Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Any Volunteers?

Yesterday, while I was at another airport waiting for another connection, the customer service rep came on the PA and asked for a volunteer to catch a later flight. The volunteer will get first class on a later flight (4 hours wait), a meal, and a $200 voucher.

A few years ago, I would be running to that service counter, as would a lot of other people. Now, they made the announcement 3 or 4 times and no one budged. Here are my two reasons for not volunteering.

First. I’m tired. To get cheap tickets I had to make connections. I have been up since 5am, and I just can’t imagine waiting another 4 hours and getting home at midnight.

Second, the only time I had any experience with travel voucher it turned out to be a total waste of time. It was when Sis and I were coming back from an overseas trip. Her flight home was 2 hours earlier than mine. This volunteer opportunity came up for her flight, so she volunteered thinking she’d keep me company and get a flight voucher.

What we didn’t know is that they make it almost impossible to use. She’s tried. They tell her she should book online and pay for her flight, then call a 1-800 number and use her voucher to get her money back. She tried to do that and was told she was misinformed.

Also, do you know they expire in a year? That’s what ended up happening with her voucher. They just gave her the run around until the thing expired.

5 comments:

PiggyBankBlues said...

i found out the hard way that the vouchers expire... air travel is not for the faint of heart, and it's saying something that nobody volunteered on your flight!

Esme said...

piggbankblues,
It really does say something when everyone pass on on free meal and money.

frugal zeitgeist said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. It sounds like you and I have similar attitudes and experiences towards air travel! Best of luck on your financial journey. I look forward to keeping up with your adventures.

Canadian Saver said...

Yeah, more than likely a lot of people knew this offer wasn't as great as it seemed!!

Anonymous said...

I've sat and ignored those volunteer requests too. However I do know that both Virgin and BA are very good to you if you "volunteer", my aunt delayed a flight from Washington DC back to the UK by 12 hours and was given a nights accommodation in an airport hotel, $100 for food and a free return ticket to anywhere- she opted for London-Sydney- and was able to use it without any problems.