Frequent Flier Programs- My Experience

Photo Courtesy photoend.com

The Story So Far:

Entering the Terminal one cold evening, I was counting on the number of the flights I have been taking over the week. The familiar sound and smells of the airport greeted me and home felt so far from where I was. Dead tired after a days work I looked forward for some relaxation. My assurance was the Platinum membership I had with the airline that I fly almost 4 times in week. 

Walked towards the check in counter of the airline. Very long queue. Searched for any counter who would love to attend to their 'guest' who till date had never thought of any other service provider. To my dismay there was no such counter  and after reaching the end of the long queue, the staff did not even bother to blink an eye to welcome back on board one of their premium guests. I was dismayed. 

The list of disappointment did not end here. Asked the staff if I could get an upgrade from the normal economy to Business. I had all the desired vouchers but at home. The staff crudely replied, "No Voucher..No Upgrades! Its the new Co. policy" Dejected, I collected my boarding pass and searched for a lounge to relax for sometime. More disappointment followed. 

The 'Favorite' airline of mine had shut down most of the Lounges. So the Platinum member, was scrounging for a seat in the congested waiting lounge. So much so at the time of boarding or at disembarkation, the Platinum Guest was meted the same treatment as any other passenger. The business class seats were almost empty and I wondered what stopped my 'Favorite' airline offer me some comfort. The grand finale of my experience was at the conveyor belt where in the Priority tagged baggage came  last. This was the last nail in coffin for the Platinum Member. It was time I introspected on what happened and the amazing fact is that it still keeps happening. During the period of introspection, I was trying to find faults in me. The Airline is always right. They have the right to create policy and the passengers have to follow suit. 

My personal notes:

Indian skies are currently catered by 2 players. Jetairways and Indigo. Indigo is a no frills airlines. No frequent flyer programs.And they live up to the name. 

Whereas with  my experience, Jetairways and its counterpart Jetlite promotes all facilities of premium airline, but in reality behave like a no frills airlines.If that be the case, it fine with me as long as they discontinue all "Privileges" rather than disappoint customers. 

All likely the airlines would say that I should read the Terms and Conditions, but ask any passenger or for that matter the concerned who made the policy whether he/she reads the terms and conditions of all products that they use in the day to day life. 

When you give Privileges, it should not look like being given as a charity. 

What do I expect: 

Most Important: If the airline cannot bear the cost of a program- Discontinue it. Inform the customers and there ends the matter. No bad taste and no mistrust. But avoid bringing in the word "Policy" to deny privileges. Alright, the airline still wants to continue the program, then my expectations are as under.

I don't expect any out of the world stuff just because I fly with an airline out of compulsions. But here I pen a few points which I believe will make me feel fine for being associated with the the airline. And if the airline is seriously into cutting costs, these points will hardly cost them anything. 

1. The staff at the counters are the face of the airline. Train them to great the customers, be it a regular or FFP member with courtesy. Add a extra few words for the member. 
2. Surprise your Privilege Members: Throw the policies to the wind. Rather than have empty seats in Business, why not upgrade a few privilege customers to business based on availability and catering capabilities than denying based on policy and vouchers, a surprise upgrade will bring delight and not make him or her blog the dissatisfaction. Delete a voucher from the system if need be so.
3. Religiously deliver what you promise- The tangible result is to see, for example, the baggage come on priority on the belt. Lame excuses from ground staff blaming the loaders will bring no respite. I see it as a failure of system to deliver. 
4. Privilege Check in- All high density airport to have a privilege check in counter. 
5. The next benefit a frequent flyer looks forward is  the lounge access. Cant afford to have a lounge at the all stations? Stop the entire facility since I feel that a  privilege member who is flying out from a small city has made no mistake which made him ineligible for the lounge.
6. Excess Baggage Allowance- Be it code share or primary, if you earn points on a certain flight you are entitled to use the privileges. You earn miles because you are paying for it in the ticket. What makes the airline think that their code share partner can charge for the miles but not allow me to use the excess baggage in it. Ready made reply - POLICY.else read the terms and conditions...hmm!
7. Campaigns and events- Conducting some exclusive activities for the privilege members will give that feel good factor. A dinner at a regional hub for invited guests, specific mailers and online campaigns, small gifts not more than a membership color pens, key chains, stickers etc will add value  to the membership.
8. Provide more avenues to redeem miles not just on flowers and high class hotels.  

