Answering those few questions from you, yes I am still alive. But as changes do happen in business life, I found myself doing plenty of things since I got back to Europe in the spring. Plenty of mileage but on roads.

Words to be written as normal life starts now after the summer season.

I’ll be back.

Well, I should have started doing this more like mid 1990s or so. It does sound so obvious now but actually the mobile phones with cameras came into market more heavily like mid-this-millennium so basically I should have had a regular camera with me all the time to start building my global database on this back then. Which I didn’t . And I think it was like 2005/2006 when we actually had mobile phones with functioning cameras with a “flight mode”, right? So another reason why I never did this before. But if I did, there would be now wonderful database of in-flight cuisine available for comparison.

Anyway, you have to start at some point and I did it now, today as I have been flying around the Europe to make my trip out of Europe. Sometimes the routes just don’t match. As this morning, the starting hours of Daylight Saving time in the European Union facing rest of the world.

I guess there have been so much talks and complaints about in-flight food over the decades that people even don’t expect anything different. It’s like being left without anything to tell to your friends and relatives after you holiday flight – if there’s nothing you can complain about the in-flight food, I mean. And honestly yes, sometimes you keep wondering what the stuff on your plate actually is.  Furthermore, probably all the best Chefs around the world have tried to put their fingers into this world few times, plenty of talks and speeches has taken place since the early years someone somewhere got the idea of the in-flight eating in the first place and still, people keep telling only the negative stories about it. Even that there are pretty good ones out there, or up there I might say.

Honestly, I have thinking so many times why in earth we actually need to eat on plane all the time? Yes, intercontinental flights are different as guys like me would be dying without some food and drinks but how about two hours of pan-European flights? Just making my remark on this issue, on both quality and quantity, let me publish this day in pictures, this very day, from the Scandinavia to continental Europe and further to Dubai. Two airlines, three flights – that’s how it looked like today, from a breakfast at 7am to a dinner with my Austrian coffee;

And the outcome? So much eating over 12 hrs that I can’t even think about a dinner or eating in any form. But yes, some of the stuff over this day was even pretty good! The best one? The antipasti on Austrian flight towards Dubai, “Antipasti vom Wagen” with marinated crayfish, spicy lentil salad, air fried beef, cantaloupe melon, gravad lax, creamy mustard dill sauce, zucchini tomato salad, yogurt honey dressing, bocconcini, artichokes, grilled vegetables, crispy duck wan tanks, pomegranate dip. Yes - I could have taken few plates of those! So simple, so delicious, why to bother to do more complex stuff, I wonder.

Until next day. Only one flight tomorrow. But maybe a pre-flight dinner at Le Meredien Dubai - let’s see. Maybe I have survived of this day by then.

Cheers for good food! Down here or up there.

Yes, I have been there. Part of the teams creating big international promises over advertising, I mean. That’s what advertising is for, right? Promises to get people to come, buy, use or consume, maybe ever tell about their experiences to someone else. Maybe that’s the reason someone somewhere is punishing me with these reality checks.

Few years ago I flew with Turkish Airlines from Stockholm to Dubai, via the bazaar like Istanbul airport obviously. While the first flight from Stockholm was a funny theater play with in-flight moves I would not really call airline hosting, and the Istanbul THY Business slash Star Alliance Gold Lounge was mostly like a noisy booze bazaar, the last leg over Dubai certainly continued that not so glamorous business class traveling experience with some condensate water dipping from the ceiling of the plane, non-working mechanism of my chair and so on. After that I promised myself to skip both Turkish Airlines and Istanbul. And I did, until this Monday.

I guess you have seen the advertising campaign of Turkish Airlines recently; the hyper-super-rich and beautiful soccer stars and other sport stars flying and playing inside the glamorous business class of Turkish Airlines, enjoying absolutely most wonderful plates of the absolutely best in-flight dining available but that’s not all; Turkish Airlines was also voted to be the Best Airline in Europe. 18.8 million votes but only one named, they keep saying in their in-flight advertising, too. Take a look on their advertising; that is certainly so lovely airline, isn’t it?

As I do love good marketing communication I also somehow believe the message, at least I find myself with some marketing driven expectations. As I did again.

