6 tips for getting your way when you travel
Find the silver lining
It’s there. Sometimes you have to look for it. Jennifer Walsh finds that a favorable comment about a ticket agent’s outfit or jewelry will, at the very least, elicit a smile and a “thank you.” And that’s a good start. Just last week she was trying to get a seat on an early flight from New York to Florida, which was jam-packed with passengers. A gate agent held the power over her plans. “I complimented her on her outfit and asked her how her week was,” she says. (A kind word about your appearance means a lot coming from Walsh: She’s a nationally known beauty consultant.) Needless to say, she made the flight.
Compare and contrast
Problem customers are plentiful. Sometimes, all you have to do is point out that you aren’t one of those people to get your way. For example, when Dan Lovejoy checked into an upscale hotel in Boston that was being renovated, he overheard another guest making a series of requests, “not rudely, but pretty demanding,” he says. She was given the key to a room in the older part of the hotel. “When the clerk asked me my preferences, I said, ‘I’m traveling alone for a conference. I don’t have any special needs — just put me wherever,’ ” he recalls. “When she handed me my key, she said, ‘I’ve put you in a newly renovated room. We like to be nice to people who aren’t difficult.’”
Show a little empathy
Think about the employees. When you’re likely to need a favor (like, when a flight is canceled or a hotel is overbooked) imagine what a terrible day they’re having. How about letting them know that you feel for them? Lynne Lambert, who owns an apparel business in Chappaqua, N.Y., remembers a recent canceled flight where “every passenger was trying to rebook a different flight.” She approached a ticket agent, and instead of making demands, she started the conversation with, “You must be having a rough day.” (Note: it’s important not to sound patronizing when you do this. Either be genuine or don’t say anything.) It worked for Lambert. “I got on the standby list and flew out on the last flight of the night,” she remembers.
Flatter ‘em
It will get you everywhere. Well, almost everywhere. Employees respond well to “attaboys” because at some travel companies, praise is dished out sparingly. Author Barry Maher says he goes out of his way to tell a ticket agent or hotel worker when they’re doing good work. “I’ll say something like ‘Wow, I can’t believe what a great job you’re doing handling this. You’re really exceptional at what you do,’ ” he says. “Guess who’s most likely to get the next available seat, fairly frequently in first class?”
Be a volunteer
Being nice to other travelers can get you ahead. In researching this story, I found plenty of examples of passengers who agreed to move to accommodate other travelers who wanted to sit together, or yielded to someone with a disability who needed their seat, and that often led to preferential treatment by the crew, which noted the sacrifice. “The passenger who is willing to wait for the next flight and give up their seat is more likely to get the business class seat on the next flight,” says Natalie Hjelsvold, a flight attendant for a Canadian airline. “They are given a future travel credit along with a seat that would have cost them hundreds of dollars more — just for being nice.”
Ready to go out there and charm the socks off the travel industry?
Not so fast. Remember, you’re dealing with people who are in the business of dealing with people. They can spot a fake, so they’ll be able to sniff out any insincerity immediately.
So be genuine.
You’d think that rude behavior would get you absolutely nowhere when you travel, but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate, either.
That’s a topic for next week’s column.
