Is the travel industry thinking small or just being small-minded?

True story: US Airways, which has been in the news this week for announcing it will add first class service to its smallest planes, sent frequent flier Margery Wilson the following apology late yesterday.

Earlier this week, we inadvertently delivered an email message to many of our Dividend Miles members’ email accounts. Unfortunately, one of those accounts was yours. Worse, this email incorrectly stated that we posted 1,000 Dividend Miles into your account. This was not accurate and the email message was sent in error.

We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused you and appreciate your understanding.

Wilson thought it was a belated April Fool’s joke. “If it wasn’t such a paltry amount I might be upset,” she said.

The same email was sent to quite a few frequent fliers last night, apparently.

US Airways is thinking small in at least one other important way: It wants to merge with another airline. Its CEO, Doug Parker, says there’s “one deal left.”

The week is full of other examples of “smaller is better” thinking, from the government’s approval of Google’s plan to buy ITA (some might also call that “small-minded” thinking) to Expedia’s decision to ditch TripAdvisor.

Less, it seems, is more.

I had a little encounter with less-is-more proponents in yesterday’s discussion on the Travel Troubleshooter, this site’s oldest and most established feature. Just scroll down to see the discussion.

Several readers voiced their disappointment that this site had turned into a free-for-all. They want me to go back to advocating for travelers and posting the results with less discussion. Specifically, they’d like to lose the polls — especially the ones they say are badly-worded.

They’re probably not going to like this.

You can see my responses to their criticism in the discussion. I don’t know if I have anything to add, except to say the polls — even the badly-worded ones — allow people to interact with the stories who wouldn’t otherwise do it. And besides, if you don’t like a poll, you don’t have to vote, do you?

I’m not sure what to make of all this. But I’ve never shied away from giving you my opinion, so here it goes:

US Airways’ plan to install first class seats in biplanes (I’m kidding) seems a little silly. Shouldn’t it try to improve the seats for all of its customers first before adding this frivolous new feature?

Regarding Doogie’s merger plans, why try to put together a deal with another airline when you’ll be able to buy its remains in bankruptcy court soon?

The Dividend Miles email to Wilson?

Ridiculous.

Here’s the note they sent to her on April 4.

Miles make you smile…
…And they get you where you want to be

We know you love award travel…and we love seeing you happy! So, we added 1,000 bonus miles to your account.* We hope these miles get you a little closer to your next award trip. Keep flying and using Dividend Miles partners and you’ll be on your way in no time!

They should have just let her keep the miles.

And the Orbitz and TripAdvisor developments? Never really understood what the fuss was with Google’s plans to buy ITA or with TripAdvisor.

PS — You have spoken: the polls stay.

  • Richard Shieldhouse

    Thanks for sharing this. I’ve been looking at fares from the US to Spain next month, and US Airways emerges as the cheapest carrier. Reading this reinforces my opinion that I will be better off spending a bit more and avoiding the USAir experience.

  • Roger

    Again, don’t loose the polls, just balance them with your regular content. We shouldn’t have 6 polls in a week, and we shouldn’t have a poll where the outcome will be obvious.

    - Roger

  • JustMe

    Richard, try Aer Lingus.

  • karlakatz

    Well, Mr. Elliott, you may add 4 more folks who received both emails. Everyone in our household received the “gift” from US Air, and just this morning, we all received the “claw back”.

    Why didn’t US Air just let us keep the freebie miles?

  • Sadie Cee

    I love this site, polls and all. The variety of POVs expressed testifies to how thought provoking the questions you pose are. Thank you for including us in the dialogue.

  • DavidS

    I too received the email saying I as getting 1000 miles. I thought “How cool is USAirways!” Not that 1000 miles gets much, but still a decent enough thought and nice gesture.

    I then got the “Oops!” email and was disappointed…not that I really needed 1000 miles, but how classless they are and how unimportant I really am to US-Scareways.

    I am not a regular USAirways flier, but sent a quick email off to them saying how classless I thought they were. At this point, I would feel insulted and not appreciate it if they even gave me 1000 miles knowing they really don’t want to.

