airlines

Editorial: Kayak and Delta Share Core Values – Zero Integrity And Dishonesty

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Delta Airlines Performs A Classic Bait and Switch, Doubling The Price Of An Airfare To Over $3000 After Hitting “Purchase”!

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I found two @Delta fares on @Kayak for $757 round-trip each to Naples, Italy on September 1st, but when I spent over 10 minutes entering our personal details and credit card info and then hit “enter”, Delta refused to process the ticket and doubled the price! Can you say “bait and switch”? Sure ya can, because that is exactly what Delta did. The message stated that the fare was now $1500+ each (over $3000 total – a $1500 increase from the advertised airfare) if I wanted to continue booking. I did not.

The transaction even hit my credit card because I received text and email alerts warning me of a possible fraudulent transaction. When I replied, telling my bank that it was not fraud, they replied and told me that the transaction had already been reversed.


As a retired military officer, integrity is my mantra. Obviously, Kayak.com and Delta Airlines do not undertsand the meaning of the word.

WTFO? Shame on you both!

This is exactly why we stopped flying Delta and started flying United exclusively. I will also consider using an airfare consolidator other than Kayak.com, like JustFly.com, from now on for letting this happen. I wasted 30-40 minutes of valuable time researching fares, departure times, flight and layover duration, and entering required information for payment, only to be told AFTER confirming the purchase that the fare was no longer available.

I think the FAA and Georgia Attorney General need to hear about this classic bait and switch tactic … don’t you?

The V.P. of eCommerce Operations ay Kayak replied to my concerns with this crap:

From: Esther – KAYAK Date: Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 7:54 PMSubject: Your recent KAYAK Feedback 

“Hello and thank you for contacting KAYAK and sharing your experience.

Please keep in mind KAYAK is a travel website whereby you search for travel options and we provide you with search results and choices on where to complete a reservation.  Further upon selecting the order to process with Delta you left our website and we no longer have insight into the reservation attempt or fares.  

Please keep in mind prices and availability change frequently and it is possible the fares changed from the time you selected an itinerary until you when you were completing a reservation. Further fares are not guaranteed and ticketed and confirmed.

If you require further assistance we suggest you contact Delta directly.

Thank you,

EstherKAYAK VP, eCommerce Operations”


My response was as follows:

“Once I go to the carrier’s website to complete the reservation, that fare should be locked in until I submit payment, which I did. Delta even charged my credit card before reversing it!

Don’t tell me a consolidator site as large as Kayak doesn’t have some pull with the airlines. Kayak should raise the BS flag with Delta. It’s not right to waste Kayak customer’s time. My post is getting a lot of attention and it doesn’t reflect favorably on Delta or Kayak.

Your reply is canned and self serving and I find it offensive. I did contact Delta and they refuse to respond. Why don’t you stand up for your customers? Kayak profits greatly from sending people to other sites, then you wash your hands? Integrity? “

CombatCritic

Here is the sorry, self-serving response from Kayak’s vice President of eCommerce Operatons:

“I am sorry to hear you believe my response is canned because it certainly is not. The intent of the reply was to inform you about KAYAK’s service which is a travel website whereby you search for travel options ( please visit: https://www.kayak.com/about to learn more).

Also, please keep in mind we do not set the prices displayed in the search results nor do we control any of the fares. Further, as noted, prices and availability can change quite quickly as a result prices are not guaranteed by booking providers until they are purchased and ticketed.

Hope this helps clarify further.

Kind regards, 

Esther

KAYAK VP, eCommerce Operations”

Like Hotels.com, who could care less about their customers (see my post on Guest House Vlado), Kayak is just another travel consolidator that makes money off of all of us by routing us to another website, then washing their hands of whatever happens next.


CombatCritic Gives Kayak.com and Delta Airlines 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A Spot On MY Quickly Growing “WALL OF SHAME” … More Bombs Are Better!

One Bomb Equates To:
“Fucked Up Beyond All Repair”

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Title: Editorial: Kayak and Delta Share Core Values – Zero Integrity And Dishonesty

Key Words: Kayak, Delta Airlines, Delta, airlines, airfare, Kayak.com, Delta.com, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, company, service, review, Yelp, Zomato, Tabelog
“CombatCritic” and “TravelValue” Are Trademarks of 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC

Copyright 2011-2016 – CombatCritic and 3rd Wave Media Group, LLC – All Rights Reserved

Wild Goose Chase, Then Premature Closing Left This Weary Traveler Unimpressed

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United Club
O’Hare International Airport – Concourse F
Chicago, IL 60666
My experiences with United Airlines are hit-and-miss, occasionally brilliant, but more often than not disappointing.
 