Flying from Stockholm towards Istanbul was acceptable, to be honest, but after an hour in bazaar lounge – it was better that few years ago but still pretty far away from peaceful place to work – I jumped into a Boeing 737-800 towards Islamabad, Pakistan. First 3,5 hrs on a reasonable plane and then 5,5 hours flight in not so sexy business class, which it was actually.  Same plane, same seat arrangements as inner-Europe flight, three seats in row, middle one “reserved for your comfort”. This is now 5-6 hrs flight we are talking about, nothing like from Sweden to Denmark kind of journeys. Business class? Yeah, for sure!

Advertising V.S. Reality.

Where’s my luxurious leg room? Where I can join the soccer stars to play with? Where is my plate of delicious food? And as this is overnight / early a.m. flight, where is my flat down bed? The only balancing element is that their portions of whiskey is like four normal ones but maybe that’s the secret to keep passengers happy and in sleep? The Scandinavians, at least.

I don’t really get this operating model. Why you keep running a super-star-story if you are still running flights a few light-years behind your story? Don’t you think that the expectations will be too much to handle with the reality? Of course I understand that you also have smaller planes for shorter routes but now you did the opposite so I wonder where is the logic? To get Scandinavians to come to Turkey on Turkish Airlines instead of holidays charters? And maybe it is slightly unfair to take pictures from your website showcasing your fleet of brand new B777-300 and A330-300 instead of the reality but hey – that’s the message you are giving to us, the business travelers, right? I am not talking about economy class budget holiday traveling here.

And please don’t say it was because the destination or because of the price or route. And if it’s about the route, I’d say someone at the Turkish Airlines might re-consider the business model as the traffic seems to be there! Emirates flies from Dubai to Islamabad where I can be in deep sleep over 3 hours flight on my very own flat bed. Unfortunately that was full-booked again – maybe that’s the proof for good business from Istanbul too - so I was obliged to make these changes on my regular route.

I don’t know whether this story is all based on the Turkish business traditions, selling merchandise at bazaars, promising, showing and negotiating about the price and eventually, cash out and go. Sorry Turkish Airlines, it probably will be another few years again. After next Monday as I am booked for the return on the same route. Maybe you can pre-book me a private corner at THY Istanbul Lounge that I can work for few hours prior my return to Scandinavia. If I still have a laptop as the guy front of me just put his seat backwards hitting my Macs screen. So this was the end of the story and laptop goes off now. Good nite Turkish Airlines.

Cheers for a good in-flight sleep! Cheers for promises of reality! And most of cheers for airlines understanding the value of their customers!

Whatever hospitality business you take, customer recognition is what it is all about. You might create a restaurant with the best cuisine in the world but if you customer service sucks, you are done, even with your most fancy food. If you don’t recognize the value of your customers in terms of recognition – you actually know who your customers are and why they keep coming back – you don’t have a clue what you are doing.

As my dear friend, the General Manager of Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan, a super professional German guy I’ve mentioned before as well, wisely put it; if you don’t recognize your customers the hotel business is like selling beds! So true. And you know, selling beds might be $20/night business but a good hotel can be anything from hundreds to thousands per night. That’s the small difference we are talking about.

And just use the same city – which most of you don’t have any idea about - as a field for a quick competitive analysis (Yes, there are hotels…frankly). City of Islamabad has two five star hotels; Serena with just a beautiful piece of property, gardens, huge halls and everything, and Marriott, with much more limited spaces, although quickly developing new areas and activities, and not so fancy building. Despite the glamorous infrastructure Serena certainly has, the customer recognition is like zero, nada, nothing. It’s pretty sad actually. Whereas Marriott is full of smiles, greetings, nice to see you again Sir –words, pretty good restaurants and most of all, never ending full-time customer recognition! Another example of similar 24/7 commitment on customer experience I’ve experience e.g. in St. Regis Shanghai. But that’s what hotel business is all about and I simply can’t understand how someone working in the business can be so stupid not to get it? I mean seriously?

