So I came across this article on CNN travel and I must admit I found it a little disturbing. Don’t get me wrong, I think the message is spot on, it’s more like the fact that the article had to be written in the first place is the reason it disturbs me. It’s called “6 tips for getting your way when you travel.” At first I thought it was going to be about yelling and flailing arms at gate agents to get upgrades (never works) or repeating the same gestures at hotels for discounts (always works), but I was actually surprised in a good way to read it was about being polite!

In an industry where so much is out of so many people’s control, and where one series of events can cause a domino effect that can ripple across the country and disturb thousands of travel plans, it can be very stressful. I feel for people who work in the airline industry’s frontlines and get the brunt of the frustration and anger. And you know what? Nine times out of ten it’s not even their fault. But it’s not even limited to the airlines. I worked in the hospitality industry for a year as a front desk clerk at a hotel and let me tell you, people really think acting bafoonish helps them get their way, but as this article points out, I was a hundred times more likely to help the patient and understanding people then the ones who belittled me.

But I digress… I can’t be too judgmental because I too have let myself get angry and out of control in certain instances… never really at airlines or hotels but more so at rental car agencies. Oh they just make me so mad! I just think this is a sector of the travel industry that has caused the most strife in my travel escapades. If the franchises would just have some consistency and if making a reservation meant actually having a car for you when you arrived, it would be way less traumatic! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard: “Yes, I see that you reserved a compact car, but we are going to upgrade you to a minivan!” Yes… an “upgrade” because a minivan is an ideal vehicle to be driving around San Francisco and parallel parking into tight spaces. MMhmmm…

Maybe a little human decency is all the travel world needs. After all if your day is going bad imagine the employee’s day that is having to deal with you and a hundred other upset and disgruntled customers. Can’t be too much fun. So give an airline,hotel, or other travel employee a break this Holiday season by saying something kind and nice!

Tags: behavior, travel news, Travel Tips

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Travel News, Travel Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.