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.

It was over 2 yrs ago when I started to write from my corner seat. To celebrate the changing moods and time slots between beeing active and not so active I just decided to jump into this slightly more modern world called tumblr. So strange name, actually. But maybe my view just tells more about me getting old than universally understandable brand names.

Anyway, I am back. I’ll just take a glass of wine and sit down on my corner seat. Where? You’ll find out. I give you one hint; it will red wine.

am sure it was a great idea. Telling business people that they can travel more comfortable than just a regular economy class but still getting some better service. Without average Joes wondering how corporations can spend so much on flights when they fire people at the same time. Premium economy, economy extra whatever they call it – that’s what it is all about. Or was. Premium seat, economy food. Premium seat, economy service. I wish that concept could now rest in peace.

Yes, they said it worked well. Well, same they said about the food passenger can buy on flight. Just to remind you all that there was a time when airlines were actually serving food and drinks to everyone, even in economy class. Asking passenger to buy the food they might like is one of the stupidest innovations ever. When questioning the practice onboard, I have been asked by many flight attendants to give my feedback to the management as they find it both impolite and complicated. Handling cash or credit card purchases is certainly that.

While I wrote my memos on my notebook for this article, I was sitting on economy extra seat on a Scandinavian Airlines flight from London to Copenhagen. And only reason I am here is that I couldn’t get a business class ticket as the booking system said no seats available. But I am counting now; 17 seats of 21 business class seats are empty so what the heck is going on? Price categories? Well, this was an expensive one.

But on cross-European flight there is really no difference between those two classes. Actually, there is only one; food. Business class passengers get warm food so I am now jealous of those four passengers front of me. And so sad for the passengers in economy, they need to pay for whatever they might be able to buy.

SAS marketing people give me some numbers; is economy extra really working nowadays? I mean really?

4+1 passengers in the business class; one guy is SAS pilot who just had his meal and went to chat with his buddies in the cockpit so he should not really been counted at all. 5 adults in the economy extra, so serving one dinner for everyone might be better and cheaper, right?

And sorry guys, I need to continue. The meal box – it’s plastic ! Where are all the environmental values you talked so much during the recession? In-flight magazine Scanorama says; Talk to us. I am talking. Are you listening?

P.S. Service on CPH-LHR flight is super good. Especially when it comes to drinks!

02 January 2011

Happy New Year 2011 - let this will be a good one!

It’s a New Year. I was thinking to act as most of the media channels in the world and review the year 2010 but by end of the day who cares anymore? It’s all gone anyway so why to bother and take a look backwards?

But certainly there would so much to say about the year ended, even afterwards. I could wonder how a long-time friendship turned into a total silence – at least seems to be so. I could also write a long story about flying on Air China and wondering how is it even possible that in-flight staff doesn’t speak English; something that bothers me even on such a small level as security. And yes, I could write a novel about entrepreneurship and how that is just something people have in their attitudes or they don’t. Simple as that! Sorry to say but teaching entrepreneurship is like telling a Muslim that Roman Catholics are right about everything. That is really something that certainly takes me onto a playground that is so fashionable and dangerous nowadays; religion. What the heck has happened, really? I have really lost the track – and interest, frankly – on the news putting people, cultures and countries against each other based on the religion they seem to follow. Last year we all seemed to have jumped back onto 17th century. Let that be changed this year, ok?

Airline taxes; that’s my next goal! Maybe I need to start a 1-Man-Mission against that case, just in principle in the business world. Actually, how it is possible that nobody inside the European Commission Consumer Rights Protection Universe or whatever it’s called inside those palaces doesn’t pay any attention to that? Airlines are advertising cheap flights like “50 euro to London” and then you pay a very strange bulk of money called “Taxes” even that there is no taxes linked to the case. As far as I know, taxes belong to states not to companies, right? I don’t believe a gas provider could set up a own tax on the petrol they sell or cab drivers charge for an addition passenger tax flowing directly into their own pockets. How this can happen in the airline business? Advertising is advertising but still I don’t get how you can sell something for fifty euro if it actually costs you hundred? I give you an actual example here;

That’s the “Breakdown of Taxes” linked to a free (!!!) ticket I got with my mileage points. It should be called Breakdown of Costs, not taxes. Stupid and strange. Let that be changed in 2011. Yes, I know. In my dreams only.

Recession. It’s over so let’s do not mention it in 2011. Deal?

Natural disasters. Let those will be history. Big Guy on the clouds, whatever your name is - I guess this is okay with you, too?

Weather. Let the sun shine and snow coming. But within some limites after all.

Technology. Despite the masses, I stay against the tablet mess. I am still without a reason to actually use an Ipad. But let the 2011 bring something really interesting in the tech world too.

Hospitality business. Let the restaurants fly thanks of happy and experimental customers. Let the hotel managers to understand what is a loyal customer all about.

Smile. Let that rule the world in 2011 !!

What else? Hhmm…oh, yes! This is like a business practice I need to write down for a case. Once upon time, there was a sales manager who handled his work towards my company pretty well, extremely well actually. I was so happy with the service that I decided to use the same company for private use as well. He handled my case but then nothing happened before one day when our mail guy brought an invoice of monthly service – service that never started since the installation work was ever done. I just sent an email to our sales guy and asked whether they could also make the installation before actually sending invoices of that monthly service. No reply. Then came a reminder of the same invoice making me to call the sales guys cell phone number. That call was forwarded to the reception who announced that the person is not working there anymore. Eventually, I was connected with another guy who then asked me to deliver him the order I was talking about and promised to cancel the invoice and handle the installation. But he doesn’t have a clue about the case, no papers, no order, no reports, no nothing.

Not over yet! Next came another letter stating that the original invoice of the monthly service have been sent to the collecting and with pretty angry words that outsourced-collecting-company was asking me to pay that invoice. And by the way, we are talking about forty euros here. This case has been going on for 1,5 months and yes, we are still without the service I ordered. But at least no further invoices of the service doesn’t exist; that’s something after all, isn’t it?

So classical case really. Someone leaves the company and all the open projects and negotiations are forgotten like that. I just wonder how companies can afford that, really? And as the #1 guy in this case joined a competitor and sent me an email later to wish Happy New Year and offered his services I need to say I just deleted the message right away. Should I trust he handles my case professionally if he decides to switch jobs again? But Happy New Year; hope customer service keeps – or begins – developing!

Certainly there would be so much more to start this New Year with but maybe I need to leave something for the next 12 months. After one of the busiest falls during the last 15+ years I wish to have some more time to sit down on my corner seat next to this laptop and write. I have a feeling 2011 will be an interesting year.

Once again, Happy New Year 2011! Hope to see you next to me and my corner seat.