Perillo Air Upgrades...Buyer BEWARE
 

My granfather took the First Class Upgrade option on a trip to Hawaii last year with Perillo. Cost $2000. The literature said simply upgrade to first class, call for details. He was told he got the top package when he booked.

He was quiet disappointed to find that ONLY the flights to and from Hawaii were first class but not the inter island flights. To add insult to injury he was not even seated with his travelling companion on the inter-island flights.

Like others here we were met with incredibly rude and self-rightous customer service. I almost expect to see a sign in their office that says Customer Service Rules: 1) The customer is always wrong; 2) If the customer is ever right, re-read rule 1!

We asked for $1000 to be refunded as we were given half of what we paid for. In the end we were told the best Steve would do was one $50 refund which is the wholesale cost of inter-island upgrades. We told Steve to keep his money and not to expect any future business from our family.

The lesson we learend is to be EXTREMELY careful and make sure EVERY details is spelled out in writing prior to making payment. We chose them because we expected first class customer service...clearly, in our opinion, this was not the case.

While the trip was pleasant, this really took the edge off of a great experience.

I can understand your concern and disappointment.

Was it spelled out in any way whatsoever in literature (on-line or otherwise) available to you that the upgrade did NOT include the inter-island flights?

If it wasn't then I can see the possibility of false advertising or misrepresentation.

However, if this information was made available then I think you have less of a case for asking that fully HALF of what you paid be refunded since, to me, upgrades to some much sorter inter-island flights are not the same as upgrades to two mainland-to-Hawaii flights..but that's just me.

Was he given the opportunity to pick seats on those inter-island flights BTW?

Ct, first of all I'm sorry your grandfather was disappointed. They should indeed have been clearer about what exactly he bought.

By the way, this is the Europe forum, you might find more readers interested in this problem if you posted about it on the United States forum.

That said,, as Dukey implies, regarding value added and compensation due, the math is a bit more complicated.

You haven't said from where your grandfather was flying or how many interisland flights he took, but assuming he came from the Eastern part of NA and took 3 or 4 interisland flights, then the cost of the interisland flights together would be only about 20 to 30 per cent of the total cost of the air portion, and that's if one is flying economy all the way. If flying first class for the major leg, the interisland percentage would be less, perhaps only about 10 per cent or so.

In addition, he did get some kind of air passage between the islands, so he did get something of value for that 10 per cent of the air portion. Also, since each of those interisland flights are usually only 30 minutes long the absence of first class meal service, etc. wouldn't have made itself felt as there isn't time to serve more than a drink and a snack.

I'm sorry about the seating arrangement problem, but on the other hand that's a hard one for Perillo to guarantee since they don't run the airlines involved. Next time if the air portion is really important, book it direct with the airlines involved as they will generally spell out to you exactly the type of service and seating available on each leg.

The reason this may be pertinent to the Europe board - subtopic Italy - is that Perillo offers tours to both Hawaii and Italy.

well, inter-island flights in Hawaii don't take that much time, and they probably don't even have first class seats on those type of flights. They don't on many of those flights, like on Aloha Air. Besides for that, the inter-island flights wouldn't even cost as much as you asking for the whole flight, let alone just for an upgrade. A flight from Maui to Honolulu is only about a half hour.

From the complaint, no one ever promised him first class seats on interisland flights, nor did he even ask about it. He was just told he bought the top package, which he probably did.

What's the big deal about seats on some short inter-island flights that this is something to even think about long after. I think your demands are very out-of-line (no, you didn't get "half" of what you paid for, as the main flight to Hawaii ould cost a lot more than those inter-island flights), and that it doesn't have anything to do with your subject heading. I think the first class upgrade would only be important on the long flight to/from Hawaii anyway. I can't believe you are all getting so bent out of shape over such a trivial thing.

Actually, interisland flights do have First Class seats on some flights.