An extremely exclusive club has just lost another member. Now that Continental Airlines has bagged its free meals I can no longer include it on the “airlines I like to brag about” list.

The list is getting very, very short, by the way. Let’s hope Alaska Air and Singapore Airlines stay in business or this list might disappear altogether.

By cutting out the free meals (in coach) Continental  hopes to add $35 million to it’s bottom line. It’s the last major US airline to make the switch.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Do the right thing right away

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Recently I read an article about a traveler who had  a bad customer experience at the hands of Alamo Car Rental.  The customer was significantly overcharged and the company refused to fix the problem after several requests by the customer.

Correction. They refused to fix it until

Here’s why so many companies have a customer retention problem. Ironically, this customer service example is from a Los Angeles Times article about how airline customer service has improved during the recession.

United Airlines lost a customer’s bag that had medication in it. So the customer had to replace the medication for the duration of their stay, costing them $750. This was three times what United Airline’s policy allowed so they were only reimbursed $250. The airline clerk who handled this apparently

It appears the predictions that a down economy would spur companies to higher levels of customer service are coming true. Recently on a trip to Philadelphia my wife and I were delayed on a NWA flight. Our plane left the gate about an hour late and then we sat on the tarmac for another 45 minutes or so. I didn’t give it a second of thought except to say I was glad there were no thunderstorms between Philly and Minneapolis.  They can do more to wreck a summer traveler’s schedule than just about anything.

A week or so later we each received a nice letter from a customer service executive at NWA. The letters apologized for the delay and informed us we had received an extra 1000 frequent flier miles as a way to compensate us for being inconvenienced.

The first thing I did was

Recently I taught a seminar in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Since neither of us had been there before I brought my favorite traveling buddy (also known as my wife, Debbie). She’s always game for a new adventure, especially if it involves travel.

Here are some pictures from our journey you might find fun. First, let’s start with the plane ride because, honestly, it was traumatic. Now I understand why they use a transporter in Star Trek. Much better way to travel!

Next week I will expand my geographic and cultural horizons – a lot. I will be conducting a 2-day seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next week. While I’m not thrilled about the 20 hour plane ride it will be exciting to meet people and experience this area.

Here is more information about the seminar. You can join me if you want, for only 4495 RM (that’s Malaysian Ringat).