I recently missed my flight. I was having nightmares at the thought of cancellation charges and rebooking.
I live in Bangalore. I was flying from Mumbai to Bangalore. I had booked a train from a town in West India to Mumbai. The train was delayed and we were rushing through peak hour Mumbai traffic to make it to the airport. We made it just fifteen minutes before the flight was about to take off and they refused to let us board the flight. They were right on their part.
I asked what we had to pay to rebook. It involved base charge and rebooking charges. Of course, everything was times two since I was not travelling alone. I requested the person to give me a discount. She said that she was not able to do it. I politely asked for her manager. It took her several phone calls to get the manager. The manager did not show up. Finally she sent us to another counter to put us on the next flight. It took the person about 45 minutes to book us on the next flight. They did it free of charge. We were very grateful.
The moral of the story - it never hurts to ask. Whether you are purchasing a gadget, buying clothes, furniture, signing up for a cable connection or rebooking flights; try asking for a discount and see if the company can cut you a deal. To be honest, the idea of negotiating with the airlines came from a stranger at the airport. He casually mentioned that I should ask for it. I tried and it worked!
It saved us quite a bit and thus I wanted share this idea.
I live in Bangalore. I was flying from Mumbai to Bangalore. I had booked a train from a town in West India to Mumbai. The train was delayed and we were rushing through peak hour Mumbai traffic to make it to the airport. We made it just fifteen minutes before the flight was about to take off and they refused to let us board the flight. They were right on their part.
I asked what we had to pay to rebook. It involved base charge and rebooking charges. Of course, everything was times two since I was not travelling alone. I requested the person to give me a discount. She said that she was not able to do it. I politely asked for her manager. It took her several phone calls to get the manager. The manager did not show up. Finally she sent us to another counter to put us on the next flight. It took the person about 45 minutes to book us on the next flight. They did it free of charge. We were very grateful.
The moral of the story - it never hurts to ask. Whether you are purchasing a gadget, buying clothes, furniture, signing up for a cable connection or rebooking flights; try asking for a discount and see if the company can cut you a deal. To be honest, the idea of negotiating with the airlines came from a stranger at the airport. He casually mentioned that I should ask for it. I tried and it worked!
It saved us quite a bit and thus I wanted share this idea.
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