Another my favorite hospitality world is obviously airline business, which I have been criticizing so many times before – but let’s be honest, I’ve also given good, positive response so many times, right? Anyway, in this world of loyalty cards and airlines alliances, the tools for advanced customer recognition are there and the rest of the story is just about using the tools. And yes, that’s probably the tricky part for the airline business. But to keep this story short, there is a certain difference if your in-flight staff says “Welcome again” when you are boarding the plane; something it’s easy to do when you see the passengers boarding pass with identification elements showing this woman or man is actually part of your own loyalty program or alliance. However, as the airlines are trying to make people to act more independently and digital through online check-ins and non-printed boarding passes, the risk of loosing such a touch & feel might disappear. Or you should develop new tools for that, I think.

I could tell hundreds of stories of good and bad restaurant cases around the world but again, keep this story short; the professional customer recognition is about playing the cards right. You need to have people with some face memory, learn tricks to ask about the family of the regulars, spy little bit over the years by asking questions, be friendly and finalize everything with one small and so easy element – smile!

Obviously, all new social media and digital communication tools creates possibilities as well. I need to admit that the small things e.g. Austrian Airlines have been doing towards me over the few months have been so great! And I believe there should be a new Airline Award called like Best Online Talks. I don’t really need their nice Twitter messages asking how my flight was but if you ask whether that makes me feel good after all the millions of miles traveled over the last 15+ years, my answer is definitely yes!! And furthermore, I am pleased to response back as they seems to be interested to hear about my experience. At least they are acting like that, and without knowing the resources e.g. Austrian Airline is having for this job, I’m sure with a team of few people they could easily handle communication equal to millions of Euros in old-fashion marketing communication. And everybody likes it, no questions - also a big difference to passive communication, since customer recognition is all about creating a pleasure – you do something that your customers love. Every customer wants to be the number one, the only one inside your plane, at your hotel or dining in your restaurant. And every time you do something with some special care and attention, you made them come back again. Again, so simple.

Customer recognition is not rocket-science; it’s just something that makes your customer to feel good and appreciated. Something that makes them to think themselves as the real VIP people, just now, just today, and just tonight. That’s what customer recognition is all about, not any fancy tools or processes, all certainly required to make it happen technically but about the last touch, the overall feeling you are able to create around them. And you know, in this world of super-quick global communication tools that feeling is so often broadcasted around the world in seconds! Maybe that might be valuable for you, too?

Since I started this with a link to Marriott, I’ll end with few words I remember reading on Marriott’s Way book once at some Marriott hotel somewhere (if this is not right, maybe someone at Marriott International could send me that book?) – It is all about making people away from home to feel they are among friends. So clever and simple. Hotel is not your home – actually I hate those service promises because that’s basically absurd - but it can be a place where you feel to be taken care of by the way that suites you, right now.

For you Sir, Arne M. Sorenson, the new CEO of Marriott International, I would say congratulations! I think people working for your core values are doing outstanding work, in Islamabad at least.  When you will be sitting next to your new table in few weeks, I would call Mr. Noack, that GM in Islamabad and find out what that German guy is actually doing so well and try to copy it. You might find a secret, I believe. The secret that will make Marriott to enjoy the flow of Asian tourists also into the US. Because by end of the day that’s the core of hospitality business - you know who is coming and why. That’s my own humble traveler & observer opinion anyway.

Another cheers for professional customer recognition. I look forward to face great moments in the future too!

Over my 16 yrs as Gold Member of SAS Scandinavian Airlines Eurobonus, I have been Gold Member of Star Alliance for years, too.  Eurobonus just celebrates it’s 20th Anniversary, Star Alliance has been voted to be the Airline Alliance in the World. So we’d have a good basis for some chat.

The idea of Airline Alliance, at least from the passenger’s point of view, is mostly based on smooth transfers, easy connections, good synchronized schedules and most of all, recognized membership and status among the member airlines. That’s also the marketing message alliances are using when selling their concept to us, the ones flying and supporting their business, the ones called sometimes as customers. And over the years it has been like that, in most of the cases I would say. But I have pretty recent experience that the world of airlines is getting crazy, also when it comes to those alliances. Well, it’s not a surprise, right?

Despite the Alliance, almost every Member Airline seems to value their own members higher than the members of their partners – and that’s definitely kind of normal human behaviour, we like our family members or friends more than people we don’t really know. However, inside an airline alliance that’s pretty strange strategy leaving us, the ones who pay for their fun, with rules nobody can follow.

