Tripso: Tripso

American Airlines, JFK get bogus travel agent awards

It’s difficult to find a traveler who thinks always-congested JFK is the best airport in the country or that always-late American Airlines is the top air carrier — let alone a competent travel agent.

But not according to the World Travel Awards, which has given JFK and American its top honors. What’s more, it claims the accolades are determined by travel agents, although the organizers don’t reveal the exact number of ballots or their methodology.

I wrote about the World Travel Awards several years ago when I investigated travel industry awards. At the time, I concluded that they were the most questionable of the group.
But perhaps the harshest criticism was reserved for the World Travel Awards, an industry accolade with a shady reputation and an abundance of detractors. As one source close to the awards told me, “The winners were pre-determined. They never bothered to explain their methodology. They never counted a vote.”

Readers share my skepticism. In comments on the Dallas Morning News aviation blog, several travelers criticized the award.

“How can American Airlines win any kind of award when they sit at the bottom of all the surveys in customer service and other services. Sounds like AA paid someone to put them at the top to me.”

Another reader suggested the award is meaningless.

“This award for American Airlines casts a huge credibility cloud on the issuer. Their customer service, even for their most frequent travelers, is deplorable. If I treated my customers the way I’m treated by AA, I would have no customers left. But they have a monopoly out of Dallas because of the Wright Amendment, which they leverage to the max. Once its lifted in 2014, they will be in big trouble, as Southwest will win away a large percentage of American’s business travelers.”

The biggest problem I have with the World Travel Awards — apart from the fact that they’re complete nonsense — is that its organizers pin it all on travel agents.
I wonder what travel agents have to say about this year’s list of winners …