Transcription for American Express tape 15a: A 6-26-89
Key
[transcriber notes] Agent speech
Caller speech
Tape 15, Call 1:
Hi this is A
[recording notification] and what can I help you with
I'd like to make a reservation for B C
[charge number, etc] ok and what does he need to do
he wants to go on July fourth uh TWA eight six two
that goes to Washington D.C.?
right
business class or or coach?
um he has an upgrade to business right?
yeah
ok
they basically pay full coach although see with his TWA frequent flyer number I sh- I can probably get a little better discount than full coach
ok
that's basically what, how it works. and then uh return?
uh can you give me the time on that?
yes one second. that leaves seven forty five a.m. out of San Francisco and arrives Washington Dulles at three twenty seven p.m. TWA flight eight sixty two
ok and returning July fifth
leaving in the evening?
uh flight ( sixty three
[chatter] uh huh. ok that's available that leaves Washington Dulles at four forty five p.m.and arrives San Francisco at seven ten
seven ten
[hotel, car, seating]
ok
just give you a fare on this one ?? the round trip fare on that would be nine thirty eight without restrictions
ok
I could get a slightly lower fare if I used restrictive fares for instance on United coming back rather than TWA I know he wants TWA but I just have to advise you that I
(ok
can) get nine eighteen round trip if I used that that's not really much difference anyway
ok um I- I'll let him know
[ticketing] ok then let me, the fare's going up after tomorrow how about if I go ahead and ticket 'em tomorrow then
ok
would that be all right?
yeah
ok ok you'll have them then
all right
thanks a lot
thanks
bye
bye
Tape 15, Call 2:
Can I help you?
yes A I'd like to make reservations for C
[recording notification, checking name spelling, charge number] ok B what does he need to do?
he needs to go SFO to Seattle
mm hmm
and he would like to go at seven o'clock arriving there (at eight
uh what) date
oh beg your pardon twenty ninth of June
and that's seven a.m.?
seven a.m. he has A S uh I guess that's (Alaska
Alaska) flight one sixty one?
that's correct
and when's he returning
uhh he'd like to return on the same day at five on Alaska ninety six
ok that's available. the best fare I can get on that round trip is six ten
six hundred and ten (dollars?
mm hmm.) he's not qualified for any discounts cause he's not staying over (Saturday night
oh I see) ok well uh would it be the same with United Airlines?
mm hmm yeah they have exactly the same fares
oh that's absolutely terrible if he stayed overnight
well if he stayed over a Saturday night
oh a Saturday
yeah I mean if you purchase at least seven days in advance
yeah yeah
and stays over a Saturday night that's pretty much the only way you can get a discount going to Seattle
good grief (Charlie Brown
and then it) brings it down to you know like two fifty to three hundred dollars round trip
w- w- but who's one to go on the weekend?
mm hmm
umm all right well he's not going on the weekend so it's six ten
ok right [hotel, ticketing] ok we're all set then
thank you
thanks a lot
bye
bye bye
Tape 15, Call 3:
A uh need to make some air reservations
[recording notification] ok great who's the reservation for?
B. C. D [spelling of D]
[pulling profile, charge number, etc] ok fine. ok just one second here. ok and then what does he need to do?
ok on Monday the seventeenth of July SFO to Denver
leaving at what time?
late morning, early afternoon
I guess that would be in the ten to two window if possible
ok (there's
would) prefer United but he does not want something for which we'll be
charged a giant fee if there's a change you know a penalty
ok yeah and he and that can be on any airline I mean any any flight you can request a non penalty fare
oh
they're just generally higher, more expensive
how much more?
well let's see is he staying over Saturday night as it is?
no
then it probably won't be a ma- a major difference if there's any at all um let me find the flights then I can tell you both ways
ok great
uh there's a flight out at eleven oh eight on United gets into Denver at two twenty nine would that be good for him or would he like something later ther- the next later flight on United isn't until two twenty nine in the afternoon so that's a little outside that window
I think eleven oh eight he'd leave here what nine thirty to get to the airport?
oh yeah uh huh
yeah that's great
and then uh re- return?
returning on Wednesday the nineteenth
leaving at what time?
this is a tighter window, between ten and twelve noon
well there's a flight at twelve noon exactly
ahh!
arriving one thirty six how would that be?
oh that's marvelous!
good. so let me just check the fare well let's see ok if we used a penalty fare which I know he doesn't want it would be five sixty eight round trip uh non penalty is six forty four so it's less than a hundred dollers difference so you want to go with the non penalty?