  • Grant

    I received the “gift” of miles, and received the notice that they were un-gifting. I promptly removed my name from US Air’s mailing list. First class seats on express flights? C’mon, US Air, you’ve got to be kidding.

  • cjr

    I don’t mind the polls at all. I don’t think they need to be with every story, but I’m sure there’s happy medium to be found.

    As for US Airways, it seems like they made a mistake, then decided to compound it. Not good. And they want to add 1st class to small planes?

    Chris, thank you for taking into consideration my concerns regarding livefyre. The one Facebook comment above is quite right: it is yet another site to log into. I just don’t want to sign up for another account if you may not keep the service anyways.

    And I don’t want to use a third-party like livefyre to have it connect to FB/Twitter. It’s not so much the desire to remain anonymous as it’s simply that I just try and keep these accounts separate. Google wants more information on what you do, and Facebook wants to share all your information with everybody and anybody.

  • http://www.elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    @cjr, other than the authentication requirement, which I was also troubled by, the service treated all new comments in the cloud as proprietary. So if I ever wanted to go back, it wouldn’t archive the livefyre comments — they’d just disappear.

    I’d rather offer as many commenting options as I can, so for now, it’s WordPress and Facebook comments.

  • cjr

    It’s all good, and I don’t blame you for giving something new a try. :)

  • Joe in Calif

    1. Polls: Are you going to be controlled by the results? Meaning if you believe that intervention would help the situation and your readers think the OP is an undeserving whiner not worthy of assistance- will you listen to the readers? If not – then a poll in that situation is meaningless – this is YOUR site – you choose who to help and not help – its not a democracy.

    2. What was the asterisk in the email concerning the free miles? What did it refer to? I did not get the email but then I have not been on a Cactus flight in about 18 months now. Seems like there might be some limitation on those miles that has not been disclosed here.

    3. United has F on larger regionals. So what? Its’ their airplanes – if they want to hand out an extra package of pretzels and a free scotch or a beer in exchange for attempting to get more loyalty – then its their business.

  • http://www.elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    @Joe, yes, I almost always follow the polls. I can remember one recent case where it was 51 percent yes and 49 percent no where I went with the “nos” — but otherwise, I follow your lead.

    The asterisk said: “*Terms & conditions: 1,000 bonus miles do not count toward Preferred status.:

    Agree, US Airways can do whatever it wants.

  • http://www.elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    @cjr, could I ask you — and the others — if they know of any other cloud-based system that allows you to manage comments? I know Disqus is used by several mainstream media sites.

    I’m looking for something that handles whitelisting/blacklisting, integrates well with other social media, allows anonymous comments and does notification.

    Am I just better sticking with the homegrown WordPress comments I’m using now?

  • Crissy

    I also got the emails from US Airways. It annoys me because it is such a small amount. I’m going to change my flying habits, but it does leave a bad taste in the mouth.

    As for the polls… You have had a couple badly worded ones, I just don’t vote on them. But overall they have been a nice addition.

  • cjr

    Chris, I think the only service I’m really familiar with in any way is WordPress. I really don’t post in too many blogs like this, and I don’t have my own blog; I’ve always been more of a message board person. Sorry, I couldn’t be of more help with this stuff.

  • Jules

    On the whole, I don’t dislike polls. What I dislike is that you are asking the reading public to decide whether or not you should mediate a case. I do realize it’s a small amount, but after reading many viewer responses on prior issues I feel that it’s an unfair way to do this. When a person comes to you to mediate their problem, they are turning to you for a reason. They feel that they have reached no other avenue, and have tried resolving the issue themselves. When you leave it to us to decide whether or not you should mediate, the person writing you loses out if the voting public chooses no. I’ve seen some heartless replies in the past, especially in the case of the guy who left his sweater in the hotel. I saw so many people saying get over it, it made me sick.
    I would like to see you go back to mediating without the polls. The readers can still see the outcome and make their comments, and the person needing mediation still gets their help.

  • John

    Before US Airways puts first class seats in their regionals, maybe they could at least align the seats in Mesa Airlines 700s and 900s so you can see out a window. Right now you look at the side of the plane between the windows. Typical of the “we’re not happy til your not happy” attitude of US Airways.

