Pre-Flight Service

I’ll be flying on American Airlines over Thanksgiving weekend and just got a call from the company’s customer service desk.

“We see that you noted a need for wheelchair assistance on your travel reservation,” the agent said. “Is that for you or your travel companion?”

The agent proceeded to walk me through pre-boarding and gate check procedures for my wheelchair, and then she asked me a series of thoughtful questions.

“What kind of wheelchair do you have? Does it fold? Will you need an isle chair to get to your seat?”

I’m a seasoned traveler, so none of this was new to me, but I did appreciate the call. The holidays bring out inexperienced travelers in droves, and calls like this one likely stem the tide of resulting headaches a bit.

I have to say that I find the American Airlines Web site hard to navigate and not very user friendly, but personal customer service calls go a long way toward setting the tone for happy trails.