Negotiating Plane Rides (and getting home from AALS)

Well, I have finally recovered from the odyssey that it took to get home from New York two weeks ago and I thought it might be fun to start a conversation about what types of negotiation strategies and techniques work when your airport closes down.

First, let me briefly encapsulate our trip.  Seven professors on the 11:30 a.m. flight from LaGuardia to Milwaukee when, finally at 2:30, they announce that Milwaukee is closed for fog.  [We find out a week later that this is actually an issue of training and that Midwest Airlines pilots are not trained for landing in fog—other airlines were flying in and out of Milwaukee.  One of the few times I have ever faulted this otherwise exemplary airline.]  By the time they announce our flight is cancelled, they have already cancelled the 2:00 p.m. plane and all of those people have managed to take all seats on the two morning flights the next day.  So…what would you do?  What would you ask for?  Remember, for weather cancellations, the airline is not responsible for housing and food….

We decided to see if we could get a flight to somewhere within driving distance.  Chicago?  Booked.  Indianapolis?  Booked.  Minneapolis?  Sure—there’s a 6:00 flight.  We get to Minneapolis at 8:15 (9:15 eastern so by now we are traveling for 12 hours already) and then drive home through the fog arriving in Milwaukee at 3 a.m. 

I’m not sure this was a great negotiation but it did get us home.  Our BATNA’s (assuming that getting home ASAP was the primary goal versus spending another lovely day in New York) seemed to be either (a) driving home from New York which I estimated would have taken until 7 a.m. the next day or (b) staying over in New York another day and flying home on an afternoon flight on Monday.

So, blog readers, let me know your negotiation stories.  What’s the worst negotiation you’ve ever been in with an airline?  What’s the best thing you’ve ever gotten from them?  Negotiation pointers?

P.S. I didn’t have time to post this last week before I went away for the weekend with my kids to Orlando.  Sure enough, my flight is cancelled on the return (clearly, no one should travel with me anytime soon.)  Midwest Airlines, this time around, supplied us all with hotel rooms, meal vouchers, and free roundtrip flights.  The difference, apparently, is weather (out of their control) versus galley door problems (in their control).   How might these factors affect your negotiating position?

One thought on “Negotiating Plane Rides (and getting home from AALS)”

  1. On a Midwest flight to Nashville, I told a flight attendant that I would be her best friend if she procured me a chocolate chip cookie. AND I GOT ONE! Apparently, my friendship is highly valuable.

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