After being told by the agent at the United luggage transfer desk in Terminal 5 that my connecting flight would leave from “Terminal 1, Concourse C”, I made the mistake of believing him, finding out once there that it was actually leaving from Terminal 2, Concourse F, a 30-minute walk away. By the time I finally found my gate, I was not a happy camper, so I decided to waste one of my two United Club passes I get each year on their Chicago O’Hare (Concourse F) facility. 
 
With two hours before my departure just a few gates away, I asked the woman at reception what time they closed and was told “10pm, giving me a little less than two hours before I had to board my plane. Tired after nearly 20 hours of travel and 30 minutes of unnecessary walking, I decided to use my last pass and what a mistake that was!
 
What little food there was available (olives, hummus, pita chips, cheese cubes and Skittles) was mostly depleted at 8:15 when I arrived. An hour after I arrived and 45 minutes before their scheduled closing they started putting food and alcohol away as I was told “last call” by the bartender. Seeing little reason to stick around during the commotion and chaos of employees eagerly preparing to flea work, I decided to leave.
 
I asked the women at the front desk why the employees were shutting everything down well before closing time and with several customers still in the club, but was told “they want to go home”. I said, “yes, but you told me they were open until 10pm and it is only 9:15”. One of the women said, “you can make a complaint on the website if you aren’t happy”.
 
The only reason they get two stars is because of the free booze (well drinks, bottled beer, and wine), the place was clean, and the employees relatively friendly (a rarity in Chicago O’Hare).
 
CombatCritic Gives United Club (O’Hare – Concourse F) 3 Bombs Out Of 10 … More Bombs Are Better!


Read This Review And More On Yelp!

Title: Wild Goose Chase, Then Premature Closing Left This Weary Traveler Unimpressed

Key Words: United Airlines, United, airlines, airline, fly, airplane, United Club, club, Chicago, O’Hare, airport, terminal, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, food, definitive, review, guide

United Airlines: We Don’t Care (Sometimes), We Don’t Have To (But, Maybe We Want To) … I’m Confused!

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United Airlines, Inc.
77 W Wacker Dr
Chicago, IL 60601
b/t Lower Wacker Dr & Michigan Ave in The Loop
 
I do not usually write reviews so many weeks or months after the fact, but being in India for four months where Yelp did not yet exist, I felt compelled to add my two cents.

My first two of three United flights to Delhi were both two hours late and I had to rush through Frankfurt Airport to catch my final flight after already spending close to 20 hours traveling (with 7+ yet to go). I somehow made it!

However, when I recently checked my mileage balance on United.com, my final leg still had not been added to my balance, requiring me to submit a request that still has not been answered.

Airlines in general, and United in particular, just do not care about customer service because they do not have to. They know that most of us will probably purchase the cheapest fare, so it will only be a matter of time before we return even if their service is pitiful, which it usually is … rude check-in and gate agents, aggressive flight attendants, and poor on-time departure/arrival record … they should change their motto to: “United Airlines,We Don’t Care, We Don’t Have To”

As my India trip neared its end, I have to say that United came through with flying colors. 

When one of my wife’s return flights in mid-January was rescheduled, leaving her a 30 minute layover to clear immigration/customs, re-check her bag, and get to the next gate (IMPOSSIBLE), we contacted United and were quickly dismissed … “sorry”! But when we got our travel insurance company involved, they were able to change her flights and get her home in time to attend a meeting at work the following morning.

The saga continued …

I received a call in early February, three weeks prior to my scheduled departure, informing me that my 84-year old mother had been hospitalized and was not doing well.  I contacted my travel insurance company (Allianz Global Assistance/AGA Service Company /Jefferson Insurance Company) thinking that they would be as professional as my wife’s, but after 12+ hours of being ignored (on their 24/7 Hotline), I contacted United reservations in New Delhi.  They were not extremely helpful, but when I was finally transferred to an American employee, she was outstanding.  She quickly found me a flight two days later (i had to get from Southern India to Delhi the next day) and WAIVED THE $300 CHANGE FEE … without even asking.  I was able to get home to see my mother and spend a couple days of quality time before she passed away on 2/12/2015. At that point I was much happier with United.

and continued …

Then, just three weeks after my mother passed, my wife received word that her father had suddenly died in Naples, Italy where he and her mom live. I logged-in to my United account to search for “bereavement fares”, but even though a link appeared in the search results, there was no such information on their website. It turned out that United discontinued their bereavement fares at some point in the recent past. When I called United Customer Care, a deceiving term, I was connected with their offshore “care” center in Manilla, Phillippines where I was quoted $4000 for a single ticket … $1600 more than the cheapest fare available on Kayak.com and $2350 more than we eventually paid Delta airlines. Thanks for your compassion United!

