Thursday, 17 July 2008 @ 6:12pm.

The ideal scenario would have proceeded as follows:

Me: I no longer have use of the one-way domestic NWA ticket I recently booked on Priceline because of the unexpected cancellation of my international ticket. What is the cheapest way to exchange the NWA ticket?

NWA Agent or Priceline Consultant: The fastest, easiest, and most affordable way would be to go directly to nwa.com and visit the account management page where you can find links about changing your itinerary and making exchanges. The site will automatically determine cancellation fees, fare differences, and the like as well as provide you different options about new flights. If you need assistance, you can contact our IT department to walk you through the online steps.

The reality was much, much different:

I probably made around 8 or more phone calls to Priceline and NWA only to get confused and frustrated before finally figuring out how to “speak” in their airline/online language and in a style that could get through. I was particularly disappointed with some of the consultants on the phone who were impatient, talked over me, did not clearly explain my options, were misinformed, and/or avoided giving me information about the most affordable choices. While one person did have a sense of humor and seemed sympathetic, even he did not know how best to help me. I did not appreciate being transferred between different departments within each business either. I had to repeat my story each time even though I requested that special notes be made on my account to avoid such a burden. I was also told a couple of times to call back to speak with staff who would know more, but because I was only given the general customer service numbers, I never did speak with these supposed experts. Besides, didn’t they know that there’s a thing called “time difference” between Australia and the U.S. which makes it difficult to keep calling back during their office hours? All I can say is thank goodness for Skype, which allowed me to make all of these silly calls for *free.*

Lesson #1: Where possible, use a human travel agent in person. If you must, then use sites like Priceline, Orbitz, Zuji, etc. to comparison shop and get an idea of schedules, prices, and rules and conditions for tickets, but then contact the airlines directly on the phone to confirm information. Then go to their specific websites to making the actual booking. This avoids extra agent fees for example.

Lesson #2: The businesses are not sympathetic to extenuating circumstances (in my case, who knew that Thai Airways would randomly cancel all their flights to NYC?), so the way to get money back in the form of refunds or credit is to know your rights and the different methods to cancel, exchange, and change tickets. Read the fine print, yeah?

Lesson #3: Assume from the beginning that you will do most of the leg work. Expecting the businesses to have your back in any form is only going to set you up for disappointment.

Here’s to fellow globetrotters who face all kinds of challenges from small to big!