KLM Shame on you!!

Today I had to change my business class flight departing from Amsterdam due to a family member’s serious health issue. I paid a business class ticket because I like to have flexibility when I travel and am faced with changing schedules from time to time. But when I wanted to change my ticket today, I was told by KLM that I would have to pay almost as much again to change my ticket – making the total outrageously high. I have an office in San Francisco and make this trip every single month. KLM gave me a platinum card for life because of all the flying I have done with their airline – but the only real use that card seems to have is as an icescraper in wintry conditions when the window of my car freezes over!!

KLM already wasn’t one of my favourite airlines because of the way they make it impossible to use your airmiles when you want to. They are now in my black book – is this the new way to steal from your customers??

Shame on You, KLM

Alternative for Heathrow

It surprises me time and time again how few people really use London City Airport. If you do not have to catch a connecting flight to other countries, London City is a much better option then either Heathrow or Gatwick. Heathrow in particular is a disaster these days, endless queues, infinite distances to cover on foot and long check-ins, all in all you really need more then a few hours to get through. At London City, the short check-in is wonderful and the security check is done efficiently with about as many lines open as the whole of Heathrow.Even the people at VLM are very service oriented and friendly to help you change your flight. On top of all that, there is a perfect connection to the City of London (the DLR, Docklands Light Railway) which isn’t far from the airport in any case. London City Airport has a single-runway – and is only used by airliners with short take-offs and landings. You can fly to City airport from many other European cities – from the Netherlands, there are two airlines that have a reasonable amount of flights each day.

Definitely a huge time saving if you have meetings in the City itself.

Efficiency: 8.5
Service/Security: 8

Delta, Hotels and Atlanta Airport

When you have as busy a travel schedule as I do, you quickly notice a number of things that are directly opposed to the economic recession.

That airports have turned into “traveler’s hell” is commonly known. In particular the security areas are not adding to the overall fun of travel. Airlines suffering a turndown in times of recession, are reacting to that brilliantly by decreasing their level of service even further. This past week I was at Atlanta airport twice, coming in and leaving. Both experiences were nuggets of brilliance in how terrible it can be – when you arrive, even if Atlanta is your final destination, you have to pick up your bags, go through customs, drop your bags on another belt and then go through security again before you can leave…taking overall a good 1,5 hours after you have left your plane. If you are lucky. Departing I once again had to deal with the incredibly bad service Delta provides at Atlanta airport. I travel there regularly – but I have not yet had the pleasure of an unobstructed departure. There always seems to be something wrong with my ticket, they can’t find your reservation, or you are not sitting in your reserved seat. It always seems to be aggravation and if you say something about it, they put on this record that you will have to take your complaints in writing to their customer service department. It’s a bad sign they even have such a department, let alone all the representatives knowing its address and details by heart. You see their mouths move as they drum up these platitudes, but their eyes are void of any empathy with their customer. A very interesting strategy when it comes to customer acquisition and retention.

Then Hotels – what you see here is that they use more and more interns – for obvious reasons. However they have no clue as to what they are doing – because there isn’t anyone training them – they are just cheap. I keep being amazed how large companies in time of receding revenues seem to think so little about client retention and acquisition.

A major exception for me is always the W in Atlanta – staffed with great people that make the hotel, and make you feel truly at home. A pleasure to experience.
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KLM

There is a lot of discussion these days about Customer Service, since particularly at the moment it is crucial  to keep your customers loyal to you. Acquisition costs for new customers is much higher then investing in keeping your existing ones. I was travelling to Germany yesterday – on the D Pier at Schiphol Airport I thought I would use the KLM lounge. Some years ago, KLM awarded me the highest status of their frequent flyer’s program – For Life. This because I have spent a lot of time and money flying with KLM around the world over the past 25 years. I have always considered their appreciation in the shape of this permanent high status as a great way to stimulate customer loyalty. On the D Pier however, at the lounge, I was confronted with a “hostess” who would have done better being a public servant in the government – inflexible, rigid and belittling. I have not had people speak to me like that since kindergarten. When we were kind of laughing a little after we finally sat down – she actually came over to tell us she did not like us laughing!?? It is clear that KLM needs to either change their training programs or use a different selection process for its staff if they want to keep their current customers.