One step closer to a free flight: How to negotiate with airlines
I fly to New York pretty often and I almost always take JetBlue. On top of being cheap and having a great customer experience, you get bonus points for booking online that translate into a free flight pretty soon. But I had a problem with my flight points last time. Here's how I got it fixed.
I was using a gift certificate to book my roundtrip flight to/from NYC, but JetBlue doesn't take gift certificates on its Web site. Because I had to call to book my flight, the representative told me I wouldn't get the bonus points for booking online (100 bonus points=free flight).
This isn't the time to say "ok" and walk away. I explained how I wanted to use the Web site, but it wouldn't let me. Then I just asked her very politely, "What can you do to help me get those points?"
Notice how I didn't say "Are you sure I can't get those points?" Whenever something will involve more work, people love to say no. If you reframe the question--not "can you" but "how can you"--you'll get pretty amazing results.
Anyway, she put me on hold, talked to her manager, and gave me the good news: They could award me the points even though I was booking by phone! Cool.
About 2 months later, I checked my JetBlue account and noticed they hadn't credited me the amount. Again, this isn't the time to walk away. I called them up, explained the situation, and they happily agreed to credit me the points.
A couple of big takeaways here: First, it was easy dealing with JetBlue because they're a company that focuses on the customer experience. This is why some people pay more for certain companies: If they have a problem, they know it'll be handled right (it's also why I pay more for certain big-ticket items). Also, if you want something from a company, just ask! Most good companies are happy to oblige to keep you happy.