I guess we better, that's not a huge difference in these terms?
No not really [chatter] mm hmm ok usually I mean if he was staying over Saturday night for instance and able to get an excursion that would cut the fare by, in half probably, or you know less than half of what he's paying
Ahhh
[seating]
I know. Do you have the flight numbers up or are they someplace else?
flight eight twenty between San Francisco and Denver
ok
leaving eleven oh eight arriving two twenty nine
uh huh
and flight three forty three Denver to San Francisco leaving at twelve noon and arriving at one thirty six
and those are both United
mm hmm [limo, seating, hotel, car] ok. how soon do you want the tickets on these? the fares are not guaranteed until we ticket [ticketing]
is it better to wait or to do it now wha- whatever you recommend
it's it's really got advantages both ways like I said the fare's not guaranteed so if they suddenly decided to change the fares they could but they haven't indicated they have any plans to that effect although they don't always let us know (ahead of time
yeah)
uh you know if you do if you're sure and everything is, looks like it's right that does guarantee it and this has no penalties on it, so in that sense I might recommend that he go ahead and and ticket it
(ok
uh) but on the other hand I don't think you'd really risk a lot by waiting if you prefer to do that
let's go on and do it
go ahead and ticket it ok
yeah
?? there's no penalties so even if he finds out oh I wanted to go out on Sunday rather than Monday it shouldn't be any really difficulty in changing it, so I'll set these up for ticketing tomorrow then
ok
[limo]
ok. also I am going to be personal tr- uh travel going back to Chicago around
the Christmas holiday. when do I need to make reservations and can I, I
will definitely be staying over the Saturday night is there
I wouldn't wait too much longer it's amazing
oh
you know by the end of s- like August some markets start to, you could probably at least still get it in September you know probably by October though you'll find it really difficult to find the excursion space
But (I should definitely
the most the most) inexpensive ah
I should definitely do it in July?
uh well I mean you you really guarantee it now [monologue on pros and cons of early ticket purchase] so you see you sort of weigh the guaranteeing that you get the lowest fare per right now I mean what they sell right now against possible changes in your itinerary or possible changes in the fares by the airline.
what are we looking at round trip, cheapo
to to where?
to Chicago
(Chicago
from SFO), or San Jose I don't care
it's probably going to about the same. actually do do you have dates in mind I could just have a look and see what they look like right now
ohh either Friday the twenty second or Saturday the twenty third and
returning uh the twenty seventh or twenty eighth Wednesday or Thursday
ok at this point both dates are wide open. uh as far as the dates you've just given me the only thing that would affect your fare is Thursday the twenty eighth. uh the breakoff point between weekday fares and weekend fares is at twelve noon Thursdays, so if you came back leaving after noon on Thursday you would pay a little bit h- higher than you would before that or on Wednesday
Ahhh!
but otherwise the Friday Saturday is the same fare it's considered weekend. uh and there's a few flights that show a f- a few a little space sold but hardly any for the most part those are wide open dates at this point. let me just look at the fares. the fare I'm getting coming back on Wednesday or before noon on Thursday on United is three seventy three round trip it looks like that's based on a a slightly higher fare on the outbound. they've blacked out the lowest fare on that day on the twenty second. the return though is using the lowest fare. So it's still non refundable a little bit more than what you'd pay if it was not Christmas but not by much [chatter] but for that fare uh well it has to be purchased at least fourteen days in advance which I'm sure you'll do because if you waited until fourteen days at Christmas time you wouldn't get the
yeah
?? anyway
no way
uh uh it's like I said non refundable and they don't allow you to hold a reservation without ticketing, so
ok
like I you know I said uh t-this is a guess and I can't guarantee it but I would say you'd probably be safe waiting through e- into September. you know and ?? but the longer you wait too there may still be space but you may have to be more flexible in your times. you know the more in advance you make the reservation the more chance you have of having exactly the flight you want. [chatter about Christmas]
will there be much difference between the Friday and the Saturday?
uh right now I'm showing them both wide open um I think they're both going to be really bad days because they're the beginning of a weekend