When I used to work in the office reps were always coming in with lunch, giving little (logo) items, nice gifts, etc to us. And while I knew they were trying to be nice so we think of their company first, not once did I ever use one company over the other because they brought in lunch or gave me anything. That’s not how every day life works.

I think there was a time in life that people could be ‘bought’ by freebies, but now a days I don’t think that is the case. While decades ago people might have thought someone was bought into saying something, today in a cyber world it’s to easy to be blasted for saying something nice about an airline for example after you have taken a trip on them and people think the airline gave you a free ticket so that is why you said something nice. Even doctors offices have signs that they don’t accept anything anymore as a doctor doesn’t want to be labeled as being ‘bought’ by a large drug manufacture and prescribing the name brand just because they accepted a free ink pen or coffee mug.

In a world of many people, there will always be those who think folks like your an Brett were given something for free and bought into saying something nice if they don’t agree with what you said.

But you wouldn’t have your job and Brett wouldn’t be doing his if everyone thought you were bought into saying everything you do.

I’m way late to this thread, but I am responding in after discovering Bill O’s comment via a Google search.

I am not allowed to take freebies from airlines, and the Emirates flight you reference was not a freebie. Actually, I’ve never flown on Emirates — though I was at JFK for as Emirates’ first-ever flight to the U.S landed there. After it pulled to the gate, I was given a tour of the cabin — but was chased off shortly thereafter so the plane could be cleaned and turned for its return to Dubai.

Simply put, I must pay for all revenue flights. If there is a flight that’s a “VIP” or “media” flight for which no tickets are being sold (i.e., invite only), then we decide on case-by-case basis.

I hope that helps clear that up.

Ben Mutzabaugh
Today in the Sky/USA TODAY

If the agent at LAX wasn’t very helpful with information, it might be it was blocked for her to see. But being rude is a different matter, that’s never called for from either side of the counter. As a U.S. carrier they 800 number should have be open 24hrs and you could have called to double check. But again those agents would have seen all zeros also if the space was blocked for local station use.

But look at it this way, you got there, you got home, and will ringing in the New Year all safe and sound.

Finally I put it to you that the freebies you do accept are those that benefit you. To fly BA LCY/EWR is too big of an inconvenience for you I’m sure afterall LAX to LHR is what 13hrs min and then of course the return via EWR, however to ASK Delta for something for your brother is shocking beyond belief and then admit you cant help but be cloudy by their generosity. And on this trip to mention ‘off-hand’ you would be passing through MKE does read a little suspect I have to say. Coincidence? If you want to be seen as a quality authority you need to distance yourself from your ‘friends in PR’ and get on with what you are doing quietly. Your blog speaks volumes and influences so many of our travels but when we read you are taking sweeteners (or are they bribes for good reports?) it quite frankly leaves a sour taste in my mouth!!

That Frontier agent may have been telling the truth about the seats. I’ve flown them a few times out of Los Angeles Intl. and they’ve always been great to me with good attitudes and service. I wonder if those agents normally worked until 2A – they were probably tired too.

Appreciate your good writing. Mutzbaugh at USA Today gets free business class upgrades all the time (see his EK trip on the A380), and I’ll bet Frontier/Midwest would send a note to anyone who sends a detailed complaint to a friend in the company. And it doesn’t sound like they even gave you travel vouchers, did they? That doesn’t sound like special treatment. Just a oooops note.

Happy New Year to the readers!

What a shame your reports are not a fair representative of the great experiences I have had when travelling Frontier & Midwest.

I agree. It is a shame, because my previous experiences on Frontier were actually quite good.

Terry wrote:

May I suggest your mood prior to setting off (late inward service) set the tone and you were treated in the same discourteous manner you treated the staff with?

I have stood behind a customer service counter getting yelled at by passengers many times. I can assure you that I was in no way rude when I got up there. It was only after repeated requests were denied that I started getting a bit agitated. But I can tell you that I never became angry or raised my voice at all. This was simply poor customer service.

