My wife's and my most frequented restaurant in LV is King's Fish House. Located off Green Valley Parkway and I215 in The District in Henderson, NV.
Start out with San Francisco type, sour dough bread! Yummie!
Full raw bar - oyster, clams, etc and a sushi bar if you're into that sort of thing. And a good assortment of fresh fish prepared as you like. Recently added Lobster Bisque to the menu. Apparently family owned (Sam & Jeff King) a dozen or so restaurants throughout Califoria, Nevada and Arizona.
What we like best is that they split orders and bring them out on 2 plates, cups, bowls, etc. Our usual late lunch is a bowl of clam chowder, Spicy Crab Roll and a Crab and Shrimp Louie. They bring us 2 cups of soup and 2 salads. A great service, great food and good atmosphere. A must if you like reasonably priced seafood and a good reason to get off the LV strip.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Phone Chargers
Ever leave a cell phone charger or power cord at a hotel? Well you're not alone. I forgot to unplug my charger at a hotel and left without it. I later called the hotel, the did find it and offered t ship it to me but only if I paid the shipping charge. Not a great service for a Diamond member. However, at the next hotel I stayed at, I asked if they had any unclaimed cell phone chargers. Well they produced a box filled with chargers. I found 2 and they said "help yourself!" They don't know what to do with them all. Travelers don't come back nor call to claim them. So I now ask at every hotel if they have any unclaimed cell phone chargers and now have acquired a couple backups for all my traveling needs. Why buy a replacement when you can go to a hotel and get one free??
Atlanta Airport
I stayed at the Springhill Suites at the airport. From baggage claim there is a free train/tram that goes to the rental car facility. First stop is the Georgia International Convention Center and the Springhill Suites. Sure beats taking a shuttle or cab!! One minute from baggage claim!! Seems to be quite new. A Marriott is being built accross the street. Nothing else close by at this time. Breakfast is included and OK. Typical - bad eggs, sausage, cereal, yogert, oatmeal, bagels.....
No restaurants close, so if you do not have a car, you have to go back to the airport to eat. Mini store at the hotel - water @ $2.50.
Once there are restaurants close by, this will be an ideal place to stay if you want to be close to the airport.
Be a good idea if other airports would have a similar set up. Eliminate shuttle busses and cabs to/from hotels, restaurants, renal car facilities, etc.
Good move Atlanta!!
No restaurants close, so if you do not have a car, you have to go back to the airport to eat. Mini store at the hotel - water @ $2.50.
Once there are restaurants close by, this will be an ideal place to stay if you want to be close to the airport.
Be a good idea if other airports would have a similar set up. Eliminate shuttle busses and cabs to/from hotels, restaurants, renal car facilities, etc.
Good move Atlanta!!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Using Reward Miles - Disaster
Ever notice you usually can't use your EARNED reward miles when you need them? AND when/if you can use them, it'll cost you double miles even to get in coach? 4X miles to get in first class?!?!?!?
Well in December I actually made a first class reservation for my wife and I to Hawaii in April. US Air did not have the flights we wanted but United did, so we made the reservations on United. First class all the way! Well, not exactly.
Since we are going to the big island and have to fly Hawaiian Air from Honolulu to Kona, US Air could not get us in first class on Hawaiian Air. I then called Hawaiian Air and they had no problem booking me in first class - first class was wide open. However, since I made the reservation through US Air, US Air has to book the flight and issue the ticket. Long story short - computers do not talk to each other and neither airline could make this work, so....we're in coach even though both airlines had no problem booking me in first class. This is not customer friendly and just not right. Someone in one of their IT departments should be able to figure this out.
THEN......a few days ago (first week of March) I received a call from US Air stating there was a flight change. United had changed the outboound flight departure times. Still all worked.
HOWEVER...I found out later that US Air cancelled my original reservation and booked me on a different outbound flight. I called US Air and told them I still wanted my original itinerary. After about 45 minutes, mostly on hold or explaining the dilemma, I was assured it was all back in order. However....when I checked with United Airlines, they still did not have me on their outbound flight!!!
SHORT STORY LONG - after 4 US Air agents, 2 supervisors, 3 calls to United (WELL over 4 hours of calls), still no resolution.
I'm currently on hold with Deborah with US Air. She said she found the problem - US Air did not reissue the ticket to United - just changed the original ticket. Thusly United only had my cancellation, not the ticket reissue.
This doen't seem like rocket science. Should be in their P&P that a ticket reissue is required if a change occurs. Should not be out of the ordinary. Also seems like a supervisor could resolve the issue.
Side note - no United Airlines agent could speak english very well nor understood thoroughly my issue.
