There are 133 specialists on the list. Most of them are destination specialists that can arrange incredible travel experiences in their geographic region, but there are three of us that focus on air travel. Gary Leff, who you probably know as the author of View From the Wing, is on there for award redemption and Sara Habib is there for round the world tickets. And of course, I’m there for urgent airline assistance.

I’ll let Condé Nast take it from here:

Ever found yourself stranded in a foreign airport, praying for a guardian angel to swoop in and get you on the next flight home? Meet Snyder, whose air travel assistance service finds you the lowest fare and then keeps an eye out for snafus such as delayed flights, missed connections, and bad weather at your destination, and rebooks you even before the airline informs you there’s a problem. Even if you booked your ticket yourself and disaster strikes—an Icelandic volcano erupts, or a Christmas-week snowstorm hits, shutting down airports for days—he’ll get you on the earliest flight out ($150 for urgent assistance).

With the holidays coming up, we can monitor your flights for as little as $15 each way (and that’s per itinerary, not per person). You can email us at info@crankyconcierge.com if you have any questions or just sign up directly at crankyconcierge.com/signup.

If you work for a big ole’ monster of a company, you undoubtedly have a managed corporate travel program, and we aren’t going to compete with that. We’re still happy to help when things go wrong, but where we think we can really add value is for small business.

There are a ton of small companies out there that are either paying too much for their travel programs or not using one at all. We can fill that gap and save money along the way while also providing excellent flight monitoring.

Small business clients do not have to pay each time they fly. Instead, we will bill you monthly. That not only makes it easier for you, but it allows us to apply small business volume discounts depending upon how much you use us during any one month. There is no contract required, so you can even give us a shot for a single month.

For more, go to crankyconcierge.com/smallbusiness.php or call us at (707) 797-7474 and we can tell you all you need to know.

We’re happy to add two new discount partners to the site this week. As you know, you can already get discounts on things like GoGo inflight internet (25% off), TripIt Pro, and more. Now we welcome our two newest partners.

• AwardWallet – I’ve written about AwardWallet before, and now Cranky Concierge clients can take advantage of the premium features of the frequent flier balance monitoring service for free. Yep, Concierge clients will get a free upgrade to AwardWallet Plus. We’ve also been working on a Cranky Concierge frequent flier program monitoring and management service, but that’s still in the works.
• On the Fly Seminars – You might know Nick Kralev from his days at the Washington Times. Many know him as the one to shed a broad spotlight on United’s Starnet blocking practice which prevents you from using awards that might be available on Star Alliance partners. After many, many years of traveling all over the globe, he’s now created the On the Fly seminars to help you maximize your travel budget, grow your mileage balance, reduce the hassle, and get upgrades. His seminars are all over the US and Cranky Concierge clients will get 15% off.

One of the more consistent problems we’ve seen is people not signing up for the right plan for their trips. It’s not your fault, it’s ours. So we’ve gone ahead and combined our pricing and details page into something much easier to understand. It starts with this:

Easy, right? We’ve also made changes to how you can send us your info when we’re helping you plan a trip. Once you complete payment, you’ll be taken to a thank you page that now has a form you can fill out with all the info we’ll need from you to get started. No more going back to your email to do it. You can just take care of everything right there.

Lastly, I’d like to welcome Nicole to our stable of airline dorks. Nicole actually signed up for Cranky Concierge for a trip to Indonesia, and after she ended up coming up with a more creative and cheaper route, I started talking to her about becoming a concierge herself. Sure enough, she’s onboard and will add a welcome female perspective to the crew. Nicole started training this week, so you can look forward to getting her help next time you sign up.

Welcome onboard, Nicole!

How to Get Home When Disaster Strikes – FOX News
Stuck when disasters happen? I talk about what Cranky Concierge did to help.

Alaska’s New Flights Put Its Relationship With American to the Test – BNET
Alaska is stepping on American’s toes in California. Is this a test?

Three Years Later, American Airlines Is Still Getting the Runaround in China – BNET
American will finally start China flights, but the Chinese aren’t making it easy for them.

Airlines Filled More Seats in April, but That Can’t Continue Forever – BNET
April traffic numbers continue to see increases in loads. This just can’t continue forever.

