…than reading United’s Facebook wall!

Man, I don’t envy the folks that work in the PR or customer relations departments of airlines. Regardless of whether it’s Twitter or Facebook, some of the stuff people ask/say/request amazes me.

Here are a couple of fun ones for Alaska Airlines:

On Twitter someone asked:

@alaskaair on Sept 1 my fiancée and I are flying from bos to sea For our wedding. Any chance we can upgrade to first class free of charge?

And on their Facebook wall, someone asked:

Can you add service to Worcester Regional Airport in Worcester, MA?

Need I say more?

Even more fun, for me at least, is United’s Facebook wall. They’ve been offering a promotion where you can win two free tickets in the lower 48 for “liking” them on Facebook. I guess some people are a bit confused by what constitutes the lower 48, because it’s certainly not this:

Send me to Wimbledon 2011!

Or this:

Daughter is traveling the world in two weeks and she could use a free flight in Europe or Australia. Crossing my fingers…

Or this:

This Oct is our 50th anniversary. I would love to go to Rome.

I could go on and on on that front, but I won’t. Equally fascinating are the complaints on United’s wall. I think this gives us just a little taste of what it would be like to work in the customer relations department of an airline.

Take this complaint, for example:

United Airlines did not give me my frequent flyer miles because I booked it through Priceline, and they do the same with Hotwire! I specificaly flew with them in order to get flyer miles! And since this my first experience with flyer miles, I don’t see any reason to stay with United.

Or this complaint:

joined mileage club after last trip….they refused to give me the miles ’cause i booked the flight on priceline.com. I quit their damn mileage club.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

And I know we’ve all wondered at one point or another how inventory and revenue management at the airlines works. I’ve always thought it’s irrational. I think they should use this to determine pricing:

Hey United. I love you guys but in the past few years, you have raised the cost of the direct flight from BTV to ORD so much that I can no longer afford it. Please consider lowering the cost so I can bring my daughter to visit her grandparents regularly (we live In Btv-they live near ord). It used to be $300ish and now it is over $500 for only a 90 min flight.

Not sure what they’re trying to say here, but guess this is one of the people using “Award Accelerator:”

Air miles plus from united could triple your next United Air miles trip! Love them business class is so neat and conformable. I was able to choose my own movie and also sleep in my big seat lawing down completely. I had a fantastic flight!

And here’s a really fun complaint letter. Somehow I feel like this line in this complaint letter won’t be a very compelling argument for United to shut down their international call centers:

My husband is a manufature and he, and his family and employees, is proud to put the sticker “Made in the USA” on all his goods. His profits are less but he is putting America to work.

Anyway, what’s my point? For one, I feel sorry for those working on the customer relations team at any airline (and in some cases hotels), and two, there’s nothing better to do on a Saturday night than scroll through the comments on airlines’ walls.

Whew, this is exhausting. Get me a nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Baton Rouge… in first class!