Archive for the ‘Reader Feedback’ Category

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Dear TICKET Readers:

Happy New Year and thanks very much for taking the time to respond to our recent survey, which revealed some interesting traits when it comes to you and your travel habits.

Thanks also for all the unsolicited kudos that came through in your comments… Awww shucks…. we were surprised and heartened by all the warm fuzzies. Thank you.

When we decided to create this survey, we thought we’d be lucky to get 100 responses… but a whopping 620 of you took the time to participate, which means we spent hours happily pouring through and tabulating all the responses.

Here’s a round up of the results:

How long have you been reading The TICKET?

Whoa! Check out the number of loyal readers who’ve stuck with us over the eons. Many of you harkened back to the days in the 90’s when subscribers happily paid $39 a year for a monthly newsletter sent via US Mail!

• 48% have been reading for one to five years (we appreciate the biz!)
• 40% have stuck with us for more than five years! (Gee tanks, folks!)
• 12% discovered The TICKET less than one year ago (welcome, newbies!)

Who decides which travel suppliers you use?

TICKET readers are clearly an independent group—83% said that they decide for themselves which suppliers to use while just 10% said that their boss or corporate travel department told them what to do. Many also said that their buying decisions are frequently influenced by ads and editorial in The TICKET.

How much do you fly?

The big surprise here was that 17% of you take more than four round trips per month—or 40 trips per year. That’s a lot of time on a plane! The average TICKET reader takes around two trips per month, or 24 in a year.

Where do you sleep?

Two thirds of TICKET readers spend the night at hotels between one and six nights per month. But get this, nearly 20% spend more than 10 nights per month in hotels—that’s 120 nights per year!

What type of metallic status do you have?

Nearly everyone said that they hold medallion status on Delta– no surprise there!

• 23% are platinum
• 21% are gold
• 17% are long suffering silvers
• 15% are diamonds (and get all the upgrades!)

Some of our long time readers are now retired, which means that 23% no longer have any status at all—or they spread their biz around among several carriers.

Where do you cheat on The TICKET?

TICKET readers are a well-read bunch, but when they don’t get what they want from us, they most often turn to: Joe Brancatelli, Chris Elliott, The Points Guy, FlyerTalk, Milepoint, USA Today, AJC and Clark Howard.

Do you fly much over water?

Two-thirds of TICKET readers jet off to international destinations one to three times per year. 11% go overseas four to six times per year and 5% go beyond borders seven or more times per year. 26% stick closer to home with no international hops.

No surprise here: TICKET readers are big spenders!

• 33% shell out between $20,000 and $50,000 per year on travel
• 14% spend between $50,000 and $100,000 per year
• 6% spend more than $100K per year

Another interesting stat: TICKET readers collectively spent nearly $60,000 year last year on Delta tickets purchased via links from the site. THANK YOU!

TICKET readers’ households are very comfortable financially.

• 18% earn between $100,000 and $150,000 per year
• 17% earn more than $250,000 per year
• 14% earn from $150,000 to $200,000 per year
• 9% earn between $200,000 and $250,000 per year

You all are also very discreet—26% chose not to disclose their annual household income—which leads us to believe that there are many more in the top income brackets.

How old are you?

We knew that many of our readers were “mature” but we were surprised how few of them are very young—only 1% are less than 30 years old.

• 32% are from 30-50
• 31% are from 51-60
• 27% range from 61-70
• 5% are older than 70

Any suggestions on how we can pull in some of those young bucks?

Are you a media socialite?

When it comes to social media, TICKET readers are mixed—about 40% of you are very active, checking in on Facebook, Twitter or Linked In once or more per day, and another 40% check in a few times per month. But a surprisingly large contingent—23%– say that they never check in on social media sites. (If you are not following us on Twitter or Facebook, COME ON and join the fun. By following us, you are likely to get more money saving travel news faster…)

Do you have any more feedback, comments or suggestions for about The TICKET? Any ideas on potential advertisers or other sources of funding? Please leave your comments below, or email Chris!

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>>>Have you signed up for The TICKET via Feedburner yet? If not, do it right now! Email in the pink box to the right, please!>>>

HELP US HELP YOU!  Fwd our URL to friends or share The TICKET via social networking! Tell all your friends to sign up for The TICKET.

Book your trips here:

AIRTRAN: Get the latest, greatest airfare deals from AIRTRAN.COM

DELTA: Click here for the latest fare sales and deals at Delta Air Lines

HOTWIRE: Great hotel deals and $13.95 per day rental cars with low Hotwire Hot-Rates!

ATL's train...or a four-door Porsche Panamera? (Photo: SocialisBetter)

Delta is being uncharacteristically coy about a flashy new program underway at ATL since early November. Several TICKET readers report being pleasantly surprised by  new chauffeur service (via Porsche no less) from the jetway to their cars upon arrival at ATL.

Here’s what we are hearing:

From reader Eason Jordan:

As I disembarked from my LGA-ATL Delta flight last night, I was surprised to see in the jetway two young men holding up signs with the names of six passengers – my name included.  When I asked the fellow holding the sign with my name on it what he wanted, he escorted me down the jetway stairs to the tarmac and ushered me into the front passenger seat of a new Porsche Cayenne SUV.  He told me Delta recently embarked on a trial program in partnership with Porsche to show their love for top-tier Delta frequent fliers.  Two fellow frequent fliers hopped in the back seat, after which we were whisked not to the main terminal but directly to our cars in separate parking lots at opposite sides of the airport. What a ride!