  • christophe

    Polls are almost allways fun, and I think they’re a nice touch.
    What i don’t like is having to come back to the same post and scroll down to check what you decided and/or the results of your mediation !.

  • http://www.elliott.org Christopher Elliott

    @Jules, fair point. I don’t always agree with the commenters, either.

    You should know that I only do one “Should I mediate this?” post a week, usually on Monday, and I always ask the traveler for permission before I do.

    As I’ve already explained, I only started putting cases up for a vote when the commenters ganged up on me and told me I was mediating too many frivolous complaints.

    The only way I could think of to fix that was to let them help me decide the borderline cases. So that’s how we got here.

  • TOM BROLLINI

    Hi CE, I think polls are OK if not overdone, but, you have always seemed to be able to decide which people needed/deserved your assistance. So, polls on “helping” while sometimes interesting arn’t really needed.

    As for US Air, I’ve had to fly them a couple times but really try to avoid them, since they really suck. As for the miles, I might have received the message but I would routinely have trashed them without looking.

  • P.J. Zornosa

    Well, American Eagle has done this, too. What a joke.

    71% of AA flights to/from ORD from PHL are now regional jets. Oh, and with first class sections? Give me a break.

    Bring back standard sized jets. Period.

  • Dang

    I wish we have some authority (Like “ISOxxxxx”) to certify what are the requirements to be called First Class, Business Class, Economy PLus … like stars rating for Hotels or Restaurants.
    By experience, I see Skytrax is quite reliable for rating but have no certification power.
    Never travel on USAir, only on Allegheny Airlines in the 70′s which were merged or bought by USAir later. In the good old days, every airlines were nice and treated the passengers well.

  • Raven

    @Chris:
    I’ve read you for a long time. The first case I read was on your old site and I think it was the mother getting thrown off the plane in Orlando with the kids screaming “don’t take my Mommy!”

    Anyway, I like the site, the polls, even the comments.

    So, I say don’t change a thing.
    –Raven

    [I put this on the wrong article originally. Do you remember that case? I can't remember if anything was resolved with it.]

  • Kara Jones

    @Chris
    I really liked what Jules said. To add to that, when you ask “should I mediate this”, it seems that a lot of commenters suddenly feel that they have been giving authority (in the negative sense, like SouthPark’s Eric Cartman: “respect my authori-tay”) and they become bullies. (The “sweater” story that Jules mentioned is a perfect example.) I think that the polls should be reserved for questions like “which airline do you like best” and that sort of thing. YOU are the mediator and YOU are in charge of handling your cases – and/or choosing whether or not to do so – and I don’t think you should delegate that to your readers.

  • http://www.myitaliantravels.com Mark S

    I too received two e-mails for the same things. My biggest problem with any airline and more so with US air is why not just set a price and leave it. I have not taken flights a few times because there price was almost double what it was a few weeks before. After looking online to see the plane about half full you would think they would lower the price in an attempt to fill the plain. Instead they would rather get no new bookings and fly with half the seats empty. Maybe that could be why they are losing money.

  • Jules

    @Christopher,

    I totally get that, but remember this is your site, not the readers. I’m glad that you get the OP’s permission to do this, especially after reading some of the commenters.
    Lately, it just seems I see the polls more often than not. I truly enjoy reading the cases and your comments in between what they say. However, while a complaint may seem frivolous to your readers, it is most certainly not for the OP who requested your help. I know that if I came to you for help, and I found that my situation were going to be put up to a vote, I would be very saddened.

    Please do not take this as a complaint at you, I’ve actually learned more about the travel industry and the next time I have to travel by plane, or book a reservation, I am going to keep your tips in mind.
    Take care,
    Jules

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    America West used to have first-class seats on their CRJ-900s. After America West purchased the ‘old’ US Airways, they removed the firs-class seats from the CRJ-900s as well as reduced the number of first-class seats on the A321 from 24 or 20 to 16 first seats.

    First-class cabins will be installed on US Airways jets (CRJ-700, CRJ-900, ERJ-170, ERJ-175…the ERJ-190 already had 11 first class seats) that have 70 or more seats; whereas, smaller planes with 50 seats (CRJ and ERJ-145…both planes have only 50 seats) will not get the upgrades. Air Canada, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines already provide first-class seats on their smaller regional jets.

