A better way to travel
Flying at least part of the flag for the United Kingdom in the skies is Virgin Atlantic. You may recall an easy decision I made on my last transatlantic flight - to avoid at all costs American carriers from here on in. Fed up with the poor service, the trollies that dont want to be there and certainly dont want YOU to be there, the $5 beer fiasco (not even real beer if my jaded recollection serves me right) oh and the fact that I had to loose a return ticket as dear old Delta wouldnt change the date for me - left me looking for another service. Well, I have found it and then some. The flight cost no more than a US carrier service and I was spoiled even flying economy from the moment I got onto the plane to go home. Its the little things that make the difference, being greeted like a civilized human being for one thing, a smile for another, a genuine desire to realize you have a CHOICE when you fly another still. The brand new airbus sported a number of enhancements over my last shoddy experience with Delta - the personalized entertainment system for one (over 100 cd's, 58 movies, internet and email facilities - tho costly - are available) and most importantly the food for two. Virgin seem to take a real pleasure in genuinely shocking its customers with food that is edible. Take for instance the little fuity pud they served me ('flirty little blackcurrant and raspberry' to be precise). This thing came in a shot glass with delightful packaging, so much so I noted down the website (http://www.frupuds.com/). It tasted DEVINE. I also noted that these can be procured at my favourite grocers back in the UK - Waitrose (eat your heart out Wegmans, this store is simply the best in its class). The design of the packaging and the logo really impressed me. Littel things like this leave a lasting impression on you - we're talking about a small desert for crying out loud and here I am blogging about it and yelling at people how wonderful the Virgin service is. The point is, small, seemingly immaterial experiences like these shape peoples perceptions in a big way. That little pudding probably cost Richard Branson less than a quid (yours for $2) and here I am giving him free publicity whilst bashing the competition (an upgrade would be nice next time if youre reading this Richard). Funny thing is, this little pud has also helped alter my impressions of travel - I dread - simply DREAD flying because of the way in which I am invariably treated. This experience has gone a long way towards restoring my faith in what was, years ago, a glorious experience.
Incidentally I still had to fly a US carrier to get to New York on my trip over. I waited in a cue for 20 minutes without even being acknowledged by the single service representative as she did her best to dissuade a customer from the will to live. When she was finished she took the wrong ticket from me (which needed to be reissued in New York) and beckoned me with a screeching 'NEXT'. I dont know how these people sleep at night knowing surely that their behavior is directly contributing to the poor image and unltimately the downfall of the US airline industry. Im not altogether sure they even care to be honest. Other things that impressed me by flying Virgin this trip:
1. The chief service manager (note - not 'hostess' which some including myself find offensive) reminded passengers that this was indeed a plane to London's Heathrow Airport and therefore now (the time of closing doors) would be a good time to alert a flight crew member if you were not intending on flying to London (my thoughts immediately went back to the US carriers employee back at the ticket issuing desk).
2. The chief service manager on approach reminded customers that this was England and that rain was therefore expected in heavy bouts until sometime in June.
3. Passengers were reminded by the captain that recognition of the choices of flight carrier exists and that he was more than happy to fly us 'home' again.
4. Passengers were reminded to take 'all items including small children' off of the plane before disembarking.
Humour is a wonderful thing - especially when the last laugh isnt on you.
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I’ll second that (except the bit about Wegmans). I visited last spring and was ecstatic to have a real meal, wine, dessert, and cheese and crackers included. Big selection of movies and super-friendly staff.
I’m not giving you Waitrose vs. Wegmans. The refrigerated Indian food and the cheese with cranberries in it were cool, but the selection of produce was disappointing…
Forgive me Neil, but I’m going to take the opportunity to airline bash here. I had a friend visiting from Winnipeg who took a flight on Air Canada from Toronto to Rochester. Long story short, the day she was supposed to go back, we ran into a little problem… because it was an international flight, we didn’t get her to the airport the required amount of time before takeoff. The plane was literally sitting there on the Tarmac with plenty of time for her to get from the ticket booth to the gate, and this cranky old woman at the desk would not check her in. I don’t care if Air Canada flights are operated by Continental out of ROC… if Continental has taken on the duty of operating the desk on behalf of Air Canada, a service obligation exists there… I was so infurated at this cranky old Continental woman who kept going on about “I’m sorry, there’s NOTHING I can do” without the slightest hint of remorse or sympathy in her voice. Continental lost a potential customer PERMANENTLY on that day.
Neil,
As a frequent traveler, I also pay close attention to the ‘delightful’ pleasures of domestic air travel. I have flown on almost every singe domestic carrier (Delta, Us Air [grr], United, American [bigger grr], Airtran, Northwest, Continental, Jetblue, Frontier, and even the forgotten Independence Air) with the exception of Southwest. Of those carriers, I was highly disappointed with every carrier, except JetBlue.
JetBlue is perhaps one of the best-kept secrets in a company establishing a brand through actions and services. On December 13th, I chose JetBlue to take me from Rochester NY to Oakland CA. Even though the flight was almost two hours longer [roc -> NYC -> Oakland, rather than a stop in Detroit or Chicago], I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I had a personalized entertainment center, plenty of legroom, and the feeling that I was flying 1st class. I did not feel like I was traveling on an airplane constructed of old soda cans nor felt like a burden to the company.
JetBlue stood out as the top domestic carrier in many ways:
1) Blue. Everything is Blue. Blue is the under riding glue that holds the company together. From Blue chips (not French fries) as snacks, blue painted turbines, blue napkins, and my personal favorite, a partnership with Blues Clues for child entertainment.
2) Humor. As stated in your blog entry, humor goes a long way for the weary traveler. Upon my return, we were delayed by JFK, not JetBlue for our flight to Rochester. The pilot kept the captive passenger payload informed on the current situation. During the frequent announcements, the captain stated that JFK was unable to accommodate JetBlue’s strive for excellence. He added a few more jabs on the Airport itself, and ended his speech with the website where we could all voice our opinions [to the airport].
After the delays were lifted, the captain made one final announcement. He stated that he had good news and bad news. The bad news is we were stuck for at most 15 more minutes. The good news is that he just saved 15% on his airplane insurance by switching to Geico. At 11:30pm on a Sunday night, I was more than happy to be patient with a company while they were experiencing external problems.
3) Personality. Unlike every other airline (with Frontier as an exception), JetBlue developed a personality while developing a brand. Each one of their airplanes has a unique ‘Blue’ name. All of these names were so cleaver that during my layover, I walked the entire terminal to read the names. A few of my favorites were: ‘The name is blue, JetBlue’, ‘Canyon Blue’, ‘Blue Skies Baby!’, ‘Forever Blue’, and ‘Blue suede shoes’.
During my delay at JFK, one of the passengers asked the pilot about the naming. We were flying on ‘Forever Blue’. All of the airplane names were chosen by JetBlue employees. By incorporating the feelings and attitudes of the employees, JetBlue’s corporate culture and personality became a cornerstone of the brand.
4) Respect. All passengers are equal. Flight attendants to no ignore coach passengers for the 1st class. They smiled, cracked jokes, and ensured comfort for everyone. The mood was very different on my United Airlines flight to London. Unfortunately, JetBlue does not fly any oversees international flights.
Overall, anyone who believes all American Airliners are ‘rubbish’ have not flown with JetBlue. As a college student, I will pay more to fly with JetBlue. If Jetblue flies a route I need to take, I will do everything in my power to fly with them.
-Josh