Now, did the agent lie to me? That may be too strong of a word. The flight had plenty of room so misconnects would not have played into the equation. At best, this agent simply didn’t bother to look up the actual information and instead just used a blanket statement to get me to go away. At worst, she lied. But I did not treat her poorly.

Adam wrote:

Are you a journalist or an airline enthusiast who writes about the industry? Frankly it doesn’t matter which one you consider yourself because it’s what readers and most importantly what the industry think. Seems to me they see you as the former because they treat you like a member of the press as they give you press passes and offer interviews and special access. But unlike the press (who can’t and won’t accept freebies, you do accept club passes, gifts… Do Ben Mutzabaugh (Today in the Sky) or Scott McCartney (Middle Seat) accept freebies?

Great comment, Adam. And this will make for a great discussion. It’s certainly something that I’ve considered often and I do have a personal code that I abide by. I think you’ve inspired me to put it on my site. Look for a post on this in the next week or so and maybe we can get a lot of discussion around this. But I’m happy to address a lot of this now.

In short, I don’t know a traditional journalist who doesn’t accept some form of freebies. Oh sure, many will say they don’t but instead they simply get greatly reduced rates so that they did in fact exchange something for it. But even in other cases, it’s not coming out of the journalist’s pocket – it’s coming out of the organization’s pocket. So it’s just a different model. I can tell you that while I have accepted limited freebies, there are even more that I turn down. Where do I draw the line?

Well, in general I only accept freebies from airlines that have worked with me over time and understand that I can’t be bought. But for those who come to me out of the blue with an offer, I won’t do it. I turned down a free round the world trip on Star Alliance this summer – I had never even spoken to them before. Maybe we can get into this in further detail when I post on this.

Adam wrote:

As for your assertion in your response to Anon that you receive no special treatment, many times in your blog you actually admit the very opposite.

You’re absolutely right. But this assertion was simply in relation to this particular trip.

Adam wrote:

That’s where the issue lies, the benefit to you wasn’t immaterial, it made your layover infinitely better. If it was only $35 (x2) for a day pass then why not just pay for it? Where do you draw the line? Free tickets? Comped Miles? Upgrades to first class? Consulting deals?

I do not do consulting for airlines, so I’d like to make that very clear. Will I accept free tickets? Yes, but not for a pleasure trip. In other words, if someone said, “Hey, we’ll send you to Indy for Christmas,” I wouldn’t do it. But I’ve had British Airways ask me to fly out to try their Club World and their new London/City flight. I have Delta asking me to try their BizElite cabin between LA and NY. I’m not going to take those trips otherwise, so if they want to fly me out and fly me back just so I can experience it, then I’m willing to do that as long as they understand that if things suck, I’m going to say so. (Neither of these trips have been scheduled, by the way.)

Adam wrote:

Airlines already have alerts when top flyers pop into their system, and many other industries have their own way to pay special attention to customers, secret shoppers, press… so it’s not hard to believe, whether you’re aware of it or not that United, American and many other airlines have your name or frequent flyer # tagged to send them an alert when your reservation enters the system. Last thing is how do you respond to requests from a PR representative who contacts you, “wanting to learn more about what type of PR I would like to see” at their airport or airline?

If airlines are alerting their agents that I’m a VIP, they’re doing that for anyone who is able to influence the public and that includes all journalists. So there’s nothing I can do about that. I really hope they aren’t doing that. Sadly, I can’t exactly travel under a fake name or the TSA will not be happy.

If anyone in PR reaches out to me asking for feedback, I’m happy to give it to them. I wish I could copy and paste my email here, but it ended up being a phone chat. I tend to be pretty blunt when they ask questions like these, but to be honest, I love when they ask.

I can’t tell you how many insanely stupid and irrelevant press releases and communications I get from the travel industry on the whole. The amount of spam is just absurd. So if someone wants to take the time to understand what sort of news is actually interesting to me, I’m going to jump at the opportunity.

Looking forward to continuing this discussion.