Deborah - actually found another problem and said she would follow this issue till resloved and call me back instead of keeping me on a hold. A first for me!! She did call me back. The problem was that because of the schedule change, there was not enough time scheduled between flights (Hololulu to Kona - there is a required 75 minute minimum). As a result United could not issue the ticket. Deborah found the problem, resolved the problem. Thank you Deborah!! I got her name and employee ID. I will send a letter to US Air regarding the issue and commend Deborah's great service.
Well in December I actually made a first class reservation for my wife and I to Hawaii in April. US Air did not have the flights we wanted but United did, so we made the reservations on United. First class all the way! Well, not exactly.
Since we are going to the big island and have to fly Hawaiian Air from Honolulu to Kona, US Air could not get us in first class on Hawaiian Air. I then called Hawaiian Air and they had no problem booking me in first class - first class was wide open. However, since I made the reservation through US Air, US Air has to book the flight and issue the ticket. Long story short - computers do not talk to each other and neither airline could make this work, so....we're in coach even though both airlines had no problem booking me in first class. This is not customer friendly and just not right. Someone in one of their IT departments should be able to figure this out.
THEN......a few days ago (first week of March) I received a call from US Air stating there was a flight change. United had changed the outboound flight departure times. Still all worked.
HOWEVER...I found out later that US Air cancelled my original reservation and booked me on a different outbound flight. I called US Air and told them I still wanted my original itinerary. After about 45 minutes, mostly on hold or explaining the dilemma, I was assured it was all back in order. However....when I checked with United Airlines, they still did not have me on their outbound flight!!!
SHORT STORY LONG - after 4 US Air agents, 2 supervisors, 3 calls to United (WELL over 4 hours of calls), still no resolution.
I'm currently on hold with Deborah with US Air. She said she found the problem - US Air did not reissue the ticket to United - just changed the original ticket. Thusly United only had my cancellation, not the ticket reissue.
This doen't seem like rocket science. Should be in their P&P that a ticket reissue is required if a change occurs. Should not be out of the ordinary. Also seems like a supervisor could resolve the issue.
Side note - no United Airlines agent could speak english very well nor understood thoroughly my issue.
Deborah - actually found another problem and said she would follow this issue till resloved and call me back instead of keeping me on a hold. A first for me!! She did call me back. The problem was that because of the schedule change, there was not enough time scheduled between flights (Hololulu to Kona - there is a required 75 minute minimum). As a result United could not issue the ticket. Deborah found the problem, resolved the problem. Thank you Deborah!! I got her name and employee ID. I will send a letter to US Air regarding the issue and commend Deborah's great service.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Airline Auto Attendants
Ever notice how difficult it is to talk to a live person with an airline? Your call is answered by an auto attendant. The auto attendant runs you through a series of questions giving you many options - all except the one you need.
The auto attendant really should have the first option the option to talk directly to an agent!
Some auto attendants allow you to press "0" and get directly to an agent. GREAT!! However, most do not want you to do that!! Why? Because it costs the airlines more $$ to actulally allow you to talk to a live person!
The belief is that the majority of calls to a live agent can be alleviated through a series of questions even if it inconveniences the customer. This process saves time and money for the airline with little thought given to value of the customers time.
Good customer service (thinking what is in the best interest of the customer) is a now a thing of the past.
The irony and additional frustration is 2 fold:
FIRST: It asks you to provide information; i.e.name, frequent flyer number, date of flight, etc., etc. Ever notice that this info is never passed over to an agent in the event you have to to talk to one so you end up repeating yourself.
SECONDLY: Most auto attendants now all ask (before you even get to the question you are calling about) if you would be willing ot take a survey after the call!!!!! If you have ever taken the survey, the questions asked are ones that do not allow you to comment on what you want, but leading questions about what they want. AND - they seem to never act on any of the comments anyway. If they did, they would have more live agents. HELP!!!
The auto attendant really should have the first option the option to talk directly to an agent!
Some auto attendants allow you to press "0" and get directly to an agent. GREAT!! However, most do not want you to do that!! Why? Because it costs the airlines more $$ to actulally allow you to talk to a live person!
The belief is that the majority of calls to a live agent can be alleviated through a series of questions even if it inconveniences the customer. This process saves time and money for the airline with little thought given to value of the customers time.
Good customer service (thinking what is in the best interest of the customer) is a now a thing of the past.
The irony and additional frustration is 2 fold:
FIRST: It asks you to provide information; i.e.name, frequent flyer number, date of flight, etc., etc. Ever notice that this info is never passed over to an agent in the event you have to to talk to one so you end up repeating yourself.