Perhaps the craziest one we found was one that wasn’t actually used. We had a client, let’s call him Doc, stranded in London when his flight canceled last Monday. Doc had to get to Toronto by Wednesday. So what happened? We came up with this:

*Eurostar from London to Paris Tuesday morning
*TGV from Paris to Irun (at the Spanish Frontier)
*Overnight train from Irun to Lisbon, arriving Wednesday morning
*SATA from Lisbon to Toronto via the Azores on Wednesday afternoon

Anyone ever flown SATA? I’d love to hear what that’s like, but Doc decided not to go and instead just wait it out in London. (He made it out last Friday.)

Thor made it to Iceland, but the airspace closed in Glasgow before he was able to get there. Fortunately, Icelandair put him up for the first night and paid for his meals. That was far better than he would have received from Delta in New York. Icelandair started to send airplanes anywhere they could fly: they sent several flights to Trondheim, Norway. (And now that Keflavik is impacted by the volcano, they actually just started operating flights via Glasgow instead – amazing flexibility which you can read more about on BNET today.)

Thor didn’t want to mess around with visiting Norway and not having a way to get out of there, so he hung out in Iceland where the high speed internet gave him everything he needed. He spent three nights in Iceland before finally being booked on Tuesday to go to Heathrow. When Heathrow didn’t open, they sent him to Edinburgh and he hopped a train home.

After looking at several different options that involved everything from Dubai to Tripoli, we settled on the best option and it wasn’t going to be easy.

Oksana was in San Diego, but she ended up buying a ticket from LA to Tel Aviv on El Al on Wednesday connecting to another El Al flight to Madrid on Thursday. From there, she booked an overnight train from Madrid to Barcelona, arriving Friday morning. Then she would rent a car and drive the 3 hours or so to Toulouse, getting in just in time for her mandatory practice.

Unfortunately, British Airways wasn’t nearly as flexible as Icelandair and refused to simply cancel her outbound and let her keep the return. So we had to find Oksana another return. This one was easy – Swiss from Barcelona to Zurich and then on to LA. Then it would just be a short hop on American down to San Diego.

As you can imagine, this combined option wasn’t cheap (in fact, if you’d like to help defray the additional cost, they’re accepting donations via Paypal to helpctoi@gmail.com), but it got them there, and that was the name of the game throughout this entire couple of weeks.

Now that the backlog is clearing out and airlines are starting add flights, people are finally getting where they need to go. It’s incredible to think about how many special occasions were ruined because people couldn’t get there. These are just a couple stories out of a sea of hundreds of thousands, if not more. Just imagine how many didn’t turn out this well.

Social Media Turns Tiny Mistakes Into Big Headaches for Delta Airlines – BNET
Delta made a small mistake online erasing the fee for last minute award travel. Normally, that would be easy to fix, but people find things like this so fast, it creates problems.

what to do if a volcano ruins your wedding – antibride.com
Lots of posts about what to do with a volcano. Here’s mine.

Flights from Boston to Europe nearing normal levels – Boston Globe
I spoke with the Globe about how we’ve been helping Concierge clients.

6 Trends to ask your IFE&C provider about – digEcor
The inflight entertainment manufacturer asked me what I wanted to see in inflight entertainment. #1? I just want it to work.

Delta’s Capacity Cuts Show Why Less Is More – BNET
It’s earnings season and that’s kind of boring. But here I looked at the correlation between capacity cuts and revenue gains at Delta.

Cranky Concierge Helps Customers Pull Travel Plans Out Of The (Volcanic) Ashes – Things With Wings/Aviation Week
Things With Wings covered some of the successes we’ve had helping people at Cranky Concierge.

To Fly Or Not to Fly: Airlines Slam European Regulators Over Airspace Closures – BNET
Now that planes are flying in Europe again, it’s time for the blame game. I actually side with the regulators on this one.

United and US Airways Merger: A Bad Idea That’s Now Dead – BNET
I can’t say I agree with the title on this (they pick them, not me), but it is true that talks have been called off.

One of our clients had signed up looking for First or Business class tickets from LA to San Jose, Costa Rica. The lowest rates I had found on most sites were for about $950 roundtrip, a good deal in its own right. But when I went to CheapOair.com, one of the consolidators that I check relatively frequently, I found one that was just over $600 roundtrip on TACA. Was it much lower than elsewhere? Sure. But it wasn’t so insanely low that it seemed completely impossible, like a $10 fare. Besides, CheapOair is a consolidator and can often get lower deals, especially from international carriers.