I’ve plenty of experience of that, just using few examples; With any problems on Lufthansa flight, their own members get the real advantage compared other Star Alliance partners. What ever happens linked to United flights, they take good care of their own members and after that, eventually you might say, pay attention to other Gold Members. Exception is SAS, Scandinavian Airlines, whos’s staff give always so good service to every foreigner, especially Americans, since it’s still so strange someone really travels to Scandinavia! And it’s not only Star Alliance, the Finnish (soon Norwegian, I guess) airline Finnair is especially good to give service to English speaking foreigners who simply can’t understand any bad experience someone i.e. a Finn had.

Anyway, Dear Star Alliance Executives, this has happened so often recently that it’s not accidently - it’s a major attitude. Or lack of attitude, frankly. Some of the Star Alliance airlines are not even giving free internet access at their lounges to others than their own members! I’d call that as Maximum Level of Non-Existing Customer Recognition. Or Stupidity of an Alliance. Or just stupid. 

So, what’s the point to be member of an Airline Alliance if you get better advantages as a member of each airline’s loyalty program separately? Accessing a lounge is certainly nice but there are plenty of lounges you will have access without such an airline based membership. And if you fly business or first class, you will have the access to those lounges despite your membership card. Using mileages for free rides is also nice but every time you try to use any, those limited seats available for free mileage based traveling are already full-booked. So stupid, really. And still we go and fly. Maybe we are the only stupid ones in this story? 

But this is all about customer recognition. If you value your own members higher than your alliance members, you just don’t care about customer recognition. You don’t even bother to know who is supporting your business and that usually means the end of your business. Which is pretty common status among the airlines right now. And then we could just throw away the whole beautiful concept of friendly airline alliance, couldn’t we? Sorry to say, what’s the point of being an Alliance Member if that Alliance is only done for marketing purposes?

Dear Star Alliance Executives, I give you a free a tip; go back in time. Go back in time up to the point when you were wondering what will happen with your business. Back to time when most of the people were too scary to fly because of the disaster of 9/11. Go back in time when you saw some value of your customers. Go back in time when times were actually so good that you made that decisions to create a beautiful alliance in the first place and show you do recognize the value of loyalty. Because that was the time when you really recognized the people supporting your business, nowadays it is just words the flight attendants give over the in-flight PA-system. And honestly, every award the airlines are voting for themselves might be a great ego-booster internally but we, your customers, simply value the real service, not the trophys. 

Without customer recognition you are selling seats of a transport vehicle valued like the low-budget airlines are doing, and I don’t think Star Alliance is designed for that. And you are still having plenty of customers willing to pay thousands of Euros for their tickets - despite all the wonderful marketing you do targeting the new, smart, beautiful, dynamic, young, cosmopolitan, international potential customers willing to travel for free, frankly. But hey, you don’t need to market yourself to us anymore, right?

But we all know it’s not the different operational model that creates new low-budget airlines; it’s the fixed models more traditional ones can’t get out! Even that you surely would like to.

Cheers for customer recognition! More to come.

As I have been giving my strong personal recommendation on Austrian Airlines food and service for so many people recently, I need to write few words of response too. When you get your service product up to certain level you should also keep it there and most of all, try to keep the quality standards as balanced as possible. That’s the secret of a successful service product! That’s my free professional tip of the day.

Actually, first mistake ever took place on my over-night flight from Dubai to Vienna. I was asked whether I want dinner – a sandwich basically – which I responded yes but actually never got it. That was kind of strange but well, mistake happens and I would have gone nuts but instead I was happy with my gin tonic and warm nuts and decided to sleep ;)

But morning came and it was the breakfast time. My choice was fried eggs sunny side up, which I eventually got but here’s the unfortunate fact; this was absolutely most strange in-flight food I have ever seen!

Yes, it looked like fried eggs and there was actually a double sunny on it but the look was all it had, frankly. Touching it with the knife just made you wonder whether there was a plastic foil on the meal since so flexible the top, the top layer you might say really was. What the heck..? 

Or maybe there was actually a plastic foil on it and Chef warmed it up with that foil? Anyway, that meal really looked like the ones made of plastic you see in China or Japan to demonstrate the food of the restaurant with a slight difference that those are not eatable from the beginning.