I quizzed the gregarious driver about the program.  He said the unpublicized program was the brainchild of Delta’s CEO.  Why Porsche’s involvement?  Porsche is moving its North American headquarters to a new site adjacent to the airport, and Porsche wants to impress Delta’s most elite passengers – potential Porsche customers.  The ATL Delta-Porsche program fields eight always-working passenger-shuttling Porsche vehicles – six SUVs and two sedans.  Two vehicles work each select inbound flight.  Sometimes the Porsche team shuttles late arriving connecting elites to a far-flung terminal connecting flight, while other times the Porsche team shuttles incoming elites directly from the arriving tarmac to their cars in airport parking lots.  My driver said the program caters to medallion fliers – mostly Diamond, but others, too.  I’m a three million miler with Delta, and at times I’m among Delta’s most vocal critics.  I pleased to say this surprise reward program is a big-time winner, leaving me grateful and dreaming of owning a Porsche SUV.

Here’s another from Reader JK:

Have you heard about the DL/Porche customer appreciation program that started Nov. 1 (I’m sure you have…you know everything!).  We landed this morning at ATL, B24.  As the door opened, my name and another passengers were announced to proceed to the plane door where we were met by a member of DL’s Elite Service Representatives.  He briefly explained that as Diamonds, we were to follow him down the jetway stairs where a Porsche Panamera was waiting.  He told us that DL and Porsche were partnering to provide a special customer service for Delta’s best customers.  We loaded into the car and he drove us from the tarmac to our cars in the Daily Parking lots!  What a thrill!!!!  Way to go Delta!  Way to go Porsche!

**Porsche because, as you know, it will be building its NA HQ on the site of the old Ford plant adjacent to I-75 and end of runway.

Interestingly, Delta’s being very tight lipped about this. We asked for more details, but Delta would do nothing more than just confirm that the program is indeed in effect. Delta’s only made one public comment about the program over on the FlyerTalk boards:

I see that you’ve noticed a few of the spanking new vehicles trolling around ATL. It’s true that we have a team dedicated to transporting our highest value customers around the Atlanta hub and they’ve got a fleet of several vehicles with which to do so. As part of our partnership with Porsche (which includes shipping cars from Germany to Atlanta), they’ve provided us with a few fancy new rides to add to our VIP fleet. A couple of things to clarify:

1. Delta didn’t pay for these cars.
2. You won’t see any of our executives in these cars – they’re for HVCs ["High Value Customers"] only.
3. The Porsches are quite literally a new toy we get to play with so we’re testing out how to best use them. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, they’ll be used as a “surprise and delight” for some of our best customers.

Have you been picked up in a Porsche yet? Why do you think Delta’s being so coy about this? Perhaps they don’t want to be seen catering to the recently maligned 1%? Maybe they don’t want Medallions to start to expect the service, and complain if they don’t get a ride? Please leave your comments below! And if you get picked up in a Porsche, take a picture and send it to us… we’ll post it right here!

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>>>Have you signed up for The TICKET via Feedburner yet? If not, do it right now! Email in the pink box to the right, please!>>>

HELP US HELP YOU!  Fwd our URL to friends or share The TICKET via social networking! Tell all your friends to sign up for The TICKET.

Book your trips here:

AIRTRAN: Get the latest, greatest airfare deals from AIRTRAN.COM

DELTA: Click here for the latest fare sales and deals at Delta Air Lines

HOTWIRE: Great hotel deals and $13.95 per day rental cars with low Hotwire Hot-Rates!

TICKET reader Ramsey Qubein (far left) spent a day working behind Delta's gates at ATL

(Ramsey Qubein is a young buck frequent traveler and blogger and says he has long read and admired The TICKET. He reminds me of me when I was 31– eager to jump on any plane at any time no matter what, and a sponge for every tidbit of travel information I could get my hands on. Ramsey and I met at a media event in London recently and he told me about his turn behind Delta’s gate counters at ATL. I asked him to share a little bit of his experience with The TICKET.  –Chris)

Spending an entire Sunday at the airport is not ideal for most people, but I jumped at the chance to learn what takes place on the other side of the mysterious counter as a Delta gate agent in Atlanta. Delta invited a group of about 40 frequent flyers and Internet bloggers to undergo this unique exchange with its frontline employees. With 300,000 annual miles and over 4 million lifetime miles at Delta, I know the airline well. This experience, however, was an eye opener.

Gate agents have multiple tasks including driving the jetway, opening the door, arranging wheelchairs, directing passengers to connecting gates, clearing standbys, boarding new passengers, gate checking bags, and getting the flight out on time. If the flight delays by even one minute, they are held accountable and must face their supervisors.

I was shocked when people approached my clearly marked gate to ask if this was the gate for some other city. Or ask me to look up their gate despite information screens 50 feet away. Finding a bathroom, getting directions to the escalator, locating an electrical outlet, and asking what time boarding begins pummeled us all day even though signs are plastered all over the airport.

You can be as efficient as possible, but one mistake causes the house of cards to crumble…>>

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(We love getting excellent feedback like this! Take a read over what consultant Jennifer G has to say here. Send us your comments and we’ll periodically highlight them like we’ve done here:)

This most recent issue of your blog was excellent, and I found that I had comments in most every section, so an email may work better.  For context, I’m a 3MM, Diamond Medallion with 300K MQMs already this year, and Platinum status with both Marriott and Starwood, so here goes…

-      On the re-vamped business class seats, can’t wait to see it.  I flew a triple 7 and I have to tell you that take off and landing feel strange when you facing almost sideways. [Note from Chris: Hate to disappoint, but the new seats are for 747's only. Those side/rear facing 777 seats are not going away any time soon.]

-      Starbucks Via – YES!  Love it…I could have used it when I stayed at Le Meridien and had to wait 25 minutes for a coffee pot to be delivered to my room. At that point I was ready to walk out the door to go to work.

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