You’ve got great insights on the industry and I enjoy reading your blog more than any other. Keep it up. My comment isn’t an attack on your creditability, as I just said I think you’re great, but I have been wanting to ask you about this for sometime. It really goes to the journalistic line between reporter and blogger.

BUT I can’t help but agree with Anon. Are you a journalist or an airline enthusiast who writes about the industry? Frankly it doesn’t matter which one you consider yourself because it’s what readers and most importantly what the industry think. Seems to me they see you as the former because they treat you like a member of the press as they give you press passes and offer interviews and special access. But unlike the press (who can’t and won’t accept freebies, you do accept club passes, gifts… Do Ben Mutzabaugh (Today in the Sky) or Scott McCartney (Middle Seat) accept freebies?

I too appreciate the fact that you disclose your gifts but it’s could be a slippery slope. Gifts whether disclosed or not provide undue influence and that’s where the potential for bias could appear into your postings and stories. Could your story about being delayed in Milwaukee have been a little “crankier” (forgive the pun) if you hadn’t had club passes? I work in politics in DC and I don’t see any difference between lobbyists buying a member of Congress dinner or gifts and airlines offering you free stuff because they’re both trying to exert influence. That’s why lawmakers made receiving gifts from lobbyists illegal and I do think journalists and bloggers could all aspire to be more ethical than politicians.

As for your assertion in your response to Anon that you receive no special treatment, many times in your blog you actually admit the very opposite. One example of this I’m referring to is a posting you made on July 1st of this year titled, A New Addition to the Cranky Family. http://crankyflier.com/2009/07/01/a-new-addition-to-the-cranky-family/ You contacted your “PR contact at Delta” and asked them to surprise your brother and his new fiancé on their recent engagement. They didn’t disappoint. You even pointed out, “That’s a really nice gift basket nice gift basket” which was filled with wine, fresh fruit, candies and snacks. You then asked, “Now this can’t be normal, right?” and then you answered your question with, “I can’t imagine Delta does this for everyone”. That’s right, it’s not normal and they don’t do it for everyone. You go on to say, “It can only engender loyalty during a very memorable and emotional time.” I think the PR Representative who arranged for the gift basket, and the nice picture on the tarmac, knew that it was going to “engender loyalty”.

Now to your recent Milwaukee trip. “Fortunately, someone who does PR for Milwaukee’s airport had emailed me …” “When our flight got closer, I found an email from her saying we had been put on the guest list for Midwest’s Best Care Club… “That was very nice of her and it really made our lives infinitely better with our long layover.” That’s where the issue lies, the benefit to you wasn’t immaterial, it made your layover infinitely better. If it was only $35 (x2) for a day pass then why not just pay for it? Where do you draw the line? Free tickets? Comped Miles? Upgrades to first class? Consulting deals?

You mention PR Representatives often in your blog and I thought I’d ask if you think it’s plausible that PR representatives for airports and airlines know when you’ll be coming through their airport? You said in this case that, “Nobody at the gates or on the plane knew who I was”. What about other times? Airlines already have alerts when top flyers pop into their system, and many other industries have their own way to pay special attention to customers, secret shoppers, press… so it’s not hard to believe, whether you’re aware of it or not that United, American and many other airlines have your name or frequent flyer # tagged to send them an alert when your reservation enters the system. Last thing is how do you respond to requests from a PR representative who contacts you, “wanting to learn more about what type of PR I would like to see” at their airport or airline?

May I suggest your mood prior to setting off (late inward service) set the tone and you were treated in the same discourteous manner you treated the staff with? As a frequent flier based in the UK, I know world class service comes from within. You treat staff with respect you get it back 10 fold!

As someone has said, seats become available due to misconnects. I’ve yet to come across any agent worth their salt who would lie. Its more than their job is worth.

And as for the comment your “reports have become less and less useful to average travelers” I totally agree. Remember sir you come from a classless country. You are no better or worse than the agent in front of you, then and only then will your postings be representative again.