So, our client booked the trip and the confirmation email confirmed that it was in First. I knew TACA only had Business, but those terms can be used interchangeably by online travel agents for two class airplanes like this. For most people, they would have booked this and been thrilled with the deal. They would have shown up at the airport and been on their way, right? Not so fast.

I always make it a point to double check every reservation made with on online travel agent with the airline directly. Usually it’s just to confirm or request seats, but I always make sure everything got booked properly in the first place. I’ve sent other clients through CheapOair before and never had a problem, but when I checked with TACA, it showed the booking in coach.

Huh? How did that happen? So I called CheapOair and their Indian call center agent assured me that it was booked in First Class. I said that was all well and good but the airline said it was in coach and that meant that they needed to help resolve this problem. They put me on hold.

Sure enough, they came back and said that this flight doesn’t have First or Business so that’s why it was in coach. I told them that wasn’t the case and there absolutely was a premium cabin on this airplane, but the agent refused to believe me. I hung up and figured I’d try again. But first, just to be clear, I called TACA to confirm that there was a premium cabin. There was, and the agent there said that it had been booked with a coach fare.

Round 2 – I called CheapOair back and after going back and forth for several minutes, I was told that I could absolutely get First Class . . . for $1,500 per person. Are you kidding me? I said that our client paid for First Class and expected to get it, but not if it meant nearly tripling the price. This agent went back again and finally came back saying it was a technical glitch and there was nothing she could do. I asked to speak to a supervisor. She came back and said that there was no supervisor to speak with. Great.

We regrouped. I had one person who emailed me awhile ago about blog advertising from CheapOair, so I sent him a note. I didn’t hear back.

I tried to call one more time the next morning and got another agent. This time, he told me that it was the airline’s fault. The airline had failed to file the fare with taxes and fuel surcharges, so it was their fault. Tired of hearing the third different excuse in as many calls, I finally simply gave up and asked for a refund. That was granted. And we just moved on.

The moral of the story? Well, there are two.

1. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is (but not always – there are great deals out there).
2. Always double check with your airline after booking through an online travel agent to make sure everything is in order.

[Update 4/16 @ 1118: Just got a note from CheapOair. They have now offered our client two vouchers for travel on AirTran in consideration for the problems. Now, I have no idea what AirTran has to do with anything here, but hey, it's something. This points back to previous questions about whether a regular traveler would be able to get the same treatment as a blogger. Apparently they can, if they're Cranky Concierge clients!]

Create your best caption for this photo and submit it in the comments section. The winner will get air travel assistance from Cranky Concierge for one trip for free. Take a look at the photo, see the rules below, and then start typing that caption.

The prize will be air travel assistance for one trip via visit this page.

Now, if you’re flying Virgin America and AirTran, you’ll be able to log on during every flight for 25% less. Delta is making a lot of progress toward outfitting the mainline fleet, and American has over 100 planes. US Airways turns on the first of its 51 A321s that will get the service on Monday, and United offers it on flights between New York and LA and SF (not much coverage, I know). Continental and Alaska will both be coming soon. Oh, and don’t forget Air Canada. Remember, Concierge clients get many more discounts as well. If you have a product or service that you would like to offer at a discounted rate to Concierge clients, let me know and we’ll get you up there.

Here are some other things we’ve been working on recently:

• We now have a Cranky Concierge Yelp page up and running, so you can read reviews and, if you’re a client, leave one as well. (Thanks to the two of you who already have!)
• The Cranky Concierge Facebook page just received a major makeover. Come check it out and join in the conversation on the Wall.
• Stickers! Yeah, I had some stickers made, because they’re kind of cool. Want one? Sign up for Cranky Concierge and I’ll be happy to send one your way.

We’ve also started a referral bonus program. Cranky clients who send a referral our way will get a $25 credit when that person signs up for his first trip. Yep, that’s worth free assistance for one trip within the US and Canada or it can be put toward a bigger package. Pretty slick, huh?

We hope to be able to help some of you soon.

But I’m not good at bullcrap.

