3 ms·

- this happens from time to time. Your situation is bad, but not unique. Other examples include: weather on Christmas Eve. First step is get food / water, what

- this happens from time to time. Your situation is bad, but not unique. Other examples include: weather on Christmas Eve. First step is get food / water, whatever you need to feel grounded. If you are calm, the agent who can help you will be calm and calm agents can work wonders. If you are angry, upset, frustrated, hungry, tired (all responsible responses to the situation) the agent will turn into a robot and not go out of their way to help you. If you want to fly out; find a more senior agent (can be hard to do in a bigger airport). Don’t ask for one directly, instead look for the subtle signs: confident but slightly less put together clothing, someone dressed as a manager - but who is doing customer service, someone who is helping other agents, etc. Then it’s a two step process: 1) ask them to put you on a standby list on a flight to get out of the airport, doesn’t matter where, just a pick a hub closer to your destination than the current one. It will take a couple tries, but at every flight, show up to the gate and stay until the door is closed and the airplane is pushed back. If you don’t make it, ask to be rolled over to the next one. Especially in weird situations there is constantly a couple people that do not show. 2) once you get to the other hub, kindly ask them to rebook you the rest of the way home.

eyelidlessness 3y ago
> the agent who can help you will be calm and calm agents can work wonders. If you are angry, upset, frustrated, hungry, tired (all responsible responses to the situation) the agent will turn into a robot and not go out of their way to help you. Somewhat contrary perspective: the last time I was stuck in an airport indefinitely, everyone insisted everyone else stay put for indefinite lengths of time, because the delayed flight would leave “as soon as possible”. After several hours of this, I angrily insisted that it isn’t reasonable to keep people at a terminal hanging on indefinitely and that we’d all be better off if everyone could agree to reconvene at the next estimated arrival. A bunch of other passengers emphatically agreed, and the airline staff agreed then too. Then everyone went and had their food and drinks and whatever, and no one was angry anymore when the flight finally boarded.
- pc86 3y ago
  And I've seen agents send away passengers who start yelling, and basically kick them to the back of the line for being a jerk (not saying you were a jerk in this scenario). At the end of the day it doesn't matter how tired, frustrated, upset, etc. you might be. Everyone else likely feels the same and statistically it's very likely one or several people on the flight are in a worse spot than you. That doesn't mean you start getting angry at a United desk agent in O'Hare because Potomac Approach's radio is down. They didn't do it, they don't have the power to fix it immediately, but they do have the power and the right to fix it for everyone else first. Honey vs. vinegar and all that. There are plenty of ways to let customer service folks know that you're upset without getting angry at them. Another comment in this thread puts it very well: "it can be very beneficial to override [(completely understandable) frustration/anger], and it'll immediately make you easier to deal with." Any time a flight is cancelled the agent immediately has 100-400 people to deal with. Half of them will be downright pissed right off the bat. When they only have 3 open seats on the next flight, they are not giving them out to the people screaming the loudest.
  - eyelidlessness 3y ago
    Well this was apparently an unusual situation. Everyone has been waiting politely for hours, quite a few passengers and staff seemed relieved to have someone speak up and demand some relief, and when the flight left around the time of their final estimated delay it was calm and full of the same people I’d seen for hours preceding. A lot of the folks around me seemed to resonate with “you can’t hold us here indefinitely” and the staff response was very agreeable. I don’t like that I expressed it angrily, but I don’t think anyone in this scenario took it as vinegar, just saying what many people had already been thinking for hours already.
  - xeonmc 3y ago
    I am inexplicably reminded of the airport scene in Meet the Parents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IOE4pN8Zro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IOE4pN8Zro
- Johnny555 3y ago
  I don't understand how this scenario played out -- who is "everyone that insisted that everyone stay put"? Other passengers? Gate agents? You can safely ignore other passengers, but if the gate agent tells you to stay put because the flight may board and leave at any time, you ought to stay within hearing distance of the gate. Once my flight was delayed for a few hours due to an equipment problem, they told us to come back in 2 hours... then we found out that the flight crew timed out and they were bringing in another crew. The gate agents told everyone to stay at the gate because they were going to board as soon as the new crew was there. And indeed, 45 minutes later they announced we were boarding and 20 minutes after that they closed the doors and we departed... with a lot of empty seats (not sure if those people rebooked, or missed the flight)
olalonde 3y ago
> If you are calm, the agent who can help you will be calm and calm agents can work wonders. If you are angry, upset, frustrated, hungry, tired (all responsible responses to the situation) the agent will turn into a robot and not go out of their way to help you. While I understand the rationale behind the calm approach, it doesn't completely align with my personal experiences. Initially, one might try to adopt a composed demeanor, but if the situation calls for it, projecting your genuine concern, frustration, and urgency can actually serve as a catalyst to motivate the staff to address your situation more effectively.
- haswell 3y ago
  Projecting genuine concern and urgency can be done without including the (completely understandable) frustration/anger. I think the broader point is that it can be very beneficial to override these feelings, and it’ll immediately make you easier to deal with than most of the other customers, which can lead you to better outcomes. Was a road warrior for many years, and calm always got me the outcomes I needed. Airport staff already know you’re stressed and strapped for time. Everyone at the airport is. This is not to say that you shouldn’t be form and stand up for yourself.
- photochemsyn 3y ago
  This only matters if your situation is easily solved, like if you want ketchup at the table and the staff is busy. Then if you start acting like a petulant child, the staff will bring you ketchup. However, in the airport situation, the staff has no power to control what the airline is up to, so they'll just tune you out. As you deserve.
  - fbdab103 3y ago
    I am not so sure. I make a point to try and keep my cool with customer service -they did not create the tire-fire, they are just stuck with it. Time after time, I see a raging ass scream and kick his way into some preferable situation the calm are denied.
- lxe 3y ago
  Yeah, if you're calm, the agent will simply not give a damn, and if you're angry, they'll just stop working with you altogether, and call you "sir" a lot.

