I was set to fly to Albany on Saturday, for the opening of my father’s restaurant.
A week before, I got a text message from my mother, telling me my grandmother passed in her sleep. The funeral was being held Saturday morning, so I needed to move my flight up a day.
I checked online, found a new flight, and called Delta. They quoted me a price of $180 and told me if I came back to them with the funeral home information, they could waive the change-of-flight fee.
Great. We hung up, I got the information, then called back. It’s a different representative on the phone.
“The difference in flight fares,” this representative told me, “is $290. Did you want to pay now?”
Negotiating with an Airline
“That’s weird. I’m showing a flight difference of $180. I also just called in, and that’s what the representative quoted me as well. Can you double-check?” I asked.
We spent another 10 minutes trying to figure out the discrepancy between the difference in fares, but at the end of the call, she said, “There’s nothing I can do, because that’s what my computer is telling me.”
“I’m not trying to be difficult,” I replied. “I appreciate your help and understand that’s what you see on the computer. What I want to do is get clarity on why your computer is showing something different than mine. Can we go over the legs again? On Delta Flight 008, flying out of LAX at…”
Another 15 minutes, and we didn’t get anywhere. I said, “Okay, I’m going to do a little more research, and then call back in. Thank you for your help.”
The rep can’t couldn’t get off the phone fast enough — relieved to be rid of me. We hung up — and I called back in immediately, hoping with a different representative, I’d get a different result.
Different rep. Same result – their computer showed a difference in airfare of $290. I asked him to check the flights again. No change.
“I appreciate your help,” I told him. “Is there a supervisor I can speak with who may be able to shed light on why there’s a difference between what’s on your computer and mine?”
He brought on his supervisor, and I explained the situation again. She looked at her computer, and told me, “I understand your frustration, but the computer’s calculating a difference in fare of $290, so that’s what we have to charge you.”
I asked her the cost of the actual leg of the flight.
“$560.”
“Right,” I said. “That’s what I’m seeing, too. And on your computer, you should see that I paid $380 for my current fare. So if you calculate the difference, it comes out to $180, not $290.”
Silence. Then, “hold on a second.”
Five minutes later, she got back on the phone. “You’re right. I’m not sure why the computer’s calculating $290. We’ll honor the quote of $180, just give me a few minutes.”
Another 10 minutes passed, and she told me, “actually we just found another fare for you, that brings the quote down to $150. Is that okay?”
Negotiating Frameworks
Let’s look at some of the things I did and didn’t do in this situation:
Research – I educated myself before I got on the phone with Delta, to make sure I knew what flight I wanted, and what the lowest fares available were. For every conversation regarding money, or a negotiation, go into it with due diligence (it’s amazing how many people skip this step).
I pulled up fares on both the Delta website and a fare aggregator (my choice: Hipmunk.com). This accomplished two things: one, I knew they misquoted me right away, so I could immediately correct the problem. Two, I took the onus of double-checking the fares and flights off of them, and made it something “we” were doing.
Align interests – Here’s the framework I could have used for this negotiation: Delta and I sitting at opposite sides of the table, me trying to pay the lowest price, them trying to charge me the most. If you enjoy activities like bouncing your skull off cinderblocks, make this your default approach.
If instead, you prefer finding solutions, frame the conversation to align interests. In this case, I said, “I’d like to get clarity on why your computer shows something different from my computer.”
By using that framework, I take “me versus you” off the table. The problem is with our computers, not the person. I never make it personal, or insinuate that this person is out to get me (this is rarely the case). Instead, we’re both trying to get the proper fare to show up on our computers, regardless of what the actual difference is.
Stay at the table – I kept the representative on the phone with me until they’d done everything to explain how they reached their results. I did this politely, but firmly: “Can you please double-check that?;” “Can we look at each individual leg and see what prices you’re seeing?;” “Sorry, I don’t understand, can you tell me again how you got that number?”
Can I hear her frustration on the phone?
Do I know she’s so over this conversation?
Of course, but a customer rep can’t hang up the phone until you let them. So don’t let them until you got the answers you need.
I’m not saying waste people’s time. What I am saying is, in any negotiation, gather as much information as you can, and never leave the table without answers.
Move up the chain – After the first rep couldn’t help me, I knew it was time to find another one. When I sensed we were about to hit a wall with the second one, I called in the supervisor. Be clear and polite with everyone, but never be afraid to move up the chain, where the representative can solve your problem or at the very least, provide better answers.
Money Is a Difficult Conversation
I hope you gleaned some negotiating tactics from this post, but a golden tactic isn’t the major takeaway here.
The major takeaway is: when it comes to conversations about money, most of them are uncomfortable ones. Conversations like:
- Hiring an employee
- Negotiating your salary
- Negotiating big purchases (real estate, a car, etc.)
- Asking for a raise
- Comparing spending habits and savings goals with your significant other
- Firing an employee
People aren’t born with an innate ability to have these conversations. It’s a skill set that’s learned, by having them over and over again, until the uncomfortable becomes comfortable.
The above conversation with Delta moved seamlessly from problem to solution. I didn’t use a script or notes or anything to get it to that point. I’ve had enough of these conversations to know my response for each likely scenario. I’ve listened to enough high-level negotiations to understand the framework to move the negotiation forward, when to concede a point, and when to hang tough.
But I promise you, a year ago, this situation probably wouldn’t have resolved itself so amicably. I would have backed off earlier, or I wouldn’t have finessed my asks or articulated my pain points as clearly as I did.
We get better at this, by taking every opportunity to have a difficult conversation. Whereas most people shy away from these conversations, we need to move towards them.
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Photo Credit: JD Hancock
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