WHY (SOME!) AMERICANS SHOULD NOT BE LET OUT OF THE COUNTRY
Actual comments from US travel agents ............
(1) I had someone ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get
messed up by being near the window.
(2) A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going
over all the cost infor, she asked : " Would it be cheaper to fly to
California and then take the train to Hawaii? "
(3) I got a call from a woman who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to
explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she
interrupted me with : " I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but
Capetown is in Massachusetts." Without trying to make her look like the
stupid one, I calmly explained:" Cape Cod is in Massachusetts, Capetown
is in Africa." Her response ........ click ( off the telephone immediately ).
(4) A man called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what
was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view
room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since Orlando is in the
middle of the state. He replied, " Don't lie to me. I looked on the map
and Florida is a very thin state. "
(5) I got a call from a man who asked, " Is it possible to see England
from Canada ? " I said, " No. " He said, " But they look so close on the map."
(6) Another man called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I
pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had only a one-hour lay-over in
Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said : " I heard
Dallas is a big airport, and I need a car to drive between the gates to save time. "
(7) A nice lady just called. She needed to know how it was possible that
her flight from Detroit left at 8:20 am and got into Chicago at 8:33 am.
I tried to explain that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois, but she
could not understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the
plane went very fast, and she bought that !
8: A woman called and asked : " Do airlines put your physical
description on your bag so they know who's luggage belongs to who ? "
I said, " No, why do you ask ? " She replied, " Well, when I checked in
with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I'm
overweight. Is there any connection ? " After putting her on hold for a
minute, while I looked into it, I came back and explained that the city
code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a
destination tag on her luggage.
(9) I just got off the phone with a man who asked, " How do I know which
plane to get on ? " asked him what exactly he meant, which he replied, "
I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these darn planes have
numbers on them. "
(10) A woman called and said, " I need to fly to Pepsi-cola on one of
those computer planes. " I asked if she meant to fly to Pensacola on a
commuter plane. She said, " Yeah, whatever. "
(11) A business man called and had a question about the documents he
needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about
passports, I reminded him that he needed a visa. " Oh no I don't, I've been to China
many times and never had to have one of those." I double-checked and sure
enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this, he said : " Look,
I've been to China four times, and every time they have accepted my
American Express. "
(12) A woman called to make reservations, " I want to go from Chicago to
Hippopotamus, New York. " The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the
agent said :" Are you sure that's the name of the town ? " " Yes, what
flights do you have ? " replied the customer. After some searching, the
agent came back with : " I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport
code in the country and can't find a Hippopotamus anywhere." The customer
retorted, " Oh don't be silly. Everyone knows where it is. Check your map
! " The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered :
" You don't mean Buffalo, do you ? " " That's it ! I knew it was a big animal. "