I do have a lot to share but then I expect the blog to convey my thoughts.

Conclusion:

Currently my feel of being a Platinum member is that the Airline has done a favor by upgrading my status and that I am at the mercy of their policies, terms and conditions because I have no options other than be with them.

If that's the case, my dear Airline, please note that market itself will someday or the other open better options for the customers. Once that happens it would be a herculean task to get your frequent fliers back. Spend a little on them now and reap benefits during the rainy days. As we all know, its much more costly to get new customers than it is to retain the ones you already have!!

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Note: The comments on my blog are no longer moderated. Feel free to express your thoughts with some discretion of course ;) !

How Social Media Won Me-The #Jetairways Story

The Background:

It was an average end to a morning service flight. Standing next to the belt was me waiting anxiously for my baggage. Ahead of me beyond the airport lay series of meeting, presentation and anticipation of cracking an all elusive deal. Baggage delay was the least that I anticipated.

The Priority membership assured the baggage to come first. The bags start to roll in and to my dismay my Priority tagged Bag came the last. Gloom sets in, the feeling of being cheated by the very airline I flew almost 8 sectors in a week was unbearable. I opened the Twitter app and tweeted my grievance with @Jetairways and #Jetairways marked prominently. I wanted the whole world to know on what I went through,

It was only matter of hours, when to my pleasant surprise was a reply from Jet. Yes they have listened to me and not just heard. The tweet had the fullness of life and not a bot-ish reply. The most popular airline in India seemed just a tweet away to me. Over couple of tweets and phone calls from the concerned from Jetairways,  my baggage delay was escalated to reasonable levels and now I rarely get the opportunity to complain to that issue. Jetairways listened all because of the social media team intervention at the right time.

My pet peeve was sorted and from an "angry not so young man" with Anti Jetairways sentiments, I got converted into a brand ambassador for Jetairways especially on the social media.

What went right:
That was the story so far and its time for a quick introspection on what went right from the moment my first tweet was sent to the social media team. My views are summarized as under:

1. The tweet was replied within a short span of time - By this I got the confidence that this co. means business
2. The content of the tweet- The 140 characters had my name in it followed by an apology. Personal touch was immediately seen.
3. Tone of the tweet - The first feeling I got was that someone "human" was there who was keen to listen and also would be a solution provider rather than the gimmick solutions provider we interact when we call the mobile cos. help line in India 
4. The follow up -  The Tweet and the reply was not the end of the matter. The social media team at Jet ensured an escalation which was followed by the customer care dept making a phone call to my delight.
5. Closing the loop -  Once the issue was resolved the social media team ensured to close the loop
6. My open appreciations - My Thank You sent as a Tweet to Jetairways closed the complaint as well as informed the public that the Social Media team resolved my issue. It was actually my way of expressing gratitude to the Jetairways social media team :)

What is required before the Social Media team is set up:

In this subsection I share my thoughts on what makes social media a success for an organization.

1. Strong infrastructure: Jetairways seemed to have the a strong infrastructure and a proper communication channel to resolve issues. Aviation industry has the benefit of getting complaints after the service has been executed. This benefit does not go with other service industry like Phone cos. automobile cos, banks etc. So having a good social media team and a back up customer care will in fact help aviation attend to customer grievances better. 
2. The Right Social Media Team : Jetairways had the right bunch of people manning the social media deck. Be it Facebook or Twitter they interacted with people the way the people wanted to. 
3. Right Content: No unnecessary promotions or spams. Just plain good talking in the most uncomplicated way with smileys etc. This, as I mentioned earlier, gave the human touch. 

Conclusion:

Social Media when handled the right way can create brand ambassadors against having bad influencers. This tool was not available in the early part of the 21st century. With competition picking up, retaining customers should be focus of Cos. and what better way to connect in the current scenario than the social media way. Email responses to me are monologue and slow but social media gives a simplified two way interaction. 

Taking cue from my experiences shared above, do hope to see more service providers ramp up to : Be With Customers so the Customers are Listened to and not just Heard. 

And to the Jetairways Social Media- You have won a customer for life!

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Note: The comments on my blog are no longer moderated. Feel free to express your thoughts with some discretion of course ;) !