The Deal Mommy

Heathrow Immigration line, Jan 18, 2013

I’ve mentioned before that if you travel, you need to be on Twitter. I usually say that so you can scoop the best deals, but during my recent travel fiasco with British Airways I learned that Twitter not only helps you save, it can literally save your trip. Here’s how Twitter saved me:

When I was unceremoniously dumped in the Immigration line in Heathrow at 4PM on Friday, I realized I was going to miss my (past 24 hour cancellation) reservation at the Hyatt Vendome in Paris. It was also clear that BA had abandoned all sense of customer service and that I was ENTIRELY on my own to cancel this reservation, beg for mercy from Hyatt not to charge me for a $700 hotel room I couldn’t stay in, and find a hotel room in London for that night…and that I was going up against the 1000s of people who were suddenly in the same situation! I had to think fast.

My only connection to the outside world from the Immigration line was through my Smartphone. I didn’t have a SIM card to call out (I wasn’t expecting to enter England, after all!), but thankfully Heathrow has internet access. I sent an email to the Hyatt in Paris, but didn’t know if they would see it in time, and that didn’t help me with booking a new room. I also certainly didn’t want to be booking a new room using a credit card over a public internet connection!

Enter Twitter, and the hero of our story, @HyattConceriege, (with a strong assist from @HyattPR, who followed up promptly as well). I can’t tell the story better than I can show it to you, so I’ll paste the text of our conversation, unedited:

@TheDealMommy

@HyattConcierge help! Must rebook award for tonight from Vendome to London due to @BritishAirways #fail! Stranded at lhr w no phone

NOT TWO MINUTES LATER:
‏@HyattConcierge

@thedealmommy Please DM us your Gold Passport details and where you would like to make a reservation. We’ll be more than happy to assist!

And here’s the DM Trail, each message coming in real time chat:

XXXXXX. Dia Adams. Andaz East End or London Rgency Downtown is good. One pers, 2 nts if poss with w certs. Tks!
18 Jan

I show you still have an existing reservation at Park Hyatt Vendome for tonight. Is that reservation needing to be canceled?
18 Jan

Yes…stranded in london, no way to paris.
18 Jan

I have both Hyatt Regency London the Churchill and Andaz Liverpool St. for tonight two nights. Which location do you prefer?
18 Jan

Know nothing about either. Will take a rec if you know locations, leaning towards andaz if location is good.
18 Jan

Andaz is located in the heart of London’s financial district and is adjacent to the Liverpool St railway station.
18 Jan

HR London is located in London’s West End. Close to main attractions and shopping.
18 Jan

Financial…maybe churchill better for me as a tourist, then?
18 Jan

Kinda like andaz wall st?
18 Jan

I’m not 100% since I have never been to London. The attractions and shops are going to be closer to Hyatt Regency London.
18 Jan

Sold. Regency it is! I can even begin to tell you my relief.
18 Jan

So, within 10 minutes, and with another good hour to go at immigration, at least I knew I wasn’t out my hotel in Paris and that I had a good night’s sleep to look forward to. I had no idea what a good night’s sleep it would be, but that’s another post…

And in the interest of fairness, I should mention that @BritishAirways’ Twitter folks are very responsive as well. However, their responses served only platitudes that served in the moment as gallows humor. I’ll share some below, along with my real-time responses:

@TheDealMommy:
@HyattConcierge @HyattPR help! Must rebook award for tonight from Vendome to London due to @BritishAirways #fail! Stranded at lhr w no phone

@BritishAirways:
@TheDealMommy We’re sorry for this. Snow is currently affecting LHR, but trying to get you out of there as soon as we can.

‏@TheDealMommy

@BritishAirways not so much. Now in this travesty attempting to retrieve carryon bag I was forced to give up. (See pic above)

The Deal Mommy ‏@TheDealMommy

@BritishAirways Can’t print boarding pass for tomorrow LHR-IAD b/c CDG-LHR cancelled. Oh, and I’m in LONDON! No bag, no comm, #epicfail
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19 Jan British Airways N.A. British Airways N.A. ‏@BritishAirways

@TheDealMommy Hi there, you can find rebooking options here: http://bit.ly/RrNep3 and report missing luggage here: http://bit.ly/zFkpRG
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19 Jan The Deal Mommy The Deal Mommy ‏@TheDealMommy

@BritishAirways No, I can’t. 69 min. now with rep trying to fix booking with no success. Can’t file claim online, must call, no one answers!

I think you get the point…on Twitter, you find out who your friends are. HUGE tip of the hat to Hyatt and their AMAZING team on Twitter!!