I think this meal was just as bad as it can really get and I didn’t even taste it, so frightfully plastic and flexible it looked and felt. And same decision I saw taking place by the gentleman next to me after those few moves with the fork that he actually got the top layer broken. Continuing the adventures with eating it was already too much for him, too.

Dear Catering Manager of Austrian Airlines, please go onboard and taste that “fried eggs sunny side up”… Maybe there is the plastic foil on it? Of it not, the consistence of egg is wrong or it can’t be handled on board as planned. Whatever the reason is, you should definitely get it changed as soon as possible as this stupid “food” can actually destroy the whole flying experience!That’s the last taste of the flight and service you get when waking up at 5 a.m. for your breakfast and then off you go. I believe the last taste is the most important one and you need to pay special attention on it!

And as wrote earlier, I know there is plenty of wonderful Austrian food you could take into flight and serve as breakfast or lighter dinner option on those early a.m. flights, right? Please go back to your roots! That’s my second free professional tip of the day.

As you really made it before, I count on you this time too and we shall see the difference! See you in few weeks again on that same flight, honestly looking forward seeing something less frightfull, less flexible, less plastic and more eatable on my plate then.

From my corner seat 3A, cheers for decent airline cuisine!

I have been flying in business around the year, around the world and with many airlines for almost 20 yrs. As I create strategies and new businesses for living, I also keep my eyes and ears open while flying and do My One Man Research how the customer expectation – really my own one – matches with the reality. Marketing communication and talks are not the same than actions and in-flight reality. Or maybe it could be right that some day, right? 

Over the last week and half, around 18000 miles three airlines and plenty of airports naturally – that’s pretty god basis for an quick analysis. Airports I am now leaving to wait for some additional words but let the word fly over very fresh and latest comparison between three airlines, somehow very different, at least from their general image point of view; Austrian Airlines, Thai Airways and Emirates. Let the story begins.

Thai Airways, smooth as silk, smiling and polite Asian airlines – that’s the general image, isn’t it? Where as I wrote about positive development on Austrian airlines, I would also go back to this quick response from the Bangkok airport earlier. And here comes the sad point; smile is gone and I think forever. Honestly, the Thai staff members smiled when we boarded and they tried to smile when we left the plane after 14 hours towards Los Angeles. I don’t really get it. How it is so difficult to smile, even to play a few hours theater front of customers who actually paid plenty of money for that play? Sometimes it’s only about smile, so simple really.

As one of my companies is really involved with broadcasting the cuisines, I probably need to say few words about that as well. Or maybe just one; c’mon! Take a look on this and make a comparison on these.

Thai above V.S. Austiran below…not a fair game, right?

Oh’ Thai, Oh’ Thai - why are you doing this? If you don’t know the secrets, why don’t you call the Austrian kitchen, your dear Star Alliance friend and ask how they jumped back to their own gastronomical crown jewels and then bring in best of the Thai cuisine? Why are you serving this mess we known from domestic US flights? Honestly, why? You don’t have to. I am sure you have professional people working at your company understanding the requirement of good service and even good food over those long flights and if you don’t, I am sure you can find some company to create you a Loved Set of in-flight Thai cuisine.

Emirates, full of anticipation and very professionally built customer expectations. Said all that, I know some of my friends cannot stand Emirates but I have never really got why. I strongly believe that the wisest move Emirates ever did was the recruitment of so many professional people from around the world. In most cases Emirates works as perfectly as their brand new airlines – smoothly, much more smooth as Thai silk, actually – and there is nothing to complain. But that’s their challenge too.

As long as everything works it is all nice and beautiful, and much more smiling as Thai. But when something goes wrong, the tradition of taking care of customers is missing, maybe just because everyone has been hired from somewhere else and the the Dubai airport, realy my reference here, is a bazaar designed by Middle-East standards. When the planes are late and there are some technical problems – something that eventually happens with even newer airplanes, unfortunately – passengers are left in clouds but at the airport. I once wrote about this, the inability to make one call if you first class or business class passenger has not arrived to the gate by boarding time. I don’t know, I assume that to be one of the most obvious things to be taken care.

