Who is ever excited to get on a 14 hour economy as plane ride? Especially with kids ….
It has always been the dreaded, but required, first part of a family holiday for me. My experience with a particular airline's economy class really changed my perception.
Our travel agent told us to only fly with this airline in the current climate. She said that it was the only reliable airline that didn’t make changes. If your situation changed due to corona, they would make it easy for you. She was right. Several of my friends who were also travelling to the same country booked different airlines and had their flights cancelled and postponed within 2 weeks of travel. It added significant stress to their first international travel experience in two years.
Our 14 hour economy flight was wonderful and the opposite of my previous long economy flights. The entertainment system was immediately available, really broad and allowed each of us personalised, preferred entertainment that we all would have enjoyed for 24 hours! Food arrived every 3 hours and there were extra snacks when requested. When they dimmed the cabin lights, there were imitation stars sparking on the ceilings. In the last 15 minutes of the flight an engaging customer feedback form flashed up on the entertainment system. The physical product was the best I had experienced in economy.
The service experience was also the best I have ever had. Two stand out.
1. My daughter had brought her doll and it’s new little suitcase, filled with tiny miniature travel accessories.
She was in the bathroom when the staff cleaned her second meal. When she returned, her doll’s miniature phone had disappeared. My daughter was distraught. She was convinced that it had been taken with the food to the rubbish, which meant it was permanently lost. We approached a staff member and explained the situation. She volunteered to open the rubbish to see if she could find our tray, even though she had 3 full bags of rubbish. My daughter really appreciated her looking.
As it happened, our two trays were right on the top of the first bag of rubbish.
.... but the toy wasn’t there. However, my daughter was no longer as upset. The airline had really gone to extreme lengths to help her find it. (Of course she found it wedged between the seats later).
2. We wanted to visit my parents in business class. Unfortunately that was, understandably, against the rules. However the staff were very happy to deliver a message to my folks.
My work focuses on helping companies design client experiences that customers rave about. My current client's product/ service is very sensitive and requires intense personalisation. While on the plane I watched a sci-fi movie called “I’m Your Man”. It was about an experiment where a woman spends 3 weeks living with a humanoid robot tailored to her character and needs, whose artificial intelligence is designed to be the perfect life partner for her. As you watch the movie, you realise how incredibly difficult it would be to program the “perfect” life partner. My experience exceeded all expectations, yet it hadn’t used personalised artificial intelligence. It had been a hybrid of digital, physical and face to face product and service. It inspired me to keep supporting companies to develop a culture, products and experiences to drive real customer centricity.... and gave me ideas for my current client!
Comentários