January 25, 2011
Why is it so expensive to leave this country? I have spent two days searching and searching tickets on various days, various months and various times only to be shut out of the airplane market. I was never worried about not being able to go home to the USA to visit because I have thousands and thousands of airline miles and Continental flies in and out of Tegucigalpa daily. So, imagine my surprise when I called US Airways on Sunday to cash in some of these hard earned miles only to be told Continental does not operate out of Teguz-y-what? As the phone operator so kindly worded it.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning. Dear US Airways, I know that your customer service lacks in many ways. I have sat on the tarmac more than once and been treated like leftover dog food enough times to recognize that you don’t give a flying flip about your customers; even those like me who hold a very high status for all the miles we have earned over the years. I’ll never forget the time I ordered champagne in first class and the lady told me “We haven’t been serving champagne for two months now” as though I SHOULD OBVIOUSLY know that, b/c anyone who flies in first class should keep an updated list of the US Airways bev compartment with them at all times. So, it came as no surprise to me when I logged online and found that you no longer service any airport in Honduras, meaning that I would have to fly directly out of Costa Rica or Belize to cash in my miles. I could, however, use them on a sister-carrier of the Star Alliance network, which I’m well aware of since I earn half the miles on Continental anyway. It did come as a SHOCK to me when I called the Dividend Miles number and the ‘oh-so’ eloquent (insert sarcasm here) phone operator couldn’t find the airport code for Tegucigalpa, so I told her just to check Honduras, then she told me there was no airport code for Honduras. Shocker, really?!? For a moment I thought maybe we just dropped the plane down on the soccer field. After offering her the code myself she told me that Continental didn’t offer service and I couldn’t use my miles, which again flabbergasted me since I flew into this country on Continental and was looking at a flight serviced by the airline on the Internet at that moment. After thanking her for being of no help, I called Continental just to double-check they were still in business where they lady informed me that she could let me use my airline miles, but only in first class and only to Houston, if I wanted to visit anywhere else in America, I would have to figure it out on my own (and not on the day I wanted to travel). So, let me get this straight, I have to change my travel plans, toss in an extra 30,000 miles, not drink champagne, and only get to Houston. What a deal….why haven’t I used these miles sooner?
Next step, I decide maybe I’ll just fly out of Costa Rica and take a really long vacation. This is where I find out that it will cost me 80,000 miles to get back to the states. Again, 80,000 miles, two countries away, on dates I don’t want to travel, and this time it’s not even first class. Attention US Air, but for 80,000 I can go to Australia. Finally, succumbing to the misery of searching out my miles, I do a four hour long search of how to get to America from every possible airport in Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Nothing comes back for less than $608, which only offers me times at 1:00 am, leaving from an airport 8 hours away by bus and flying into a town 3 hours away from my final destination. Which means that after I have flown 3,000 miles, I must still ride/drive for 11 hours. Why am I paying $608 again? That's more than I paid to go to Hawaii last year around this time. And, if I'm going to pay this much money I want to earn the miles...don't TACA or Spirit me into it.
Why is it so expensive to leave this country? Where is everyone going? What are they doing? I have been looking at flights to come into Honduras and they aren’t as expensive to leave the USA. Here’s a tip America, I would like to go home and enjoy you again, if only for a short while. I was already dreaming of the amounts of sushi I was going to devour, the clean sheets I would sleep in and the time at the gym I would spend. When is Congress going to pass the Airline Miles Bill of Rights that allows me to use miles freely and whenever? There’s something worth voting for.
Perhaps I should start at the beginning. Dear US Airways, I know that your customer service lacks in many ways. I have sat on the tarmac more than once and been treated like leftover dog food enough times to recognize that you don’t give a flying flip about your customers; even those like me who hold a very high status for all the miles we have earned over the years. I’ll never forget the time I ordered champagne in first class and the lady told me “We haven’t been serving champagne for two months now” as though I SHOULD OBVIOUSLY know that, b/c anyone who flies in first class should keep an updated list of the US Airways bev compartment with them at all times. So, it came as no surprise to me when I logged online and found that you no longer service any airport in Honduras, meaning that I would have to fly directly out of Costa Rica or Belize to cash in my miles. I could, however, use them on a sister-carrier of the Star Alliance network, which I’m well aware of since I earn half the miles on Continental anyway. It did come as a SHOCK to me when I called the Dividend Miles number and the ‘oh-so’ eloquent (insert sarcasm here) phone operator couldn’t find the airport code for Tegucigalpa, so I told her just to check Honduras, then she told me there was no airport code for Honduras. Shocker, really?!? For a moment I thought maybe we just dropped the plane down on the soccer field. After offering her the code myself she told me that Continental didn’t offer service and I couldn’t use my miles, which again flabbergasted me since I flew into this country on Continental and was looking at a flight serviced by the airline on the Internet at that moment. After thanking her for being of no help, I called Continental just to double-check they were still in business where they lady informed me that she could let me use my airline miles, but only in first class and only to Houston, if I wanted to visit anywhere else in America, I would have to figure it out on my own (and not on the day I wanted to travel). So, let me get this straight, I have to change my travel plans, toss in an extra 30,000 miles, not drink champagne, and only get to Houston. What a deal….why haven’t I used these miles sooner?
Next step, I decide maybe I’ll just fly out of Costa Rica and take a really long vacation. This is where I find out that it will cost me 80,000 miles to get back to the states. Again, 80,000 miles, two countries away, on dates I don’t want to travel, and this time it’s not even first class. Attention US Air, but for 80,000 I can go to Australia. Finally, succumbing to the misery of searching out my miles, I do a four hour long search of how to get to America from every possible airport in Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Nothing comes back for less than $608, which only offers me times at 1:00 am, leaving from an airport 8 hours away by bus and flying into a town 3 hours away from my final destination. Which means that after I have flown 3,000 miles, I must still ride/drive for 11 hours. Why am I paying $608 again? That's more than I paid to go to Hawaii last year around this time. And, if I'm going to pay this much money I want to earn the miles...don't TACA or Spirit me into it.
Why is it so expensive to leave this country? Where is everyone going? What are they doing? I have been looking at flights to come into Honduras and they aren’t as expensive to leave the USA. Here’s a tip America, I would like to go home and enjoy you again, if only for a short while. I was already dreaming of the amounts of sushi I was going to devour, the clean sheets I would sleep in and the time at the gym I would spend. When is Congress going to pass the Airline Miles Bill of Rights that allows me to use miles freely and whenever? There’s something worth voting for.
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