If at first you don't succeed...
Who would have thought that booking an international flight with my frequent flyer miles would be such a PITA!
I called American to cash in 70,000 miles for a R/T to Singapore thinking it would be a simple and pain-free ordeal. It was anything but... The first woman I spoke with must have lost her poker game the night before or they ran out of her favorite side item at her lunch spot or she just hated being at work. I asked her for a flight from LAX to SIN in coach. She came back and said there were no flights available. OK, fine. I then said "does that mean there are NO spots available on the flight for frequent flyers or could we try first class or business class and have some luck that route?" She replies, "SIR...I did what YOU told me and I just told you there are NO seats available. Is there something else you want me to do because I just did EXACTLY what you asked me..." I sorta quipped back that I just asked her to look in first and business class but after another bitchy comment and a long exhale I decided this just wasn't gonna work and hung up on grumpasaurus rex, who I assure you is anything but extinct in the world we live in.
Now what?? Do I have to buy my own ticket, which would not be a cheap decision? Well, like the title of the post says, I tried again 15 minutes after my first round... This time I got Dolores, a kind and happy customer service agent, to help me out. I gave her the exact same days and times and she put me on hold for about 2 minutes. She comes back and gives me a confirmation # and tells me I have until the 11th to cancel it with no penalty, otherwise I'm booked and she wishes me a safe and pleasant journey and thanks me for being a continued American Airlines traveler.
This just goes to show you, that if you're booking international air travel with your frequent flyer miles to Singapore from LAX on American Airlines and you don't succeeed, just call back 15 minutes later and ask for Dolores! :)
Here's my itinerary:
Depart LAX 10/13 @ 12:20
Arrive in Tokyo 10/15 @ 16:20 (gotta love the Int'l date line!)
Depart Tokyo @ 16:25
Arrive Singapore @ 0:25
19 hours total flight time
Then on the way back...
Depart Singapore 10/29 @ 16:30
Arrive Hong Kong @ 20:15
Depart Hong Kong @ 23:40
Arrive LAX 10/29 @ 20:10
16 hours total flight time
On top of all of this I have to book my flights from Singapore to Padang and vice versa. Wow, and to think I was getting bored on my 9 hour flight to Munich last year...who knows what I'll do this trip with all this travel time!? I have a feeling if I'm not fast asleep I'll be watching as many surf DVD's as I can and just getting even more stoked to get there...
I called American to cash in 70,000 miles for a R/T to Singapore thinking it would be a simple and pain-free ordeal. It was anything but... The first woman I spoke with must have lost her poker game the night before or they ran out of her favorite side item at her lunch spot or she just hated being at work. I asked her for a flight from LAX to SIN in coach. She came back and said there were no flights available. OK, fine. I then said "does that mean there are NO spots available on the flight for frequent flyers or could we try first class or business class and have some luck that route?" She replies, "SIR...I did what YOU told me and I just told you there are NO seats available. Is there something else you want me to do because I just did EXACTLY what you asked me..." I sorta quipped back that I just asked her to look in first and business class but after another bitchy comment and a long exhale I decided this just wasn't gonna work and hung up on grumpasaurus rex, who I assure you is anything but extinct in the world we live in.
Now what?? Do I have to buy my own ticket, which would not be a cheap decision? Well, like the title of the post says, I tried again 15 minutes after my first round... This time I got Dolores, a kind and happy customer service agent, to help me out. I gave her the exact same days and times and she put me on hold for about 2 minutes. She comes back and gives me a confirmation # and tells me I have until the 11th to cancel it with no penalty, otherwise I'm booked and she wishes me a safe and pleasant journey and thanks me for being a continued American Airlines traveler.
This just goes to show you, that if you're booking international air travel with your frequent flyer miles to Singapore from LAX on American Airlines and you don't succeeed, just call back 15 minutes later and ask for Dolores! :)
Here's my itinerary:
Depart LAX 10/13 @ 12:20
Arrive in Tokyo 10/15 @ 16:20 (gotta love the Int'l date line!)
Depart Tokyo @ 16:25
Arrive Singapore @ 0:25
19 hours total flight time
Then on the way back...
Depart Singapore 10/29 @ 16:30
Arrive Hong Kong @ 20:15
Depart Hong Kong @ 23:40
Arrive LAX 10/29 @ 20:10
16 hours total flight time
On top of all of this I have to book my flights from Singapore to Padang and vice versa. Wow, and to think I was getting bored on my 9 hour flight to Munich last year...who knows what I'll do this trip with all this travel time!? I have a feeling if I'm not fast asleep I'll be watching as many surf DVD's as I can and just getting even more stoked to get there...
posted by Bryan at
12:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home