Airline Travel: How to Effectively Complain.

I travel every week.   Periodically, it gets ugly.  The article below is syndicated from the Wall Street Journal Online and gives good advice on how to effectively complain to major airlines.   

The key is to know where to go, and more importantly what you want in return for the inconvenience.

Never tell the airline you'll never fly with them again! What incentive would they have to compensate you then?   

Visit the link below from finance.yahoo.com to read the rest of the article.

clipped from finance.yahoo.com What Airlines Do When You Complain By Scott McCartney Friday, March 23, 2007 provided by Wall Street Journal Online Mike Wallace of San Francisco was so mad about recent travel   experiences and a lack of response to his complaints that he searched the   Internet for email addresses at UAL Corp.'s United   Airlines and fired off an angry letter to more than 60 company officials. No   response. A second email to all the addresses he could find that used   @united.com and @ual.com did get some attention. In all, after corresponding   with United a dozen different times about being stranded at airport hotels on   two different trips because of United flight problems, Mr. Wallace and his wife   got some measure of satisfaction: business-class upgrades for some future trips   and a $400 voucher. "It's a series of systems, policies and nameless, faceless people in place to wear you out. Most people just give up, but I pursued and pursued and pursued before I finally got something," said Mr. Wallace, an environmental consultant and elite-level United customer. A United spokeswoman says the airline's goal is to "satisfy our customers the first time they call, write or email us." After the aggravation of mechanical breakdowns, computer meltdowns, schedule changes, lost luggage, missed connections and long telephone or airport waits, many customers fire off angry complaints to airlines -- only to get less-than-satisfying responses. But there are ways to get more redress, airlines and travel experts say. (This week, The Middle Seat focuses on how airlines handle complaints; next week, the column will look at the Department of Transportation's role in addressing fliers' grievances.) A common mistake: Telling an airline you'll never fly them again. If so, then the airline no longer has an incentive to try to win back the customer, some airline officials say.