David J. Danto
Principal
Consultant, Collaboration/ AV / Multimedia / Video / UC
Dimension Data
Director of
Emerging Technology
Interactive
Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance
eMail:
David.Danto@DimensionData.com Follow Video &
Technology Industry News: @NJDavidD
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It Was A Dark And Stormy Night…And The House Always Wins
It was a
dark and stormy night…no, really - it was.
A huge storm was coming up the east coast of the US. It had already wreaked havoc on homes and
businesses in the southeast and was due to pass through the New York area the
next morning. I of course was scheduled
to fly from Newark to Washington at 6am to be at an all-day meeting with a
client (and was scheduled to fly back that evening.) The one-day fare to DCA
is remarkably only about $230 US nowadays.
Of course - considering I would be stuck on a teeny regional jet I was
overpaying for the value of the experience - but that sarcastic reality aside
even I knew it that is a good price for a one day business trip.
However, bargain fare aside, it was a dark and stormy night.
I had to be at that meeting. I
knew I had no choice but to book myself on Amtrak’s Acela as the train would
probably run through the storm when the RJ probably wouldn’t. It was the responsible thing to do for my
client – and a bit over four hundred bucks later it was done. So the question was what to do about the $230
I already gave United for the flight that wouldn’t fly.
I of course checked their website and called to see if
there was a flight waiver – no dice. For
a fleeting moment I thought about making-up a dishonest excuse and seeing if
United would give me a refund – but I wasn’t going to lie, and for the most
part the airlines now don’t give refunds even if you have a legitimate medical
or bereavement excuse. (They say that is
what one should have bought insurance or a less-restrictive, higher priced
ticket for.) So with all the power in
the hands of the airline (the house) I had no choice but to wait and hope they
cancelled the flight. They didn’t.
As I was driving to the train station – and with 30
minutes before boarding – I called United and told them I couldn’t make the
flight due to the storm. (I didn’t want
to be recorded as a no-show.) They cancelled
the ticket. I took the train (and as
you’ve probably guessed the gods of irony opened-up a 30 minute clearing in the
poor weather and the RJ took-off.) So
the bottom line of this episode is that I have banked a one year, $30 credit
with the airline - $230 minus the $200 change fee. Whoopee.
As a business traveler I wish I could say this was a
rare problem – but it’s not. My
roundtrip to Miami in a few weeks needed to change to a return from Orlando
after I drive to meet with a client there.
Changing my ticketed return was over $100 more than just buying a new,
one way ticket back. Will I get credit
for the value of not flying that jet the thousand miles home? Sure – but the credit will be less than the
$200 change fee I’d be charged to use it.
In the world of airline travel, the domestic business
traveler is like grandma playing the slots on her once-a-year trip to Vegas – a
very low roller. Maybe she’s on the
mailing list, maybe she gets some offers or a loyalty/players card that say how
important she is, but any illusion that she is a high-roller or VIP is just a
lie intended to make her spend more. The
real VIPs – the whales
that the airlines will do nice things for – are the ones spending thousands and
thousands of dollars of their firm’s money on first and business class
international tickets. For the rest of
us, the house always wins and we don’t stand a chance. The spend-conscious, domestic business
travelers are just “over-entitled.”
The upshot of all of this (as many have said) is that
airline loyalty is a one-way myth.
Thankfully though, many more frequent travelers are beginning to see
through the lies. In today’s
environment, domestic business travelers are much more open to jumping ship on
any given trip. For example, my January
business itinerary going Newark – Vegas – San Fran – Newark isn’t entirely with
the airline I have million-miler status on.
Flying that Vegas-San Fran leg as a one-way fare on JetBlue saved my
firm a few hundred bucks – a third of the itinerary price. However - more than that - it felt
good not giving the money to an airline that isn’t treating me with
enough respect to warrant my loyalty.
Believe me, if business travelers feel better not giving their business to the
airline they have loyalty / status with then it is truly a dark and stormy
night for the airline industry. Who
knows what new business model the morning will eventually bring.
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This
article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own,
personal opinions. David has over three decades of experience providing problem
solving leadership and innovation in media and unified communications
technologies for various firms in the corporate, broadcasting and academic
worlds including AT&T, Bloomberg LP, FNN, Morgan
Stanley, NYU, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Chase. He now works with Dimension Data as their Principal
Consultant for the collaboration, multimedia, video and AV disciplines. He is
also the IMCCA’s Director of
Emerging Technology. David can be reached at David.Danto@Dimensiondata.com
or DDanto@imcca.org and his full bio and
other blogs and articles can be seen at Danto.info. Please reach-out to David if
you would like to discuss how he can help your organization solve problems,
develop a future-proof collaboration strategy for internal use, or if you would
like his help developing solid, user-focused go-to-market strategies for your
collaboration product or service.
All images and links provided above as reference under
prevailing fair use statutes.