Having a Travel Problem? Share It on Twitter

"Social networking" has been the buzz phrase in marketing circles over the last few years. First there was MySpace, then FaceBook and more recently Twitter. I stood my ground for a while refusing to join the crowd but eventually relented and signed up to Facebook. I do spend a bit of time on there, but I have drawn the line and am not getting involved with Twitter.

Saying that tho, I came across an interesting article (excerpt below) about Twitter in an industry newsletter. Its interesting to see how these social networks are being used in the travel industry and it seems that there is some benefit for travellers. Click on the title below to read the full story.

Practical Traveler - Having a Travel Problem? Share It on Twitter - NYTimes.com

As hotels, airlines and other travel companies line up on Twitter to promote their brands, customers who voice their grievances in the form of tweets are getting surprisingly fast responses for everything from bad airplane seats to poor room service.

Take Tony Wagner, 34, a new-media director for an academic group in Washington. When he found out he wasn’t seated next to his wife and 2-year-old daughter on a JetBlue flight to San Francisco over the Memorial Day weekend, he first called up customer service. But the agent told him to take it up at the gate. So Mr. Wagner indirectly sent JetBlue a message, by posting a plea for help on his Twitter account: “@jetblue Advice to get both parents and 2 yr old seated next to each other on flight later today? Right now only one parent. Full flight.”

Exactly 19 minutes later, JetBlue tweeted back, suggesting they correspond privately, using Twitter’s “direct message” feature: “@tonywagner Please follow us so we may DM!” After a brief exchange, JetBlue flagged his tickets as a priority concern.