Inflight Handheld Computers

[NiceLandingCaptain]

Oh I've no doubt that the hand held devices work fine. US Airways is actually the stone cold experts at taking the customers money while delivering little of no value in return.

I offer WN's "Business Select" as exhibit "A". Fully Refundable, changes without fees, priority boarding and leather seats, a reservations system that works, complimentary beverages and now that I think about it NO FEES of any kind. All for the price of a regulat US Coach ticket.

OH and did I mention that WN's OTP, lost bag & Consumer Complaint numbers blow US's doors in?

Think about it, Who do the hand held devices benefit? The Airline or the Consumer? Like you can't guess that answer. Oh and BTW would you need Fee after Fee if you actually could operate an airline? WN doesn't have the cost of Hand Held Devices trickling down to their CASM now do they?

Does WN fly to MAD?

Will they interline my luggage there, if they don't?

Do they provide the comfort of widebodies?

Not trying the be a smartypantz here, Bob, but your comparison is weak. WN and HP offer two similar, yet differing products.

And besides, you've created a disctint kink in this thread -

As far as the scanners are concerned, they are certainly a step in the right direction. Real money is so. . . . . . . unsanitary :eye:

 

[sharktooth]

WN and HP offer two similar, yet differing products.

HP? Who is that? Do they fly, like, anywhere?

Presuming you were talking about US, then, WN and US are two, distinct products.

One has the reputation for "bait and switch" and otherwise bilking, unilaterally changing travel timelines and otherwise trashing customers.

The other, a reputation for providing safe, comfortable, reliable, few frills transportation for minimal cost.

 

[jimntx]

WN doesn't have the cost of Hand Held Devices trickling down to their CASM now do they?

Well, we don't know that. What we do know is that WN has hand held devices and a No Cash Sales policy effective a few months ago. And, it is working fine for them.

Unlike the rest of us, WN did the same as Frontier. They announced that on a particular date, they would be going to all credit/debit card sales with no cash transactions onboard. I commute on WN a lot and according to their f/as, it has worked fine since inception.

Our (AA) management insists that customers would object too much if we stopped cash sales immediately. I'm looking forward to the day because our customers still think we should act as a bank for them. They bring on bills in denominations of $20 (or higher) and expect us to make change or give them a free drink.

BTW PB, most of us don't have any "bottom-line" money in the hand-held devices. A credit card company (next time you fly AA, I'll let you guess which one for us) paid the upfront money for the devices. We do have to pay for replacement units if one dies, but once some AA f/as found out that sabotaging the units could cost you real money (and possibly your job), we haven't had so many die an early death.

 

[JS]

Well, we don't know that. What we do know is that WN has hand held devices and a No Cash Sales policy effective a few months ago. And, it is working fine for them.

Unlike the rest of us, WN did the same as Frontier. They announced that on a particular date, they would be going to all credit/debit card sales with no cash transactions onboard. I commute on WN a lot and according to their f/as, it has worked fine since inception.

Our (AA) management insists that customers would object too much if we stopped cash sales immediately. I'm looking forward to the day because our customers still think we should act as a bank for them. They bring on bills in denominations of $20 (or higher) and expect us to make change or give them a free drink.

BTW PB, most of us don't have any "bottom-line" money in the hand-held devices. A credit card company (next time you fly AA, I'll let you guess which one for us) paid the upfront money for the devices. We do have to pay for replacement units if one dies, but once some AA f/as found out that sabotaging the units could cost you real money (and possibly your job), we haven't had so many die an early death.

You should work for US management (if you don't mind moving to Tempe). That's precisely the anti-customer attitude they are looking for.

 

[iheartairbus]

I worked 2 flt's w/ them... actually they worked great, was really nice not to have to do paperwork. Kudos for them actually doing something right.

 

[jimntx]

You should work for US management (if you don't mind moving to Tempe). That's precisely the anti-customer attitude they are looking for.

It's not an anti-customer attitude at all. Why should f/as in this day and age be expected carry sufficient cash (a danger in itself) to make change for a $20 bill from half the customers on the plane? Unfortunately, f/as in the past have trained customers to do this by comping drinks for people when they ran out of small bills to make change. I've had several try to give me a $50 bill when I could see a number of small bills in their wallet. I would ask them, do you have anything smaller? They would (nastily) say NO. I would tell them, "I'm sorry, but I am not permitted to take bills that large." Funny thing...if they wanted a drink bad enough, all of a sudden they found not only smaller bills, they found exact change in their wallets.