    I welcome this change since smaller jets have replaced mainline jets on several routes and/or have been added to several routes.

  • Steve

    You’d have to be insane to pay anything for “first class” on a regional jet. If you’re an elite-level FF on US Airways, then I supposed getting “upgraded” for free isn’t bad…but do they really expect anyone (who knows what aircraft they’re flying on) to pay out of pocket for the privilege?

    As for the FF miles thing, I can’t think of a much better example of cluelessness on the part of a business. 1,000 FF miles aren’t worth very much, and whatever small amount of money US Airways saved by taking them back is clearly negated by the loss of goodwill.

  • Michael K

    Wanted: Someone (anyone) who reacts to the “we added 1,000 bonus miles to your account [not]” gaffe in the same way that they react to passenger reservation gaffes.

    If a large business which presumably pays multiple employees to review content before it is sent out can commit this gaffe….. Seems to me that either we should be at least as uncompromising to US Airways in this case as towards a passenger who enters the wrong dates or the wrong name….. or we should be a lot more forgiving all around when honest mistakes are made.

  • Jennifer

    I got the same “gift” from USAir. I just wish they would have explained what happened. Seems like such a classless thing to do but I don’t expect much from USAir.

  • Brett

    What I’m confused about reading a lot of the comments on here from US Airways customers is they thought they should let them keep the miles. From what was posted above “this email incorrectly stated that we posted 1,000 Dividend Miles into your account. This was not accurate and the email message was sent in error.”

    The miles weren’t given then taken away. They were simply not given at all and people got an email they should never have received. Why should someone keep something they never actually got?

    Unless I’m missing something here, it looks like a simple communications error, and has nothing to do with the customers’ actual miles account.

  • Dave

    Unlike most of the posts I’ve read, I applaud USAirways for adding first class seats to the Barbie jets (BTW, no airline has added them to their “smaller” regional jets, only to the larger ones). Since these jets are now being employed on flights well over 3 hours (e.g., IAH-SFO), passengers deserve some level of comfort, even if the airlines won’t deign to provide the service.

    Would I actually pay a first class fare for one of these seats? No. But if I’m making a connection to a flight to Hong Kong, for example — or worse, FROM Hong Kong — and I have paid for a higher-class ticket for the long flight, I should be able to get that same type of seat for the domestic leg.

    I’ll admit that I am a big person, as well, and the extra width of a business or first class seat is something to strive for. I’m not so big I overflow the armrests in coach, but I’m big enough in the shoulders that I can’t sit straight without encroaching on my neighbor (or the wall, since I like window seats, and the wall doesn’t have anywhere to go).

    Of course, it’ll be a cold day you-know-where before I ever fly US again, but that’s a different rant.

  • Jo Anne VG

    I manage 5 USAir accounts (all family members incuding my own) and we all got 2 messages. Biggest PR mistake USAir made was NOT actually giving customers the 1000 to keep them as “loyal” customers. 1000 is nothing to them – especially when I’m waiting for the ball to drop on raising awards as United is going to do in June. Oh, yeah, United and USAir – partners in crime when it comes to collecting and awarding miles – something to think about. Beware, somethings up especially when they announce they are “interested” in merging. I don’t trust any of them.

  • David Z

    @Brett

    It’s just that people were expecting that when they first got the email. You know how it goes when expectations are suddenly not met, even though there’s an arguably valid reason why.

    I just wonder if they themselves are prepared to do the same if ever they erred their own customers or so for whatever reason, unintentional mistake or not.

  • Jason

    I received the e-mail about 1000 bonus miles added to my account, but did not receive actual miles yet.

  • Grant

    I just received a new e-mail from USAir after complaining:
    “Thanks for your feedback about the email you received last week. Though we made a mistake, we’re pleased to tell you we’ve posted the 1,000 bonus miles to your account. Please go to usairways.com to see your account balance.

    We value your business and want to thank you for your continued support of US Airways.

    Sincerely,

    Mary Aaron
    US Airways Dividend Miles”

    I guess a politely worded complaint does the trick.