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Re: Comment from Vacations To Go (Reply to this comment)
by rasx
I used Princess Air since I wanted them to be fully responsible for getting me to the ship. To suggest that I pay hundreds more for travel insurance to protect me against their mistakes is ingenuous. The following three letters between me and Vacation To Go set forth the details of this fiasco:
Vacations To Go
Dear Megan:
As I indicated to you last week, the preliminary flight schedule for our Princess Antarctica Cruise provides for a 40 minute connection in Atlanta on the flight from Charlotte, NC to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Based on my considerable travel experience this is “cutting it close” when it does not have to be this way. I spoke with a Delta Representative today and he indicated that they recommend an absolute minimum of 50 minutes
between flights. He said that today the Charlotte flight arrived at one end of the Atlanta airport (Gate A3) and the departing flight to Buenos Aires left from the
exact opposite end (Gate E2). Since we are at the back of the Charlotte flight (seats 34 D and E) we will be challenged to exit the plane and make it to the BA flight in time.
He noted that there was a noon flight from Charlotte (CLT) to Atlanta (ATL) on February 13th (Delta Flight1737) that had “Lots of seats available”. I noted on the Delta website that there were other flights also available on February 13th.
I would rather sit and wait in the Atlanta airport than have to run through it.
It is obvious that it would be prudent to utilize an earlier flight from Charlotte to Atlanta to improve the chance of avoiding a missed connection. If the flight
to BA is missed, we will miss the entire cruise and there would be severe and protracted repercussions were this to occur. The weather here in February is
quite unpredictable and our recent experience in missing our flight to Bombay with a three hour time frame because of weather is fresh in our minds.
I again urgently request that you personally discuss this matter with Princess with a goal of increasing the connection time in Atlanta
Regards,
rasx
Reply from Vacations To Go:
I see that Megan had already sent a note to Princess inquiring about the connection, but I also gave them a call this morning. They stated that you were mis-informed and the flights are a legal connection with Delta. The flight will arrive and then depart both from the South terminal. They stated that they cannot change the flights because they have already been ticketed.
I also checked on the rate for you. Unfortunately the new rate is under what's called a flash promotion and is only available for new bookings, which would require a cancel and re-book, but you are in 100% penalty. I was able to negotiate a $25 per person onboard credit for you though.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance!
Thanks!
Kari
VTG
Ms. Megan Norris
VacationsToGo.com
Dear Megan:
We have returned safely from a most difficult and unsatisfactory travel experience. As I wrote previously, we missed our Atlanta Delta connection and the rest of the schedule collapsed. Now for the gory details of that and later problems.
The trip got off to a good start as we left the gate at Charlotte, NC five minutes early. We got in line to take off but I noted that four other planes went around us and took off. The pilot finally told us we were being held because of a delay in Atlanta. With only 40 minutes between flights in Atlanta, I started to become nervous.
We finally got airborne and touched down at exactly 6 pm, our scheduled arrival time. I mentioned to the stewardess that were late and she indignantly informed me that Delta’s arrival time was when the wheels of the plane touched down, not when we disembarked as I had always thought during the over 35 years that I have been flying with Delta. (A stewardess on the next Delta leg told me the same thing.) She went on to say that “I’m sorry you’re not happy but it is your fault for booking it this way.” I told her that I did not book the flight but that Princess Cruises did directly with Delta which called it a legal connection. She said that it should have been booked with at least an hour between connections. At 6:18 pm we exited the plane at gate B-9. We literally ran to gate T-2, arriving at 6:25 pm to find the plane door for DL 101 closed even though it was still 15 minutes to the scheduled departure time.
The unfriendly Delta gate agent informed us that we were 1 minute late and could not board. (This was not true since several passengers on that flight told us that the door was closed about 30 minutes before the scheduled departure or at about 6:10 pm and did not depart the gate until about 6:50 pm. They also told us that the flight was very overbooked and thus it is not surprising that Delta used every means available to shed passengers)
Megan, this 40 minute connection may have been a “Legal Connection” but it also was an impossible one as shown by this timeline:
Before 6 pm- Our guaranteed assigned seats are given away
6:00 pm Wheels down on our connecting flight DL 1946
About 6:10 pm- Doors of our flight to Buenos Aires are closed
6:18 pm- We deplane from DL 1946
6:25 pm- We arrive at gate T-2 for DL 101 to find door closed
6:40 pm Scheduled departure time of DL 101
About 6:50 pm – DL 101 left gate.
In summary, our seats were given away and the door of DL 101 was closed before we disembarked from our Delta connecting flight.
(The information on flight DL 101 came from several cruise passengers who were on that flight) Along the way, I asked four different Delta representatives what the minimum connection time was and got four different answers.
Megan, you know I tried to avoid this problem by suggesting leaving Charlotte earlier (two earlier Delta flights had seats available) or by driving to Atlanta but you told me that Princess would allow neither alternative even thought there were still two months until our departure.
After missing Dl 101, Delta booked us on their flight DL 105 to Buenos Aires via Sao Paulo, Brazil. Taxied out, generator not working, back to gate, hour later pilot tells us must change planes if they can find one. Arrive Sao Paulo 4 hours late, miss connection to Buenos Aires. We are joined in our misadventure by Dr. and Mrs. Kevin Frank who are long time, high status customers of Delta and Princess. (I’m sure Delta and Princess will be hearing from Dr. Frank !!) Had it not been for their help and experience, I doubt we would have gotten to the ship in time.