In fact, that Greenberg guy who does the travel segment on the Today show said one day, "If you want free drinks on the plane, take big bills. The f/as never have change."

 

[FlyGuyBWI]

They did not work too well on my flight. PHX-CLT on the 5th. The batteries did not seem to be charged, niether device powered up, even after a "hard" reset. One device appeared to be damaged already -- it looked like part of the circuit board inside the battery compartment was missing. Anyway, I'm glad they worked for others.

 

[US Oringinal]

I'm curious to hear how they are working on Int'l flights. On a regular basis we sell $700-$1000 worth of drinks and headsets(with different currencies!!) on these flights and I'll bet it's taking the F/A's FOREVER to get through the coach cabin with their services!!

The person who trained me on the HHD said that it was going to take ALOT longer to sell a headset or a drink given the number of passengers and the differing currencies.

What may work on a narrow-body aircraft with 140 people on a domestic flight, may not work on an A-330 with 250 people buying drinks and headsets(with Pounds, Euros, Dollars).....I can see the coach service on these flights taking more than 3 hours to complete.......and 3 hours is a long time to wait for a drink.

It'll be interesting to see how it works....my guess...the F/A's will do what we always do, we'll....

"MAKE IT WORK..."

 

[etops1]

I'm curious to hear how they are working on Int'l flights. On a regular basis we sell $700-$1000 worth of drinks and headsets(with different currencies!!) on these flights and I'll bet it's taking the F/A's FOREVER to get through the coach cabin with their services!!

The person who trained me on the HHD said that it was going to take ALOT longer to sell a headset or a drink given the number of passengers and the differing currencies.

What may work on a narrow-body aircraft with 140 people on a domestic flight, may not work on an A-330 with 250 people buying drinks and headsets(with Pounds, Euros, Dollars).....I can see the coach service on these flights taking more than 3 hours to complete.......and 3 hours is a long time to wait for a drink.

It'll be interesting to see how it works....my guess...the F/A's will do what we always do, we'll....

"MAKE IT WORK..."

like i said. i am going to mad tonight to help out . will let you guys know how it went . i am sure it will be ok.

 

[mrman]

I can't stand cash as well on the plane and think handheld is the way to go. But what I found interesting is that there was only 2 HH per plane. On WN every FA carries their HH on a strip that fits around the hand. No need for sharing. And noting that since WN sells fewer drinks, only booze, and only booze to non Frequent flierers (Booze is fee for FF), there is not as much need to charge, yet they have more handhelds to maximize the speed in which service is given. As was posted by JimTX earlier these HH are free to the airline, so why wouldn't US give each FA one considering the amount of nickle and diming. But I guess on the good side it keeps the FA in the aisle instead of the galley, but how do they do a complete drink service with the charging for everything on two handhelds, and ask if you you want seconds on a 55 minute flight ala WN.

 

[PHL]

Flew PHL-CLT yesterday. No handhelds to be seen. I forked over cash for a bottle of water after having run from parking garage C to gate A26 in record time (an unrelated long story in itself).

 

[ggiby]

I worked 2 flt's w/ them... actually they worked great, was really nice not to have to do paperwork. Kudos for them actually doing something right.

I worked one flight where they worked well...
then we had an a/c swap...

and the batteries were dead and they did not work.. so back to the old paperwork!!
:blink:

 

[Travelpro72]

Well from what I hear the handhelds do not work that well for the return flights back to the states from Europe. The batteries don't have enough time to charge or something. Also a birdy tells me that the company was warned about it before the "big day". Anyone have any trouble on int'l flights? I'm hearing MANY did.

 

[US Oringinal]

I know the batteries were dead on the MAD-PHL flight today......they did it the old fashioned way!! Me thinks this whole HHD launch may NOT go as smoothly as one may think

And another thing...am I the only one who sees BIGTIME problems with storing the HHD's and their batteries ON the aircraft??? There are an awful lot of people who have access to the aircarft at different times.....I'm just sayin'.......

I think it would have been a far better idea to have the HHD's and batteries boarded inside SEALED combo carts with the F/A's returning them to SEALED combo carts before landing....greater tracking ability and accountability.....

...but what do I know...I've only worked here 24 or 25 years.......

 

[ebwgs]

etops1 thanks for the info man! And have a fun in MAD! Well of course you will!