m only going to fly Detla Air Lines so I can try to earn status in their SkyMiles program. That means that I’m not going to fly directly out of Hilton Head Island anymore because that’s U.S. Airways. Rather, I’ll fly out of Savannah and connect in Atlanta. When other organizations book my air travel I tell them, “I fly Delta Air Lines and here are the exact flights I want.” My experience so far is that travel agents love me for this because it saves them time and effort.

In fact, this is exactly what happened for my recent trip to Dallas to meet with the American Heart Association. My reservations were booked through a third party and everything went smoothly. However, I didn’t have a seat assignment. This is a problem because I need to be in an aisle seat. I would rather change flights than sit in a middle seat or by the window with a stranger sitting next to me.

In the old days this would not be a problem. You would just go online or call the airline and tell them you’d like an aisle seat and they’d say, “No problem. You’re all set.” (This is assuming of course that you booked your flight far enough in advance.) But not now. The seat assignments are blocked out from low ranking customers like me.

I like the Detla Air Lines app for my iPhone but what good is it if I can’t pick my seat? That’s not to say I couldn’t upgrade my seat to a “preferred seat” or “economy comfort”. They’d be happy to charge me extra for an aisle seat toward the front of the plane or in an exit row. But as much as I hate sitting way in the back, I’m not going to pay extra to sit toward the front unless it’s First Class. This is just one of the many ways (including baggage fees) that the airlines are trying to wring every last cent out of air travelers.

In case you’re wondering, this happens to me every single time I fly Delta Air Lines. Here’s how I handle it. I get to the gate exactly 1 hour before the flight is scheduled to depart and ask the gate agent if they can please change me to an aisle seat.

So far, 100% of the time they’ve said, “Sure! No problem” and printed me out a boarding pass (which is exactly what happened on this trip — both ways).

Now, you might say, “Hey that’s great customer service!” but I can’t join you (even though the gate agents on this trip were very nice — especially the one in Savannah who greeted me with a big smile and was very helpful). Here’s the problem. They were solving a pseudo-crisis that never should have occurred in the first place.

I don’t blame them. I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the CEO of Delta Air Lines Richard Anderson.

Photo credit: delta.com (modified)

Perhaps some people don’t get stressed out worrying about whether or not they’re going to get an aisle seat or whether or not they’re going to find a spot in the overhead compartment for their carry-on luggage, but I do. Baggage fees have resulted in more people carrying bags on the plane and finding a spot in the overhead compartment like Lord of the Flies.

This is why I sometimes check a bag and walk onto the plane with nothing but my iPad. It’s worth $50 dollars ($25 each way), the inconvenience of baggage claim, and the risk that the airlines will misplace my luggage to avoid the dehumanizing experience of competing with the unwashed masses to get on the plane first to find a place for my bag. Or, like my recent trip to Las Vegas, I’ll buy a First Class ticket. But I shouldn’t have to.

Delta Air Lines did not create human nature. They just reveal it. I do not believe they are worse than any other airline but they certainly aren’t better (Update: a recent survey shows Delta has improved since 2011 but still not doing particularly well in the area of customer service — in fact none of the U.S. airlines are). I believe they allow this disgusting mob-like behavior to occur so they can reward their “special” customers (First Class, Medallion, Delta Sky Priority) by allowing them to board the plane first.

So, now it’s June 21 and I have 9,204 Medallion Qualification Miles and 8 Medallion Qualification Segments. I’m not even half way to the 25,000 MQMs or 30 MQSs required to achieve Silver Medallion Status. I don’t fly quite as much as I used to but I do have at least 3 or 4 more business trips coming up in 2012. I’m not one of the “road warriors” the airlines salivate over. I’m just a customer. There must be others like me who wish they were valued more by the airlines.

By the way, in case you are wondering, there are approximately 17 small pretzels (plus a pretzel fragment) in the little pretzel bag, which is more than I expected. I’d also like the guy sitting across from me who doesn’t listen when the flight attendant tells him to power down his Kindle that he’s a self-important jerk (no really — she meant everyone but you), and the only reason I didn’t say something is that I probably would have ended up escorted off the plane by a Sky Marshal.

If anyone has tips for dealing with the airlines please leave a comment.