Delta Agent Fernando in Sao Paulo told us that we have to fly to Buenos Aires since that is their contract with Princess. We explained to him the ship would be gone from Buenos Aires and that we needed to go to Montevideo (MV) if we had any chance to catch the ship. He said we would have to buy our own ticket to go to MV. His supervisor agreed with us and asked him to make reservations to MV. We spent the rest of the day at the airport waiting for a flight. Delta Agent Fernando takes us to terminal 2 and tells us to wait and he will return in 10 minutes with information for us. When Agent Fernando did not return after 30 minutes we went looking for him only to learn he had gone for the day. Eventually we are waitlisted on Pluna flight PU225 leaving at 4 pm. And confirmed on GOL flight G3-7486 leaving at 9:45 pm for the three hour flight to MV.
Delta Agent Fernando had assured us that our luggage would accompany us to MV on either of the flights. We left on PU 225 and arrived in MV three hours later. Our luggage did not. Dr. Frank had asked Delta for food and lodging vouchers for us but was denied. Although we called Princess in California on a regular basis to report on our progress, no help was forthcoming.
We stayed overnight in MV and returned to the airport the next day to check on our luggage- to no avail. We gave up and at noon went to the port to board the ship. At the gate, we were all told they had no record of our reservations. We finally convinced them we were passengers and boarded. Filed a lost luggage form with the Passenger Service office who determined that our bags had been in BA for the past two days. In over two weeks, Princess was unable to get our bags to us even though they knew where they were.
We hold Princess, Delta and Vacations to Go responsible for this fiasco. Princess for booking an impossible schedule, Delta for allowing them to do so with their “Legal” connection, for closing out the flight early, and for losing our luggage and VTG for their complicity in allowing Princess and Delta to do so and for not looking out for their client’s best interest.
I spoke with several passengers on the cruise who told me of similar impossible flight connections booked by Princess and they had to pay addition money to Princess for a “flight deviation” that gave them an acceptable flight schedule. One man told me it cost him $1400 to change his flights. We too were told that our schedule could be changed for an additional cost which we declined. I trust that this “bait and switch” scheme is an abnormality and not official Princess policy.
This trip was a birthday present to my wife and will be one she will soon not forget. She spent her special day sitting in airports instead of enjoying the cruise ship.
We spent many hundreds of dollars to feed, house, clothe, and transport ourselves over several days as a result of the above. It is difficult to place a value on the anguish, stress and heartbreak that we were put through. We were unable to participate in many shipboard activities (swimming, sports, etc.) because of lack of appropriate clothing. We were known to the other passengers as the “ones without luggage” and people were always asking us how we were coping.
We finally got our luggage as were waiting for the flight home from Santiago, Chile. At home, I noted that the small clear plastic snap-on container in my brand new bag was missing. It contained a prescription bottle with my name on it, a bag of over-the-counter medications such as Pepto-Bismol, decongestant, etc., a glasses repair kit and other miscellaneous items. I would appreciate your assistance in tracing this item. I suspect that either the Argentina of Chilean customs removed it.
Megan, I would appreciate hearing from you soon as to how to resolve the problems we encountered and what compensation would be appropriate.
Regards,
rasx
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Apr 28 '09
7:52 am PDT
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Comment from Vacations To Go (Reply to this comment)
by vtg-cs
I am the Vice President of Customer Service at Vacations To Go and I wanted to respond to our client’s complaint. I regret that he experienced problems on his recent trip but he places blame on Vacations To Go that I do not feel is warranted. He states that we allowed Princess to book an impossible flight schedule. Travel agencies do not choose, allow, control or influence a flight schedule set up by a cruise line. In fact we explained to him at the time he made the reservation how cruise line air works and that he would have no control over the schedule. He said he understood and chose the cruise air program rather than purchasing his own air. The confirmation he received at the time of booking and more than two months prior to the trip stated:
“The cruise line will release your air schedule and carrier designation approximately 20 days prior to sailing, but will not guarantee your air route or carrier unless you purchase an air deviation.”
We explained to this client prior to his purchase that there would be no options to air schedules without a deviation. He refers to the air deviation as a scheme but this is the same program used by most of the major cruise lines. Princess negotiates air prices months in advances and then plugs their passengers in shortly before the sailing. The client acknowledged to our agent on a phone call that he was aware of this system and had even received some unusual air schedules in the past.
Also, he was not told after the fact that he should have purchased travel insurance. Insurance was offered to him on at least two occasions prior to his trip with the explanation that it offered reimbursement for among other things, lost baggage, delayed baggage and airline delays. This client declined the insurance and stated “I have been self insuranced for 35 trips so I don’t want it now”.
Finally he mentions that we abandoned him when a pouch was missing from his luggage. In fact we made five different phone calls to Pluna Air in South America on his behalf. We were finally told that airlines have methods to track lost baggage based on the information on the tags but they have no way to search for a small untagged pouch that someone reports missing from inside the luggage.
The client’s final warning is that other travelers “Insist in writing that you have final approval of the air schedule and that Princess will change it at no cost if you are not fully satisfied.” This is not possible with Princess nor is it possible with most of the other major cruise lines and this client was made aware of this before he paid for his cruise and air reservations.
We at Vacations To Go regret that his cruise did not go as planned but air delays and lost baggage are unplanned events. Travel insurance is one method of minimizing the cost of those events should they occur. This client was given several options in advance which he declined. We have presented his concerns to Princess but Vacations To Go can offer no additional compensation.
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Apr 17 '09
8:39 am PDT
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