You should pat yourself on the back at staying polite and professional to him.
His company probably paid for his seat and normally he would travel cattle class like the rest of us.

Its past me now, but at the time it just wound me up a bit, especially seeing as other passengers on the same flight were infact complementing me on the level of service.

It really is quite strange to see how different people have different expectations and perceptions about what they think they are entitled to and/or how they feel they should be treated…some think that they own the bloody world! Don’t get me wrong, I understand that they may have paid quite a bit of money, but at the end of the day that doesnt give him, or anyone for that matter, the right to be rude and obnoxious.

I try my very best to treat all the passengers I deal with (even if they are travelling in Economy!) the same level of customer service because it is something that I am very passionate about, just a shame that this particular person chose not to be as welcoming, greatful or respectful of that.

Ah, well its water off a duck’s back now, and as he told me earlier he won’t be flying with us again so I can just forget about him and move on…:D

The exceptionally rude man that I had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with (not once, but twice!) whilst at work today.

He was a Business Class passenger, lined up at the dedicated Business Class check-in lane…I politely went up to him, greeted him and straight away he started off by complaining about having to wait in line to see the security agent before being able to check his luggage in; went on to say that we always try to make “simple” things far more complicated as they need to be, despite the same process having being in place for the 3 years that I have worked at the airport, and it working smoothly for most other passengers. I think it might have just been the fact that there was a large family being seen too in front of him that forced him to wait.

Then, whilst onboard the aircraft prior to departure, he was sat in the wrong seat, so I went up to him and accidentally addressed him by the wrong name (if he sits in the wrong seat, what does expect…I’m not a mind-reader?!), and so he then proceeded to launch into a tirade about how crap the airline is/was, how crap I was and that he will never choose to fly with us again…frankly this would be best option in my opinion, because I’m sure that other airlines will be glad of his money and I’m more than likely to come to blows with him if there were to be “a next time”!:mad:

Each customer is entitled to a check-in allowance of up to 20kg baggage and a maximum 5kg for hand baggage (max. dimensions: 55cm x 40cm x 20cm).

…Premier & Premium Upgrade luggage allowance
Each customer is entitled to check-in allowance of 20kg and a maximum 7kg for hand baggage (max. dimensions: 55cm x 40cm x 20cm).
This is only applicable to Premier and Premium upgrade customers.

So if you upgrade, all you are entitled too is an additional 2kgs extra in your hand-luggage…wow, now that’s what I call an upgrade…not!

…the gripe in was the manner how we were all dealt with.

It just felt like Thomson new that here comes the cruise lot, time to milk the baggage. Like I said also last year Thomas cook were very accommodating in that slightly over your allowance was ok.

To be honest, Lindylou’s reply is about as far as an apology that you will get…they just spout the usual “its company policy” tosh and are basically saying “you’ve been on holiday, we’ve got your money, thank you very much, like it or lump it”, and all in the name of “customer service”.

Also, don’t forget that the agent at the airport that tried charging you for the overweight baggage most likely does not work for Thomson themselves, more so for a ground handling agent (i.e Swissport, Servisair, etc?), but that doesnt excuse them from providing a good service!

R.I.P.:(

Perhaps a statue will be erected on Wimbledon Common to commerate her life and her works!

On a side note, I was beginning to wonder that no celebrity or high-profile figure had passed away yet, but now someone has!:D

We were/are planning a holiday in Alaska but my wife doesn’t want to take a cruise…a bit too much “inclusive bus tour” for our tastes.

I can in some ways see/understand why you say this J Boyle, as this was very much my opinion before I went on my cruise, plus I thought that cruising was only for old folks…well, I am only 24 years old and I’ve been on two cruises so far; Alaska was my first (think that was 2004, but not 100% sure!) and I’ve also been to Hawaii too, and I can happily say that they are two of the best holidays I have ever been on!

Cruising is a very easy, flexible and stress-free way of visiting a few places in a relatively short period of time, depending on what type of cruise you choose obviously.

There are a whole range of activities that you can do when visiting a particular place. For example, when I was in Alaska, I went on a whale-watching tour and also went sledging with Alaskan huskies on the top of a glacier. And when I went to Hawaii, I went on a small speedboat to a private beach area where we could go snorkelling and/or sun-bathing. I also went on a helicopter flight and looked out over the landscape of the Hawaiian islands, which was simply stunning!

Finding all of these things and more to do, organising and paying for them individually would in my opinion be a really hard task and would take months planning, and actually it would probably overall cost a lot more too, if you consider that you have your flights, accomodation, car hire to include in the price as well. Are you sure its worth all the hassle and stress…?

Whilst it would be necessary to plan and book any activities in advance, most if not all can booked via your cruiseline operator, and can often come as part of a special offer. Some activities will no doubt be more popular than others, and some might clash with others, which means you can’t do certain things, but then perhaps you can consider re-visiting the area on another holiday if you desperatley want to do something you couldn’t.

Overall, cruising is one of the best possible holidays you can take if you don’t want to be stuck in anyone location for a lengthy period of time. You get transported from place to place, you have a room with bed and a shower for each and every night (depending on which cabin you opt to book!), and you also have a variety of restaurants available onboard to choose from, and when you are in the various ports of call on your journey, you are at free reign to do what you like…you are not obliged to hang around with anyone else from the cruise boat, apart from when you go on any activities/tours.

Please feel free to PM me if you want any further advice…especially about Canada/Alaska as I have a lot of recommendations which I would be happy to share with you!:)

Yes, the private jet industry does seem to do quite well when the commercial one seems to faulter and grind to a halt…it also happened during the volcanic ash cloud too.

Clearly shows people’s willingness to pay whatever they have to in order to get to their destination/home, and that this is a far better option than standing for hours on end waiting for a train (i.e. Eurostar).

I wonder if the avg. commission rate for private charter brokers increased by a small margin as they will no doubt have seen an increase in the number of enquiries/quotes too.:)