[pattsi]

3 Aug 2009, I thought I had made a reservation online and charged to my Visa. Today, 4 Aug., I discovered that the reservation was not completed. As best I can figure out is that the UIUC Credit Union VeVisa Verify was not available. As I was making this discovery when speaking to an online representative, I further discovered if I got assistance from online to secure the reservation previously made it would cost me another $20 to make certain that the reservation would be completed. As I was working with the individual, I got cut off (this was the second person that I was speaking with about the situation. I had been cut off from the first) So I called back and spoke with Laurie, a supervisor, who would make the reservation, but would not waive the $20 fee. I also learned from her that the previous two times that I had been disconnected/cut off that the representatives could not call me back because they can not make outgoing calls, which appears to be the ultimate lack of customer service. The bottom line is that I was treated very poorly by this airline, probably because I am not a high mileage customer--cut off while talking to a representative, had to call back, wasted tremendous amounts of time, would not waive the fee, which is nothing more than a continuation of the money grubbing being done by the airlines. It has never been clear to me why it is so difficult to train customer service representatives to be helpful, facilitate closure on a quesion/problem/issue without aggravation that only causes dissatisfaction and a posting such as this.

Additional money grubbing on the part of the airlines is the newly increased fee for checking luggage. This is terribly discriminatory to the elderly or handicapped, who can not lift luggage into the overhead compartment, people who do not have access to a computer to pay for the luggage online and save the $5 increase, and children traveling alone, as are many of the other instituted extra fees. Elderly and low-income citizens more than likely do not have access to the use of a computer.

The time has come for the customers to resist the way airlines handle us, treat us, and overcharge us. I laughed when I read the NWA Customer First "Customer's Guide." There is nothing in the 12 statements about assisting customers with reservation problems, minimizing customer frustrations, maximizing developing loyalty to this airline because the customer was treated like a human being. The merger with Delta does not necessary produce improvements when being bigger is accomplished.
I will be interested as to the quality of the "canned" response that I receive.

[PHXFlyer]

I'm not sure what to make of the "3 Aug 2009" and the "Today, 4 Aug." references since those dates have not yet occurred.

Why are you complaining about the airline when the fault lies clearly with your credit union? They did not process the charge correctly. What was Northwest to do? Just go ahead and issue tickets without receiving authorization from your bank that the card was valid and there were sufficient funds? You should call your C.U. and tell them that their system breakdown resulted in an added $20 fee to complete your ticket transaction. Usually the airline will charge this as a separate item so your bank will clearly see this on your account activity.

I'm not even going to comment on your subsequent tirade about fees. Okay, yes I am but be forewarned your not going to like what I'm going to say.

The reality of airline travel today is that these ancillary fees are here to stay. They're not going to go away because they all, with the exception of Southwest (and they won't hold out much longer...their Pres./CEO stated he might consider additional fees during their Q2 results conference last week...say tuned!) charge fees for various services and no amount of negative posts on the internet or word of mouth is going to sway the majority of travelers' buying decision when it comes to fees.

Furthermore I'm not sure how you make the leap from fees to discrimination. Tell me please why, for instance, you feel that the elderly are unfairly impacted? Carry-on bags can be stored under the seat as well. It doesn't necessarily need to go in the overhead bin and I think there would be at least one decent fellow passenger who would help if they saw an elderly person struggling. Persons with disabilities and children traveling alone are given assistance. And your assumption about internet access is not entirely accurate either. Many "seniors" are embracing technology. I get a good laugh about my parents because they'll trade stock and shop online but still sit down and write checks out and affix stamps to envelopes to pay bills! They do, however, use online check-in and book the majority of their travel online.