I had been prepared to give United 6, 7, even 8, Bombs (3 to 4 stars) because of the recent positive experiences detailed above, but finding out post de facto that 15,000 of the 20,000 miles from the US to India and back I paid dearly for were not eligible for frequent flyer credits (K Class) and the $4000 quote for a last-minute bereavement fare changed my mind. So, I will now have to downgrade my previous ratings …

CombatCritic Gives United Airlines 3 Out Of 10 Bombs With Room To Grow Or Recede Further … More Bombs Are Better!
 
 





Read More Reviews By CombatCritic, Including United Airlines, On Yelp And TripAdvisor Along With Many Other Reviews And More!

Title: United Airlines: We Don’t Care (Sometimes), We Don’t Have To (But, Maybe We Want To) … I’m Confused!
 
Key Words: United Airlines, United, Airlines, air, plane, airplane, travel, airport, flight, reservation, agent, customer, service, CombatCritic, TravelValue, Yelp, value
 

Delta Airlines … Is "We Don’t Care, We Don’t Have To" A Thing Of The Past?

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Happy Campers
Am I just lucky or is Delta Airlines more user friendly than they used to be? Our recent experience has been nothing but pleasant AND SURPRISING after many years of intercontinental travel and an “I could care less about you because you have no other choice” attitude by the vast majority of airlines. If you have flown in the last 25 years, you know exactly what I am talking about.

It all started when we found a decent airfare for a Christmas trip to Puerto Rico. At $600, more or less, for economy round-trip tickets, we decided that we could afford a few weeks away from the freezing cold and a holiday in the balmy breezes of our tropical Caribbean cousin. 

View From 1st Class … Don’t Get Used To It!
When it came time to choose our seats, I was shocked that the first class cabin was an option, so I jumped on seats 1A and 1B! Woo-hoo … could this be a glitch in Delta’s system or were we really getting “premier” seats for the cost of an economy ticket?

The day before departure, I went online to check-in. A relatively simple process, I had done my homework in advance and resigned myself to the fact that we would be paying $25 per bag for luggage. I heard on National Public Radio just the day before that one airline alone had made BILLION$ this year in baggage and other travel related fees. I never realized how lucrative the airlines add-ons actually were prior to that, so it’s no wonder why they changed the rules just a few short years ago. So when check-in was complete and there was NO $25 FEE for our luggage, I thought I had won the lotto … YIPEEEEEE!

The next surprise came when we arrived at the Kansas City International Airport (they can call it “international” because the apparently have one flight to Canada per day) early on Christmas Eve morning.  Arriving and hour-and-a-half prior to takeoff, there was no line at the Delta counter and we were greeted by a smiling and friendly agent … was I dreaming?

Atlanta, Georgia from 10,00 Feet
Being retired Air Force and having lived overseas for 9 of my 20-year career, I traveled quite extensively by plane and rarely, if ever, encountered a compassionate agent. The best I could normally hope for would be non-committal or neutral attitude and, at worst, an openly hostile and aggressive personality and “we don’t care, we don’t have to” interaction.

The Delta agent was actually quite friendly and helpful, and we breezed right through check-in in less than five minutes. As we approached the security, the TSA Agent told me “you are pre-screened Mr. Sorrentino, please proceed to the gate (without the usual security hassles – shoes/belt off, computer out of the bag, etc.). I never applied for a TSA clearance, so they must have comped me for having had a Top-Secret Clearance and being a retired lieutenant colonel.

All first-class got us on the flight from Kansas City to Atlanta was early boarding, a couple free bloody Marys, and a piece of pound cake. Gone are the days of Mimosas and filet mignons on domestic flights, but hey, who’s to complain!

After much consideration, I think it was just a fluke, one of those times when the planets simply align and everything goes more smoothly than it is supposed to. Deep down inside I hope that the airlines are finally treating us like humans AND WITH JUST A LITTLE DIGNITY AND RESPECT because, after all, WE PAY THEIR DAMN SALARIES … THANKS FOR THE NICE EXPERIENCE DELTA!

CombatCritic Gives Delta Airlines 8 Out of 10 Bombs (On This Trip – 3 Out of 10 Bombs Overall) … Bombs Are Good!






Title: Delta Airlines … Is “We Don’t Care, We Don’t Have To” A Thing Of The Past?

Key Words: Delta, airlines, Delta Airlines, plane, airplane, trip, flight, vacation, customer, first-class, travel, value, TravelValue, CombatCritic, combat, critic