The reality is that some things were priced too high while others were priced too low. Those have been fixed in this new plan. At the same time, we’ve rolled out prepay plans (Cranky Credits) for multiple trips and travel product discounts. Here are the details:

Pricing
The previous model of including both travel planning and assistance just wasn’t working out. Yes, that means it’s time for unbundling. The airlines would be proud. The good news is that it will now be less costly for assistance (starting at $25) but planning will cost more. The geographical areas have been redefined as well. Canada is now considered domestic for pricing purposes. Here’s the plan.

We have also gotten rid of the price hike within 7 days of departure. These prices will be good all the way up to one day prior to travel. At that point, when you need urgent help, this pricing will apply:

Prepaid Cranky Credits
You’ll notice that everything is now priced as a multiple of $25. That was done by design so that we could start offering prepaid Cranky Credits. You can now purchase books of $25 Cranky Credits at a discount. The more you buy, the more you save. You can then use those credits for whatever services you choose in the future. For example.

What kind of discount can you get? Let me show you.

Friends and Family Notification
Now when you’re traveling, we’ll be able to notify friends and family of your departure and arrival times. Have someone picking you up? Just tell us how to get in touch with them and we’ll let them know. All you have to worry about is getting on the airplane.

Travel Product Discounts
Cranky Concierge clients will now be able to get discounts on travel products. For our initial launch, we have discounts from KVS Tool, ExpertFlyer, and Frequent Flyer Master. We have a couple more in progress right now with more planned. Stay up to date with our current list of travel product discounts.

New Concierges
Last but not least, I’d like to introduce our new concierges. Andrew lives in Northern Virginia and is a proud airline dork. Patrick lives in Atlanta and he used to work for the world’s largest airline. Both Andrew and Patrick are now fully trained and have begun handling clients. The three of us are in constant communication to make sure that clients are well-served. This will allow us to handle more clients and expand the business more quickly.

So, that’s a fair bit of news here. Feel free to leave comments down below, and of course, we’ll look forward to helping you at Cranky Concierge some time soon.

This client, let’s call him Long Duk Dong, was flying from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Beijing via Miami, San Francisco, and Hong Kong. Yeah, this was a heck of an itinerary. He had one ticket going Guayaquil to San Francisco on American and another going San Francisco to Beijing on Cathay Pacific/Dragonair. He didn’t have much time to connect in San Francisco, so he was concerned.

Things looked good leading up to the flight. The weather was good and the American 767 arrived in Guayaquil the night before, ready to go. Long Duk Dong had boarded the plane when I noticed that the flight had been delayed for 45 minutes and I sent an email. He replied that I had beaten the PA announcement with the email, but they said there was a brake problem that needed to be fixed. Um, 45 minute delay? This didn’t look good.

I started looking for alternate ways to get him to San Francisco just in case, and then the flight took another delay. A huge one. His flight was now delayed more than 12 hours. It seemed pretty clear to me that American was going to fly down a part on the regularly scheduled Miami flight. Then they could take off, but that meant he wasn’t getting to his San Francisco flight. I sprung into action.

FlightStats showed a flight to Miami on Martinair, but their reservations office was closed and Long Duk Dong said that flight wasn’t anywhere to be found. Maybe they weren’t taking local passengers. There wasn’t another Miami flight that would get him on to his connection to San Francisco.

Next up, I found an option on TACA that would go to San Jose (Costa Rica), then San Salvador, and then San Francisco just in time for his connection. Only one problem. That flight from Guayaquil had no seats left. Ugh. That was our only chance to get Long Duk Dong to San Francisco in time for his connection. Now we had to move on to damage control. Could we get him to Beijing in time for his meeting?

There was a flight on COPA via Panama City to LAX that could have connected to a flight on Air China, but again, there were no seats available out of Guayaquil on that flight. We looked at JFK, but it wasn’t going to work out. This just wasn’t going to happen.

Ultimately, Long Duk Dong was able to reschedule some of his meetings, so he spent the day in Guayaquil until his flight eventually made it to Miami and then on to San Francisco. Had Cranky Concierge failed? Well, no . . . and yes.

We weren’t able to get him to Beijing in time for his meeting. Unfortunately, we don’t have the option of chartering a plane when nothing else works (though we could do that for a much higher fee . . .). What we did, however, was keep Long Duk Dong fully updated on what was happening, and he had complete confidence that every effort had been made to get him out. In the end, he was a happy client despite the problems he had flying. I just wish we could have gotten him there in time.