Travel expert lauds Las Vegas for service

Thursday, May 12, 2005 | 10:51 a.m.

Travel expert Peter Greenberg figures the airline industry could learn a thing or two about keeping the customer satisfied by coming to Las Vegas.

Greenberg, travel editor for NBC's "Today" show, told a crowd of about 600 people attending a special centennial celebration and tourism luncheon Wednesday about how United Airlines got on his bad side with a simple customer service gaffe.

Greenberg, who also is the author of "The Travel Detective," a book exposing secrets of the airline and hospitality industries, said he was a first-class passenger on a United flight and asked for a second bag of peanuts to go with the soft drink he had been served.

"I was told that the policy was to serve one bag per customer," Greenberg said.

"There probably was an accountant somewhere at United that was orgasmic about saving 6 cents for a bag of peanuts," he said. "But to do that, they lost a $3,000 first-class customer."

United apparently learned the error of its ways. After Greenberg complained, he said a crate containing thousands of bags of peanuts was delivered to his office by United.

"The point is we want value, but we also want the human contact," Greenberg said.

And that's where Las Vegas delivers on the promises of its marketing campaigns, he said.

Las Vegas, he said, is one of the few places he's visited that delivers on the "Field of Dreams" promise of "if you build it, they will come." Greenberg said the city's "what happens here, stays here" tagline amuses him because the advertisements created for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority are funny, although not necessarily true.

"After all, what happens in Vegas doesn't actually stay in Vegas, because people are telling their friends about what they did here and how they had such a good time," he said. "That's why I like that campaign. I also like David Spade telling everybody no (an ad campaign for Capital One)."

Greenberg encouraged industry professionals attending the lunch sponsored by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the LVCVA to hold the airlines that serve the local market to their commitments to fly here.

The lunch, at the Las Vegas Hilton, had a centennial theme and included entertainment by Clint Holmes, Forever Plaid and Elvis impersonator Jesse Garon.