eyelidlessness 3y ago

> the agent who can help you will be calm and calm agents can work wonders. If you are angry, upset, frustrated, hungry, tired (all responsible responses to the situation) the agent will turn into a robot and not go out of their way to help you. Somewhat contrary perspective: the last time I was stuck in an airport indefinitely, everyone insisted everyone else stay put for indefinite lengths of time, because the delayed flight would leave “as soon as possible”. After several hours of this, I angrily insisted that it isn’t reasonable to keep people at a terminal hanging on indefinitely and that we’d all be better off if everyone could agree to reconvene at the next estimated arrival. A bunch of other passengers emphatically agreed, and the airline staff agreed then too. Then everyone went and had their food and drinks and whatever, and no one was angry anymore when the flight finally boarded.

pc86 3y ago
And I've seen agents send away passengers who start yelling, and basically kick them to the back of the line for being a jerk (not saying you were a jerk in this scenario). At the end of the day it doesn't matter how tired, frustrated, upset, etc. you might be. Everyone else likely feels the same and statistically it's very likely one or several people on the flight are in a worse spot than you. That doesn't mean you start getting angry at a United desk agent in O'Hare because Potomac Approach's radio is down. They didn't do it, they don't have the power to fix it immediately, but they do have the power and the right to fix it for everyone else first. Honey vs. vinegar and all that. There are plenty of ways to let customer service folks know that you're upset without getting angry at them. Another comment in this thread puts it very well: "it can be very beneficial to override [(completely understandable) frustration/anger], and it'll immediately make you easier to deal with." Any time a flight is cancelled the agent immediately has 100-400 people to deal with. Half of them will be downright pissed right off the bat. When they only have 3 open seats on the next flight, they are not giving them out to the people screaming the loudest.
- eyelidlessness 3y ago
  Well this was apparently an unusual situation. Everyone has been waiting politely for hours, quite a few passengers and staff seemed relieved to have someone speak up and demand some relief, and when the flight left around the time of their final estimated delay it was calm and full of the same people I’d seen for hours preceding. A lot of the folks around me seemed to resonate with “you can’t hold us here indefinitely” and the staff response was very agreeable. I don’t like that I expressed it angrily, but I don’t think anyone in this scenario took it as vinegar, just saying what many people had already been thinking for hours already.
- xeonmc 3y ago
  I am inexplicably reminded of the airport scene in Meet the Parents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IOE4pN8Zro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IOE4pN8Zro
Johnny555 3y ago
I don't understand how this scenario played out -- who is "everyone that insisted that everyone stay put"? Other passengers? Gate agents? You can safely ignore other passengers, but if the gate agent tells you to stay put because the flight may board and leave at any time, you ought to stay within hearing distance of the gate. Once my flight was delayed for a few hours due to an equipment problem, they told us to come back in 2 hours... then we found out that the flight crew timed out and they were bringing in another crew. The gate agents told everyone to stay at the gate because they were going to board as soon as the new crew was there. And indeed, 45 minutes later they announced we were boarding and 20 minutes after that they closed the doors and we departed... with a lot of empty seats (not sure if those people rebooked, or missed the flight)

olalonde 3y ago

> If you are calm, the agent who can help you will be calm and calm agents can work wonders. If you are angry, upset, frustrated, hungry, tired (all responsible responses to the situation) the agent will turn into a robot and not go out of their way to help you. While I understand the rationale behind the calm approach, it doesn't completely align with my personal experiences. Initially, one might try to adopt a composed demeanor, but if the situation calls for it, projecting your genuine concern, frustration, and urgency can actually serve as a catalyst to motivate the staff to address your situation more effectively.

haswell 3y ago
Projecting genuine concern and urgency can be done without including the (completely understandable) frustration/anger. I think the broader point is that it can be very beneficial to override these feelings, and it’ll immediately make you easier to deal with than most of the other customers, which can lead you to better outcomes. Was a road warrior for many years, and calm always got me the outcomes I needed. Airport staff already know you’re stressed and strapped for time. Everyone at the airport is. This is not to say that you shouldn’t be form and stand up for yourself.
photochemsyn 3y ago
This only matters if your situation is easily solved, like if you want ketchup at the table and the staff is busy. Then if you start acting like a petulant child, the staff will bring you ketchup. However, in the airport situation, the staff has no power to control what the airline is up to, so they'll just tune you out. As you deserve.
- fbdab103 3y ago
  I am not so sure. I make a point to try and keep my cool with customer service -they did not create the tire-fire, they are just stuck with it. Time after time, I see a raging ass scream and kick his way into some preferable situation the calm are denied.
lxe 3y ago
Yeah, if you're calm, the agent will simply not give a damn, and if you're angry, they'll just stop working with you altogether, and call you "sir" a lot.