There are some people who are DIYers when it comes to air travel. They love to look for the best bargain via cash or miles, to find and use the best apps to get up-to-the-second updates, and the challenge of figuring out another way to get to their destination if their flight plans somehow go haywire (I have just described my husband to a T, by the way). (Joe – True! I was reading and thinking “she’s describing me.”)
Other people are not like that. They may not have the time, know-how or motivation to figure all that out and they’d just as soon pay someone to do it for them, as needed.
I think I’ve found a website for them…
Cranky Concierge offers unique air travel assistance. If you need flight monitoring or planning, or want to fly with miles, or need assistance “right now,” they’ve got you covered, with à la carte pricing that varies with what you need/want.
From crankyconcierge.com
Here are the details of what they offer:
- Flight Monitoring – If you already have your flight(s) and want someone to monitor its/their status, so they can inform you (and your loved ones) if things change, help you if things go wrong. Prices are $10 per person, per direction for domestic flights and $25 per person, per direction for international flights.
- Flight Planning – Someone to help you plan, book and monitor your flights, as well as everything available in their Flight Monitoring service. Prices are $20 per person, per direction for domestic flights and $35 per person, per direction for international flights.
- Award Travel – If you have a bunch of points and miles and need help using them to get the flights that will work best for you. This level of service also includes everything available in their Flight Monitoring service. Prices are $75 per person, per direction for domestic flights and $95 per person, per direction for international flights.
- Urgent Assistance – For when you need help RIGHT NOW because your flight is delayed or canceled, or if you need to book a last-second trip. Service is available 24/7/365. Cost is $100 per person, per direction.
Their services are for individuals but their website also explains why/how they’re good for small businesses when needing to fly multiple employees somewhere.
Are Cranky Concierge’s services/prices worth it?
That’s always so hard to say. The “worth” of just about anything is very individualized and is based on, in this case, time versus money, how much you understand “the system,” etc.
That being said, there are, granted, lots of tools and services already out there that can do what Cranky Concierge does:
- Flight Monitoring can be done by TripIt Pro, FlightAware, Flightview, Flight Tracker, and several other free or paid apps, as well as the free apps for each individual airline.
- Flight Planning usually just takes time, which, granted, some people don’t have a whole lot of. But if you do have the time and patience to search, there are websites out there that can help you look for the cheapest round trip airfare, for free.
- Award Travel is a little more difficult – it depends on what airline(s) you have points and miles with, what class of seats you’re looking for, potentially looking for alliance airlines, etc. If you know and are comfortable with the system, knock your socks off. But otherwise, it might be a good idea to use an award booking service (which is pretty much what Cranky Concierge’s Award Travel service is, as well).
- Urgent Assistance is another one of those things where you could do it yourself if you have the right apps and know-how. Joe wrote about his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad travel day (with a happy ending) last year – the only reason it had a happy ending when his flight to meet me was canceled was because he knew what he was doing and how to get a new flight.
For someone like Joe, Cranky Concierge would be a waste of money because he knows how to do virtually every service they list. For some people though, they may be of an age where they really don’t understand the whole “app” thing. Or they may be awesome at finding their flight if they’re paying with cash but may get a little lost if they’re trying to use points or miles on, let’s say, an alliance airline. Or perhaps their flight home got canceled and they want to get home faster than the 3 days that their airline is offering them. It may be “worth it” to them to pay Cranky Concierge for their services. So, as is often the case, Your Mileage May Vary.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