SECONDLY: Most auto attendants now all ask (before you even get to the question you are calling about) if you would be willing ot take a survey after the call!!!!! If you have ever taken the survey, the questions asked are ones that do not allow you to comment on what you want, but leading questions about what they want. AND - they seem to never act on any of the comments anyway. If they did, they would have more live agents. HELP!!!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Hotels
A couple of weeks ago I was in San Antonio. Stayed at the new Hyatt. When checking in, I presented my Hyatt rewards card and he had difficulty entering it into the system. During the delay I mentioned that I stay in hotels over 100 nights/year and usually stay at Hilton properties. He said that I should seriously check out this Hyatt. When I went to my room I realized he had upgraded me to a king suite! In my opinion - great customer service! AND...I will stay at this Hyatt next time I'm in San Antonio. I thanked the attendant and asked for his manager who I thanked as well. The suite was obviously not reserved during my stay and the attendant decided to use it as a sales tool to woo a Hilton customer to Hyatt. Also don't be afraid to ask for an upgrade or a better rate.
Make certain that you belong to the rewards program for every hotel chain and airline. You never know.....
Make certain that you belong to the rewards program for every hotel chain and airline. You never know.....
The Start of My Blog for Frequent Travelers
Airline, hotel and restaurant customer service is becoming so inconsistent and frustrating that I thought I'd just start writing about it.
I fly well over 100,000 mile a year (first class most of the time), stay at hotels 100+ nights per year and eat at hundreds of restaurants every year.
I'll start this blog with a few of my most common airline complaints.
Boarding - many time I sit in row 1. I have to get to the front of the boarding area line prior to boarding or push my way into the front of the line in order to board first or I will have no place to put my bag once on board.
All airlines could use some sort of an orderly method to board (ala Southwest). In any event, if I'm the least bit late, it is nearly impossible to get close to the front of the line and much less likely to have a place to but my bag once on board.
Many times I have seen coach passengers put their bags over a first class seat and walk to the back of the plane while flight attendents look on. This should not be allowed! Retrieving the bag is another story kinda like salmon swimming upstream!
The bins over the first row should be reserved for passengers in the first row. In fact, all the bins over the seats in first class should be reserved for first class passengers. So why not have assigned baggage compartments for all seats on a plane?? Probably too logical.
There was a time when I got on board and a first class flight attendant would always offer to take my coat and ask if I'd like something to drink. Now some ask if you'd like a drink, some have water waiting at your seat when you board, or as I experienced last night, I didn't get offered a drink for the first hour into the flight. During this first hour I watched the flight attendant leasurely take a drink from his water bottle at least 3 times.
One round of drinks, dinner and never saw the attendant again. This was on a 4.5 hour flight! Of course this is not the norm. Some flight attendants are quite good when it comes to the safety and comfort of their customer passengers, but the inconsistency is astonishing. Seems they should have standards, accountability and quality control but apparently not.
Airline, hotel and restaurant customer service is becoming so inconsistent and frustrating that I thought I'd just start writing about it.
I fly well over 100,000 mile a year (first class most of the time), stay at hotels 100+ nights per year and eat at hundreds of restaurants every year.
I'll start this blog with a few of my most common airline complaints.
Boarding - many time I sit in row 1. I have to get to the front of the boarding area line prior to boarding or push my way into the front of the line in order to board first or I will have no place to put my bag once on board.
All airlines could use some sort of an orderly method to board (ala Southwest). In any event, if I'm the least bit late, it is nearly impossible to get close to the front of the line and much less likely to have a place to but my bag once on board.
Many times I have seen coach passengers put their bags over a first class seat and walk to the back of the plane while flight attendents look on. This should not be allowed! Retrieving the bag is another story kinda like salmon swimming upstream!
The bins over the first row should be reserved for passengers in the first row. In fact, all the bins over the seats in first class should be reserved for first class passengers. So why not have assigned baggage compartments for all seats on a plane?? Probably too logical.
There was a time when I got on board and a first class flight attendant would always offer to take my coat and ask if I'd like something to drink. Now some ask if you'd like a drink, some have water waiting at your seat when you board, or as I experienced last night, I didn't get offered a drink for the first hour into the flight. During this first hour I watched the flight attendant leasurely take a drink from his water bottle at least 3 times.
One round of drinks, dinner and never saw the attendant again. This was on a 4.5 hour flight! Of course this is not the norm. Some flight attendants are quite good when it comes to the safety and comfort of their customer passengers, but the inconsistency is astonishing. Seems they should have standards, accountability and quality control but apparently not.
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