[Ipg-smz] [Ipg-l] Today in first-world problems: Conference booked my flights in Basic Economy

Christine Hall christine at fossforce.com
Thu Aug 29 16:42:59 UTC 2019


Garsh. On the budgets I'm given traveling basic economy is a must. I'm 
usually in the group that boards last, way in back of the plane.

Christine Hall
Publisher & Editor
FOSS Force: Keeping tech free
http://fossforce.com

On 8/29/19 12:04 PM, Tom Henderson via Ipg-l wrote:
> Respect and dignity are important.
> 
> This said, I'd rather walk than take United, and I have 2.6M miles on 
> them. They are not the United of yesteryear.
> 
> Tom
> 
> 
> On 8/29/19 11:22 AM, Rob Pegoraro via Ipg-l wrote:
>> My control-freak issues with booking travel are bad enough when 
>> anybody but me picks the flights, but the people at Web Summit more 
>> than justified all that anxiety when they booked me on a Basic Economy 
>> fare for this November’s conference—after days of correspondence in 
>> which I asked them not to do that.
>>
>> The especially stupid thing: This itinerary, booked through Swiss for 
>> some reason, cost at least $200 more than the same flights booked 
>> through United on a regular, non-basic fare on which I can pick any 
>> seat for free and get full frequent-flyer credit.
>>
>> A very patient and helpful rep with Web Summit’s travel agent was able 
>> to finagle me seat assignments for free, including one in Economy Plus 
>> on the IAD-GVA leg starting this trip. And my status with United means 
>> I can check a bag or carry one on for free anyway, so it could be worse.
>>
>> But I’m still pissed at these idiots for being so pointlessly cheap 
>> this time. (Last year, they were fine with reimbursing me on a ticket 
>> I bought myself, one that cost a lot more.) They are going to make a 
>> lot of speakers very angry if they booked everybody else into Basic 
>> Economy—especially those speakers less versed in the ways of airlines, 
>> who will only learn at the last minute that they’re on a peon’s ticket.
>>
>> I should have seen this coming to some degree: I recall the Summit 
>> people booking Ron Miller on a Basic Economy fare to New Orleans when 
>> he did a panel at Collision a couple of years back, a stunt that left 
>> my tech-conference pal very much unamused.
>>
>> So to those of you who speak at conferences, remember to look out for 
>> this risk.
>>
>> - R
>>
>>
>>
>> ---
>> Rob Pegoraro
>> Journalist | Arlington, Va.
>> robpegoraro.com <http://robpegoraro.com> | 202-683-7948 | @robpegoraro
>>
>>
>>
>>
> -- 
> Tom Henderson
> ExtremeLabs, Inc.
> +1 317 250 4646
> Twitter: @extremelabs
> Skype: extremelabsinc
> 
> 



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