Blog and Back Again

Suggested Listening: Bananaphone by Raffi off the album Bananaphone

{{Thank you for calling Expedia.com’s customer support line. How may we assist you? Are you calling to book a flight, check on an existing reservation,…}}

I had scheduled my flight home for thanksgiving about a month and a half ago. I had planned to fly out on Tuesday and come back the following Monday, which saves a little money and avoids the big rush for the holiday.

And then I got into Cabaret…which meant that I had to be there on that Monday since it was the Monday before the show.

I’m on the phone with one of those automated systems.

“Existing Reservation”

{{…Thank you. Now, are you calling to change an itinerary, }}

“Yes”

{{ ask about special rates, rent a car}}

“Change an Itinerary.”

{{…one moment please.}}

sigh

“Hi thank you for calling Expedia’s customer service line. My name is Celia, may I have your full name?” Thank god a human. “And what are you calling about today?”

“Well, the thing is something’s come up and I need to change my flight.” I shrug. Nothing I can do about this.

“Lets look at your itinerary…I see you have a flight on the 24th of November from New York- JFK to Los Angeles LAX,”
“Yup”
“And a flight on the 30th of November from Los Angeles LAX to New York JFK.”
“Yesm”
“And what would you like to do?"
“Well I need to cancel the flight on the 30th and possibly change it to an earlier flight.”
“OK so you want to cancel your itinerary.”
“no just the one flight.”
“So you want to cancel the flight on the 24th?”
“30th”
“Ok so you want to cancel your return flight”
There we go. “Yes.”
“Why do you want to cancel this flight?”
“Well I can’t make the flight on the 30th and I need an earlier one.”
“ Are you sure you want to do this? There’ll be a fee for canceling your flight.”
“yup.”
“You want to cancel your flight.”
“Yes.”
“One moment please.”

I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s had to change their flight information. Stuff happens all the time…like getting cast in a play all of the sudden.

Celia comes back. “You want to change your return flight?”
“Still.”
“You understand that there will be a (blaaaaaaaah you’ve said this)”

It’s a pet peeve of mine when customer service people read from a script over and over again…granted that job doesn’t seem that fun so I should go easy on them.

“Yup. Still want to do it.”
“You’re sure?” It’s dissolving into an Abbott and Costello routine.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Ok…”

And finally I got my flight changed from Monday to Sunday. However, since I had also switched airlines I had to call the airline on which the ticket was originally purchased to let them know of the cancellation.

Delta.

Delta is…special as an airline

{{Thank you for calling Delta}} oooooh boy {{How may we assist you? Are you calling to make a reservation, ask about a current reservation }}

“Yes”

{{ ask about our travel packages, to hear these options again }}

“CURRENT. RESERVATION.”

-some time later-

“No, I don’t have a confirmation number. I just need to confirm with Delta that I’ve cancelled my flight on the 30th.”
“So you’ve cancelled your flight?”
“Yes”
“You are aware there is a fee for changing your flight. “ uhvwnwdnffgrrn
“It should be…I’m just calling to let you know that…”
“So you wish to cancel your return flight on the 30th.” Some progress.
“Yes.”
“may I have an email address to send the confirmation details?”
“C, the letter C, Jacobson at GM dot SLC dot EDU.”
“…so wait. GM @ SLC.EDU?
“Ah, no. GM dot SLC dot edu.” It is a confusing email address.
“SMC?”
“No no. SLC. Uh…sierra lima Charlie.”
“Ok. … ecu?”
“No. uh…uh emerald, dogma, unicorn?”
“Oh! Education!”
“Yes” he says as he exhales.
“So that’s Cjacobson@gm.saltlakecity.education”
“…yes.”

Well it somehow got sorted out and now everything’s all right. However the following morning I got an email confirming my cancellation with American Airlines for my flight on Tuesday.

{{Welcome to American Airlines. How may we assist you? Are you calling to book a flight, ask about a current itinerary... }}

Still busy as usual, It's been a while I know,

Chris.

p.s. All my flights are sorted now, so no worries people at home.

Closing Listening: Love Song for No One by John Mayer off the album Room for Squares.