But honestly, Emirates works, no question. I also had a personal chance to experience what happens as passenger suffers of a sudden health attack, unfortunately. Fortunately, the Emirates staff and their doctors – in Phoenix, Arizona I was told - handled the situation so professionally that at least I know that whatever happens I know I’ll be safe. Very important part of flying, I believe. And once again, thank you Katherine and other staff members! You saved my trip and possibly my life, too.

I have already shared my very positive experience with Austrian Airlines so not so much more needed anymore. If I can make one wish, in addition to that Sacher cake of course, I hope plenty of passengers will find Austrian Airlines bringing you plenty of money to be used for even better and newer airplanes. Your attitude to serve is where it is supposed to be, no questions about that. Pleased to Serve, as the Marriott guidelines put it.

I promised a comparison so here it is. What comes to my own personal customer experience Emirates and Austrian are equal, both doing things right and at the right time, both have challenges with their home airport but that’s not their fault, frankly. And it’s harder to change set-ups of steel and concrete as the behavior of in-flight staff. Thai Airways is nowadays a strange combination of expectations of smiling service and reality of more low-budget airline type of set-up. Even your website looks like that, I think. I don’t know, maybe it’s only the too high expectations of the smiling airline? Maybe those times are just gone?

But one more thing – connectivity! This modern world is about communication, that’s why you are reading this, right? And this is the subject making Austrian Airlines to win this round at least. They are on twitter (@_austrian), they answer emails - even that did not do that during the Icelandic volcano mess -  they seems to browse for any messaging linked to their name and service, they are active – something you need to be in this modern world. For reason or another, it’s pretty complicated to even find an email address you can contact Emirates customer relations and actually, I guess the only way is to log in as member of Skywards and then send response. Please correct if I am wrong but that has been the case. Ref. Twitter, I still don’t know whether Emirates is using the Twitter or is it even their (@Flying_Emirates)?

Thai, again, why? I know there are plenty of professional people for online and social media in Thailand so please go and ask for consulting help! The reality check is so easy; go to Thai Airways’s website and click the Twitter logo and you will be taken to Twitter.com, not their Twitter account! Click the Facebook logo and same happens! DearCRM and marketing people at Thai; have you ever visited your own website?

Three airlines, 18000 miles, four corner seats and just based on the activity and connectivity I am now announcing Austrian Airlines as the winner for this round. I strongly believe customer relations are all about communication and recognition and in this area someone at Austrian Airlines has made his or her homework so well so big cheers for that!

P.S. Today it was announced that American Airlines might see the Final Curtain. Personally I have only positive memories of AA as they once saved our family holiday and took us under their wings from London towards Los Angeles when Star Alliance member Air New Zealand jumped, or flew deeply into stupidity. But that was years ago so maybe something has done wrongly since then?

I am writing this from my corner seat on Austrian flight from Vienna towards Dubai. As the whole flight is kind of second round of the same route I did last year, it’s wonderful chance to make one 1-year Comparison, and of course, over one of my favorite subjects Food and Service.

On Feb 2010 I wrote a story from my airborne corner seat titled as “Expectations, Stereotypes and Experiences; just thinking on a Austrian Airlines flight.” Skipping the entertainment part this time – I did not use it all because of work I had to do - my focus then was wondering why Austrians are flying with a Arabic flavor towards Dubai. Never got whether the reason was the clientele or wish to put passengers heading the Arabic world into a right mood on the food and tastes too, but I sure personally found it pretty strange as Austrian cuisine is well-known and country has produced many well-know Chefs working nowadays around the world.

And as said before, airlines have so huge possibility to use food as a Ambassador Tool to promote regions, culture or new experiences. Tell me another location where your customer are voluntarily trapped on their seats and you put a plate under the nose and give the friendly “eat now”-commands over centralized speaker system?

Okay, back to this flight. Chef, yes one of the staff members actually wearing a chef’s jacket and white hat, also a good move that so few are using despite the well-recognized Power of Uniform, came with a menu looking like this - sorry for picture quality but my studio and professional photographer were not with me;

Still with international elements, even slightly Arabic ones but Austrian and continental European classics like saddle of veal Milanese and of course Grammel- & Fleischknödels!  I am learning this way many of friends are following so shot for pics of the Flights Menu, enjoy;

Without no questions, Coffee in Vienna, Wiener Kaffee, is one of the world’s best known part of the Austrian food culture so I was so pleased to see they are really flowing such a great culture into their planes too. Yes, it’s all about those same stereotypes that people recognize and fall deeply in love with. As the Coffee Menu tells, this is an Austrian tradition started in 1683 so definitely the story needs to be told inflight, maybe with even more visibility on planes?

