Fired Airline Ticket Agent Reveals Airline Secrets (6 page)

So you want to sit in First Class

I think one of the most common questions I got as a ticket agent was, “Do you have first class on this flight?” And of course, the people who want first class are those that have usually purchased the cheapest fare. Those that have paid close to nothing for their ticket want to sit in the best seat for free. Well, here are some things you probably don’t know about first class. Every airline uses buckets, or classes of service. These buckets are in the form of letters. Each letter designates a bucket of service, and there are a limited number of seats in each bucket. Here are a few examples of various buckets — “A” class of service – the highest fare (full fare) first class ticket, or “Y” class of service – the highest fare (full fare) coach class ticket.

Other buckets of service include seats reserved for those that can be upgraded to first class with their airline frequent flyer miles, people who want to pay for upgrades to first class, or those who have reached an elite status with the airline because of very frequent travel.

So how does one get “bumped” to first class? The first tip I have to give here is to be nice to the ticket agent. Your fate is pretty much in their hands. If you are rude to them, your chances of getting upgraded are minimal. Also, you should always keep in mind that the agent can deny you boarding if you say something you shouldn’t. It is an agent’s discretion whether or not they allow you to board the plane. It doesn’t matter that you purchased the ticket; the agent could decide not to let you on the plane. And I can assure you that if you say something inappropriate enough, and the agent locks your reservation, and denies you boarding, you can be sure that you will not be on a plane that day.

Though it’s hard to believe, planes do and will take off with empty first class seats. This is because some passengers don’t ask to sit in first class because they either fear rejection or they are embarrassed. Always ask kindly if there are any seats in first class and if you can be upgraded as a courtesy. Avoid making jokes or saying things like “I deserve to sit in first class because the flight on the way here was terrible.” If you find an agent that doesn’t give you first class, you have other options. Don’t stop there. The best way to get into first class is if you ask a flight attendant, but clearly this can only be done once you’ve boarded the aircraft.

Most of the time, when passengers do not get into first class because of unwilling ticket agents, or busy gate agents, they will find that they’re able to sit in first class if they politely ask a flight attendant. First of all, don’t bother waiting until everyone sits down to ask them. As soon as you step into the plane, ask if there are any open seats in First Class and ask if it would be possible to sit there after the plane has taken off. Always say that you’d like to sit there
after the plane has taken off
. The reason for this is simple, but most people don’t see it. The flight attendants, although they appear to just be standing at the aircraft door greeting you, are really doing other things behind the scenes. Every flight needs to be sequenced. So, the flight attendant must make sure that everyone that is supposed to be on the plane is sitting on the plane, and is in their correct seats. So, by telling them that you are willing to sit in first class after the plane has taken off, gives them the opportunity to say yes more willingly. The flight attendant will ask what seat you are in, and you will tell them so they can come get you after the plane has taken off. Of course you will occasionally find a flight attendant that won’t be so easy. So, that’s when you have to use some tricks. To achieve a high level of customer service, the airline is likely to do much more for a dissatisfied customer to keep the customer from spreading bad gossip about the airline to others. If you were dissatisfied with something, try to tell someone in a nice way. Ask if it is possible to sit in First Class to alleviate the bad feeling you’ve gotten from other employees of the airline, and you’d be surprised what the airline will do to make you, the paying customer, happy. Other things you may want to try is telling the agent or the flight attendant that it is your first time flying, or that you are feeling ill if you’ve waited too long and the plane has taken off. Yes, you’re telling a little lie, but it seems to work well.

Volunteering for Overbooked Flights

Ok, like I mentioned earlier, all airlines are allowed by law to overbook their flights. This is because gasoline for planes costs a lot of money, so the airlines want to make sure the flight goes out as full as possible every time. The airlines actually have people that monitor how many people fly on every flight on each day of the week, and use this data to determine how overbooked the flights should be. Most people wonder what happens when everyone who is booked for the flight shows up. Well, that’s when there’s a problem. Let’s go through the steps again. At first the airlines begin to ask passengers if they will voluntarily stay off the flight for no compensation, or little compensation, usually it is very little initially. If nobody volunteers, then the agents are told to increase the amount of compensation, or offer the passenger say, first class, on the very next flight, (that could be taking off less than an hour from the overbooked flight). This is the chance for you to bargain. Airlines do not want to tell passengers that they cannot fly because the flight is overbooked. So, they will usually give you what you ask for, within reasonable limits. I have seen plenty of overbooked flight compensations go from $150 to $500 within a few minutes and little bargaining.

Remember, once the airlines have reached their maximum compensation, they will begin to involuntarily bump passengers. This means that passengers who have seats will be told that there isn’t enough room on the plane, and they will have to go on the next flight available. And these are the people that will ultimately receive the highest allowable compensation. The airline knows that these people will be upset because they have a confirmed ticket and they were told they were going somewhere, but instead, they are being told that they won’t be able to board the plane. This is when most of the altercations occur between passengers and airline employees. There are actually people that airline trains you about—they call them “professional volunteers.” These professional volunteers will go to the airport with the sole purpose of getting compensation because they study flights and know which flights are full and which will give them the best chances of getting a travel certificate for compensation. They will then sell their travel certificate for profit.

