C3/CustomerContactChannels Offers Tips to Storm-Weary Travelers to Make Travel Less Stressful

PLANTATION, Fla., Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- C3/CustomerContactChannels, a leading provider of customer contact services to the airline, travel and hospitality industries, is providing some useful information for passengers whose travel has been impacted by Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath.  

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"The massive storm that hit the Northeast has caused ripple effects throughout the country for people trying to get from one destination to another," said Kory Laszewski, vice president of travel and hospitality for C3. "But travelers can lessen the impact and lessen the stress if they focus on a few prudent tips." 

1.       Be proactive when it comes to changing or canceling your reservations. In the case of significant storms such as Sandy, many airlines will announce expected delays or cancellations several days before the storm actually hits. Calling prior to an expected weather event will allow the airline to re-book you on another flight prior to the actual cancellation. In addition, while many airlines will waive rebooking and cancellation fees during severe weather incidents, many hotels may still enforce their cancellation policies if they are not directly impacted by the event.  For example, if a traveler is scheduled to fly through New York on route to a conference in Chicago, the hotel in Chicago may not waive a cancellation fee if not made within the appropriate window.

2.      Save your cell phone battery and use a land line. If you are stranded or have to cancel an itinerary at the last minute, calling the reservation center may be your only option and it could be a long call. In addition, most travel companies have difficulty staffing to levels needed to support a severe weather event because hundreds of thousands of calls come in a relatively short period of time. This can be taxing on a mobile phone battery, so before you call look first for a land line. There is nothing more frustrating than getting half way through a rebooking and being disconnected due to poor signal or a dead battery. 

Once you reach a live person, it is extremely important to maintain a positive attitude and understand that the person on the other end of the line is trying his/her hardest to accommodate your needs. Often the stresses of having your plans impacted carry forward into the phone conversation and results in an unpleasant experience for both the traveler and the customer service agent. The saying "a teaspoon of sugar goes farther than a teaspoon of salt" applies in this situation.

One of the biggest things to remember, the company is trying its best to accommodate your travel needs, but there are policies in place that protect all travelers, and what may work for you may not be in the best interest of everyone else impacted.  (E.g. An airline cannot just remove someone on another flight in order to make room for you.) However, keeping a positive attitude and appreciative tone, there are a lot of things an agent is empowered to do to help in your situation.

3.      Have all of your confirmation information ready when you do contact the reservations center.  This includes confirmation number(s), traveler names, original dates of travel, frequent traveler loyalty program info, and if possible, do your homework ahead of time.  Before calling go online and research acceptable alternatives that you can recommend to the customer service representative.  This will save considerable time and stress in getting your best option booked.  Note that in many cases the confirmation number that you receive from online travel aggregators (OTA's) such as Expedia and Orbitz is not the same as the confirmation that is used by the hotel, airline or car rental agency.  In each case the OTA should provide you with the actual airline, hotel or car confirmation number on your email receipt.  Regardless of the situation, it is always a good idea to keep your confirmation numbers with you while traveling by either printing or texting/emailing them to your phone or web enabled device.

When it comes to dealing with automobile rentals, Laszewski advises:

Rental car companies will usually waive change fees and/or cancellation fees to accommodate renters during inclement weather, however, renters are still responsible for rental fees associated with use of the vehicle:

1.      Keep in mind that keeping a rental car longer than the originally contracted timeframe will result in additional costs – extra day costs are generally provided on the reservation confirmation and/or the rental agreement.

2.      Understand that drop fees may be incurred if a vehicle is returned to a location other than the renting location. These fees apply regardless of weather conditions because there are costs associated with transporting cars back to the original location. 

About C3
C3/CustomerContactChannels is a global provider of contact center services unlike any other in the market today. Services include sales, service, performance optimization, reputation management and complete customer interaction management via traditional, web, and emerging communication channels. C3 positively engages and promotes our clients' brands with every contact we make with their customers. With a global team that is thousands of employees strong, the company is headquartered in Plantation, FL.  More information can be found at www.c3connect.com.

SOURCE C3/CustomerContactChannels