And continuing with Austrian stereotypes, what would a dinner be without a good dessert. Nothing. I wrote last year, on my first Austrian flight ever I liked my “Iranian” coffee then with plenty of good appetizers like Turkish lentil patties, humus, tabouleh and so on, but honestly looked for more traditional continental European ones - at least good desserts you could expect, couldn’t you? Warm Baked Chocolate Mousse was my Sacher cake today and a really liked it but maybe some genuine Sacher next time would act as a Crown Jewel of the Austrian inlight menu? Knowing that many of your clients are Austrians and some of them probably already sick of Austrian food…

Service? As accurate and professional as last time, nothing to complain, very professional purser who came to ask for any wishes pretty regularly but also realized the fact that some people needs to work. Also a good sign of professional customer management, also over the air space.

I wrote last time that my personal expectation for Austrian Airlines was based on purely stereotypes without any experience; nothing to complain, nothing to cheer; good, professional, easy, comfortable. As stereotypes are not in force alone anymore, I need to take some words back as there was really something to cheer. The staff worked very well, were smiling and friendly and yes, the changes in food with plenty of Austrian wines to pair with was really an enjoyable experience. As I am known to be a difficult customer on some issues, althought trying to be that on in the sense of development and discussion, I need to admit that Sacher Cake was the only part I missed. Can you handle Sacher Torte for me next time? I’m sure you can.

Cheers for Austrian Airlines and all the smart people you have working for you. Looking at you from this corner seat 4H you are doing great work. Hope to see you soon again!

 Time will show whether this is my first and last blog story about fashion but let’s give a try. This story is about shoes. Yes, I know. Never thought I am finding myself writing such a story but as there are some new business models involved I can feel this acceptable, sort of at least.

Quick background overview for everyone not familiar with the Finnish market; yes Finland - that strange/trendy place far north between the everyone-knows-Sweden and what-the-heck’s-happening-Russia. Finland has changed a lot (!) but there are few cultural issues waiting to reach the more western civilized life-style level in the next decades or so and men shoes are definitely one of those. It’s hard or even impossible to find any high-quality shoes in the whole country and that’s why so many businessmen buy their shoes abroad in places like London for example, including me.

This fall it happened; I needed couple of pair of new shoes and didn’t have time to fly over to London. So started to browse the domestic market again, knowing the unbalanced status of the demand vs. supply desperately well. And after two cities and few shops the reality check was done again. It won’t work.

Sunday afternoon, already mentally ready to book flights to London, I finally walked into the shop-in-shop store of the Finnish tailor made shoe brand Left Foot at the Stockmann’s department store.  Honestly, after years of consideration and passing their flagship store in Helsinki – where I have actually never seen any clients inside, hope there are some – it was time to give them a try!

Shopping for Left Foot, eventually.

Okay, Finns lost their handicraft traditions probably few decades ago, although it is slowly coming back. But Finns did change the country and partly the whole world with mobile phones and IT so it’s obvious that making a tailor made shoes in Finland needs to be linked with new technology and that’s what it is at the Left Foot Store. Customers put funny-looking socks on and stand on a 3D scanner scanning the shape of their feet, later used as kind of a digital mold for your shoes. Not really as touchy and classic as wooden mold made on Jermyn Street in London but sure kind of modern and new millennium approach. Yes, an acceptable change and an interesting act of development, I might say.

Your feet scanned, you pick-up your favorite model, leather, color and pay your bill and your shoes will be delivered in 3-4 weeks. And next time you can do your purchase fully online on their website. Sound like too good to be true, doesn’t it? Time will show, I was thinking.

They are here! My new three pairs of shoes. Yes, you see only half of them.

Okay, that was the Introduction Phase and now comes the Disappointment Phase. Exactly the same week when I received my new three pairs of good-looking and pretty well fitted shows, I received a kind email from The Left Foot Co saying they are closing their shop in Turku, southwestern city where despite all the winds against me I still try to keep my home. Closing the shop and even in 2 weeks from the email? What the heck, I just started to use them?!? I am feeling this really will be a quick romance, not a good start for a long-time relationship I intend to look for at least.

