23/07/2022
Finally, home from Italy five days after our planned return, with an unexpected cost of approximately 7000 euros to get home and undergone a rollercoaster of emotional experiences. Unfortunately, we got caught up in the SAS pilot strikes, which was unfortunate.
But our journey, which unexpectedly plunged us into interactions with various travel providers alongside their "outside of normal "operating challenges such as; bus for train and airport operating and baggage chaos problems, provides opportunities to document some positive and negative customer journey experiences đđĽşđ¤Şđđ¤đą
In short, this is a summary of our journey:
Our planned journey
Planned interactions: 2 airports, 2 flight providers, 2 train companies, 2 taxi providers, 1 hotel booking company + 1 hotel
Actual journey and interactions:Â
6 airports, 4 flight providers, 2 train companies + 10 train station visits, 2 bus companies, 2 taxi providers (only because we walked some distances with luggage in tow to save money), and 4 hotel accommodation residences.
We have experienced the highs and lows of interacting with various search, booking, amending and usage functionalities; we have interacted with people, policies, processes, and systems, and I promise there are many learnings to be had and shared đ
Three companies especially deserve a shout-out for outstanding customer experience. The first is who helped us to solve our problems (not caused by Widerøe); their live chat worked exceptionally well; they were quick, helpful and empathetic to our situation.Â
The second company, empathised with our situation, saved us a two-hour queue at Schipol airport, and finally to our Hotel Europa, who called around to find new accommodation.Â
Our journey with SAS is incomplete as these extra inconveniences have cost us somewhere in the region of 7000 euros regarding how the compensation experience will be undertaken. Only time will tell.Â