I had to take a few days to mull this post over and get back into more of a zen state before writing it all down – it will likely help keep the curse words out of my rant 😉

It feels to me like in our ongoing chase for the loot, we continue to excel at lowering the bar.  As we outsource more and more ‘menial jobs’ we sugar coat it by talking about our intellectual property and our strong service industry.  Sadly it seems to me that on the service industry side the expectations of actual service get lower and lower all the time.

As Mrs. Columbus and I were setting out on our summer adventure we were all prepared to get the show on the road.  We had used some more of our affinity points to book business class tickets so that we could enjoy the trappings of ‘the good life’ on the flights and not have to endure 30 hours of economy class discomfort (often referred to as ‘cattle class’ by members of the family).  We show up at the Seattle airport with our bags in tow (1 checked and 1 carry-on per person), all our documents at the ready, and eager to step into the business class check-in for the ‘large domestic carrier that starts with a U’, thus bypassing the long line at the regular check-in and one of the ‘perks’ of flying business class….  You are first prompted to use the self-serve kiosk, but realistically for anyone not traveling domestically only, you are going to have to see an agent – as the kiosk re-affirms for us after going through the full process to try and check-in: Please see an agent to check-in.  After standing at the front of the line for about 15 mins, I figure out that there are 2 agents that are servicing the elite status check-ins, however, one seems to be fairly busy with a single lady – it turns out that the lady is some sort of travel agent, and the counter agent is doing the check-in for a ‘large group’.  The large group is not actually present, and are all flying economy class, so it turns out that these people, who are not even at the airport yet, and who would normally have to stand in the regular check-in line, are actually getting better service than all the other people waiting in either the elite status line, or the regular line!! I ask the lady if there are any other agents working the business class check-in and get rudely snipped at: “I am working on a large group and going to be a while, you will have to wait for the next available agent.”  The other agent is/has been working with a group of three other business travelers who’s flight has been delayed for several hours and are trying to find another route home.  Apparently the delay is ‘weather related’ so the ‘large domestic carrier that starts with a U’ is not interested in trying to transfer them to another flight.  We finally get frustrated enough waiting in line (about 20+ mins) that we actually go to the economy class counter, where a more pleasant agent apologizes a couple of times and checks us right in.

So finally we are checked-in, make our way through security, and are off to the gate to wait about an hour or so for the flight to board (us being some of the people who actually show up early and prepared per the recommendation).  Now we are about to take advantage of the 2nd perk of our business class status – the business class lounge.  The business class lounge was always the utopia for fliers – free drinks (sodas, cocktails, etc.), snacks, light meals, and a quiet relaxing place to step away from the chaos of the general departure area.  In the ongoing lowering of the bar, the lounge has been ‘cutback’, and no longer offers much in the way of food service besides a light snack, and clearly the supply of peanuts and pretzels that used to be given out to the cattle class passengers.  But still offered is the complimentary libations and sodas and the lure of a more comfortable chair – or not…  I get to chuckle to myself as we walk up to the door to see that the lounge has temporarily has it’s liquor license suspended by the state and the refreshments are now limited to non-alcoholic beverages.  Not really a big deal to me as I am not planning to get loaded for the flight, but seriously – how does a business class lounge in an airport get it’s liquor license suspended?!  The joke is really on me though as when we actually walk through the doors, the one ‘agent’ working the front desk is swamped and there is actually a line to check-in.

Now you might ask, how does all this relate to the lowering of the bar of the service industry – well all of the frustration to this point aside, you get through it all and start to relax, and then we cross the invisible line that is the international carrier – it is like walking from a black and white photo to a full color frame complete with rainbows and sunshine!  After our jaunt from Seattle to LA on the ‘large domestic carrier that starts with a U’ we transfer to our international carrier (Thai Air) – the business class check-in is fully serviced with 3 agents, the service is polite and helpful, and customers seem to be treated with regard.  We have a 6 hour lay-over, but the lounge is large and roomy – there is hot food, cold beverages, and actual attendants passing through from time to time pre-announcing the boarding for flights so that you can pack your belongings up and walk comfortably to the gate.  And then in the final slap in the face of our domestic experience, we board the plane with lots of smiling, helpful flight attendants (6 I think for the business and first class cabin).

If all you ever did was travel domestically, you would think that we have it as good as it gets, but in reality we have fallen sooo far.  The level of service we have come to accept as ‘OK’ is nowhere near what it used to be, and miles behind what many other parts of the world offer. All in the name of progress?!?

/rant off

PS: This is of course not at all unique to the airline industry, but very representative of most of the service industry that we live in.  🙁