Shoes look good, feel pretty good, branded nicely through show boxes to membership card, signed with your name and membership number (why is it actually inside the right shoe only, might guess for left one, right?), high-quality Allen Edmonds shoe trees inside, minor changes should be done to make them perfectly fitted but they are ok in good sense. But closing down the shop close to me really puts dark clouds on My Sky of Shoes.

Now I can recognize my own shoe. The right one at least. But should it be the left one?

Too Good to be True, Part #1, without knowing whether there ever will be any more lessons; as long as you cannot touch the leather, cannot feel the quality with you on fingertips, online store cannot replace a physical one. That’s why you eventually need the windows by the streets. Closing up a store enabling that is like saying to your customer, even rather newcomers, that we are not serving you anymore and you need to trust the screen front of you. Screen showing different colors at every office and home around the world; something you can’t even control. If you are happy with that, you’re all fine. In some businesses fully online business model is nowadays a must but tailor made shoes are not flight tickets, sorry to say.

Without knowing the business strategy their left feet are following, I would highly argue against closing down any shop-in-shops they have, even without any local desire here. Actually, I think they should expand small shops through the whole Scandinavian or even European market and bring their potential clients a chance to touch & feel the shoes. And even manufacture somea ready to wear shoes people without the sense of waiting could buy. That would be the secret to adopt the traditional made to measure shoe business and mix that with a high-tech scanning world. That would deliver a difference, that famous reason to buy, desire to feel the story. Otherwise it will be just another quick romance.

Got my shoes and I am ready to walk. Shall my feet accept these modern intruders? Will the shoes last the heavy steps and corners of a quick businessman? Time will tell. Episode 2 is published in couple of weeks, I promise. With some heavy testing results.

Until then, I cheers for new innovations brought into traditional business! And cheers for anyone looking for good shoes! My glass of full-body red wine is waiting. Cheers!

This is actually something I have been facing and wondering for some time already – and even around the world. It all started during that another once past and now back recession time when shop keepers and business owners are counting their cents and pennies more carefully. Or maybe they are just getting cheap? Or maybe it is all about keeping control? Whatever the reason is, I have faced more and more shops and restaurants not accepting American Express as a payment method and I cant help myself getting pretty mad about the whole issue.

Okay, I know the basics behind that silly behavior. Or the ones I keep hearing from the mouth of those business owners every time at least. Amex charges more commission and money comes into the accounts slower than with some other credit card companies – that’s what they say. But honestly, should that be my problem? I don’t think so. I buy your service and pay the price you want for it. 

I have been using Amex pretty much for the last 15+ years for one simple reason; it’s The credit card I trust internationally. I have all the others too but Amex staff have always handled my business well, sent new cards around the world if I managed the break one, they take good care of my travel insurances and even called me personally when my card was swiped in one of those not so trusted countries or cities this globe hosts. As a nice and friendly thank-you-move, I intend to use their card for every purchase I do. Everywhere I can.

I just hate when a restaurant owner asks for another card when I offer Amex. I do understand if they don’t want to give more money to credit card company but if I just left 20% tip, I don’t care whether they pay couple of %s less or more. Or if I just bought something worth of few thousands, I don’t believe the profit margin is really counted so tight that two per cent more isn’t acceptable anymore, right? And if that is really the case, why don’t you just add 5% or whatever and give me to accept that transaction?

Now you, you skeptic you, would argue that I am using Amex only to collect airline miles or Rewards points but you are so wrong. I have so much both of those that I have not used for years! This is much more fundamental issue; I want to do my decision and pay with whatever global credit card I want. And you, you business owner, you are free to charge me more if you wish! Another issue is how often I keep coming back if you do that, I guess. Or maybe it’s more about your own work with your excel worksheets defining your business? Or maybe it’s just because you lost the focus of your own customer service based business and started to act as CFO?

Cheers for Freedom to choose! And yes, cheers for every business owner knowing the math and accepting Amex. I’ll have some red wine happily paid by Amex.

P.S. And FYI, I do not work for or with Amex. I’m just a client who wants to make my own decisions. And who will.