Finding out what flights are overbooked

Well there are many ways to find out which flights are overbooked. You could call the airline’s toll free number and ask them, but they won’t tell you every time. You may find out that if you call a few times, different agents will give you different information. A good way to find out is to call the airline’s toll free number and tell them you are an employee, and you are planning on flying standby, and would like to know if it is possible for you to make the flight.

The agent may ask you where you are stationed, but they won’t ask you too much info, so you need not worry about telling this white lie. Since employees fly standby, they call the airlines’ toll free number all the time, and ask, “How does the flight look?” so the agent on the phone can verify that there are enough seats open. So, if the agent tells you that there are plenty of seats open, you can be sure that you will get on the flight. If they tell you that there isn’t a good chance you’ll make the flight, then you could ask, well how overbooked is it. Even if they don’t give you an exact number, they will hint at how oversold the flight is. Sometimes, they’ll say this flight looks like it’s going to be a nightmare to compensate for, or they’ll say something like “it looks like there’s an overbook of 40 pax”

Getting the cheapest fares

Now, this is the real tricky one. This is the reason most people don’t travel—the airline ticket costs too much money. Well, there are many ways to get cheap tickets. I mentioned before that there is a website
www.airtech.com
, that offers customers standby tickets, but you must be flexible, and some of us don’t have that privilege. Here’s something passengers don’t know and that the airlines don’t want you to know. Let’s say you have a last minute trip you are planning. You didn’t know you would be able to get off of work, but then, you find out last minute that you have all of next week off. So, you decide you want to go somewhere. But, all the last minute fares are super expensive.

What do you do?

Fares vary. Everyone who has ever traveled knows how often fares change. They often can even change within a few minutes. If you call up a specific airline at 1:00 pm, and then you call them back at 1:05 pm, you may find that the fare has changed, and it has changed by hundreds of dollars. Here’s a trick to get the cheapest fare, and you will use this every time you travel. Everyone knows last minute fares tend to be the most expensive, but if you use this trick, they are the cheapest. This is a bit tedious, but it works every time.

Call up the airline’s toll free number and ask them what the cheapest fare is going to be from your departure city to your destination city. Don’t even bother giving them any travel dates. Just tell them that you are willing to go to your destination city at any time, but you want them to find you the cheapest fare in the computer. Here’s what I mean, using an easy example:

Call up the airline reservations number, and say you want to go from Los Angeles Int’l airport to Newark Int’l Airport anytime and on any date in the future. Tell the reservations agent that you want to go when it is cheapest. You are willing to travel any day.

The agent will find you a cheap fare, but the dates of travel are usually low season. Then, thank the agent, and ask for his or her name.

Write down the exact fare and the agent’s name. Make sure you write down the EXACT fare, in dollars and cents that the agent quoted you. And, don’t forget to write down his or her name. Then, you can go to the airport near you, with the paper in hand that has the information, with the name of the agent, and the fare, and travel dates that you want.

Once you go to the ticket counter, notify the ticket agent that you are paying for a ticket you purchased. The agent will ask you which reservation agent you spoke to on the phone, and whether or not they made the reservation for you. Tell the ticket agent that the reservations agent did make you a reservation, but you do not have the record locator or confirmation number handy. And then you tell them the fare, in dollars and cents that you were quoted. The airline is forced to honor that fare. If the agent refuses to honor the fare you have ask to speak to a supervisor. Once the supervisor has arrived at the ticket counter, tell them you made a reservation with XXXXXX on the phone earlier in the day, and that the representative quoted you at this fare, and show them the paper you have. Once the supervisor has seen that you have the fare written down, along with the representative’s name, they can store the fare in your reservation, and will honor that fare. The supervisor is allowed to bypass the fare in the computer because the fare you have written down will show up on his or her screen. There will be all sorts of rules and policies along with this low fare, but they will honor it. The supervisor will add a comment in the reservation, or PNR, noting that the fare was lowered because a quoted fare was honored. Many people try to make up a fare, and come up with this absurd number, and when that happens, even when a supervisor is present, the low fare isn’t honored because it is clearly a passenger trying to pull a fast one.

Traveling SUPER Cheap using Courier Travel

What is courier travel?
Courier companies often find that shipping material in the luggage space of an aircraft passenger is more reliable, timely, and economical than sending the shipment unaccompanied.  The courier company begins by purchasing a coach class airfare. They then resell the ticket to you and, in exchange for your luggage space, give you a discount on the airfare. The courier company uses your luggage space for the material it is shipping.
Are there any other limitations to courier travel?
Aside from having an adventurous spirit, you must also be at least 18 years of age to fly as a freelance courier.  Because courier companies use only one courier per flight, you must also be willing to travel alone. Occasionally, if you are trying to travel with a companion, a courier company may be able to arrange for flights on consecutive days.  Of course, you always have the option of buying one ticket at standard fare, or using some tricks I showed you before for last minute fares.
How much will I save traveling as a courier agent?
You will find that prices for courier flights change often. Typically you will pay between 25% and 50% of the standard, full fare ticket price.  However, those who travel at a moment's notice have been known to get discounts up to 85% off standard fare!  Courier airfares, as is the case will all airfares, fluctuate with the season and the demand for the particular destination. 
Where can I go as a courier?
Couriers service many of the world’s major cities of commerce. To find out specifically what destinations are available from cities near you, I suggest that that you call up the various courier companies that I have listed below.  Because freelance couriers are needed solely for the purpose of speeding the customs process, travel opportunities are available only on international flights.  Courier flights are almost always round trip.