Need help? Travel industry gets more responsive

Christine Singler couldn't wait for help.

She was flying from Windsor, Ontario, to Warsaw in a day, and feared Air Canada might turn her away at the airport.

The reason? Her name was misspelled on her ticket – "Singer" instead of "Singler."

After hours on the phone with her travel agent, she'd been promised a correction, but the airline still listed her as "Singer." The clock was ticking.

These real-time crises are all too common in travel, especially now, when inexperienced tourists hit the road. We can't all be travel experts. In fact, we shouldn't have to be experts – the system should be fair and easy to use.

But it's not. If Singler didn't fix her name, she might have to pay for a new ticket or otherwise get left behind.

In an age of emails and straight-to-voicemail "help" numbers, getting real-time assistance seems harder than ever. Travel companies are trying to fix that in ways you might not expect, from new apps to innovative services. Knowing where to get fast help may spell the difference between a memorable summer vacation and one you'd sooner forget.

I helped Singler find the phone number of a manager at her travel agency, and followed up with the company to make sure she received the help she needed. The agency fixed her name, and she flew the next day without incident.

"My trip was amazing," she says. "We went to a wedding and met a lot of family in Poland that I would have missed had I not made it on the plane."

Having a good travel advisor is an excellent way of getting fast help, of course. But let's face it, most Americans will drive, not fly, to their summer destinations. Turns out there's an app for that, too, as Aaron Myers, a management consultant from Falls Church, Va., recently found out.

The problem that led to his discovery: a dead battery on his wife's car. A friend had told him about a new app called Urgent.ly, which bills itself as Uber for roadside assistance.

"From the time I downloaded the app to the time that the tow truck jumped our car, it took just 10 minutes," he remembers. "I couldn't believe how quick the service was."

And the price was right – about two-thirds the rate of calling a regular tow truck, and less than an annual AAA membership, he says.

Sometimes, real-time help can come from an unexpected place, like a random hotel's Twitter account. That's what Susan Liberatore, a sales manager from Toronto, discovered on a recent visit to Salt Lake City.

"Traveling to Salt Lake City bright + early tomorrow morning," she tweeted. "Any absolute must sees?"

Hilton's help account, called @HiltonSuggests, responded promptly, pointing her to the nearest Nordstrom department store and suggesting two "must-see" activities in Utah's capital. "Both great recommendations, and delivered in a friendly – not computer-generated and vague – way," Liberatore says.

Why would Hilton "suggest" anything, let alone to someone who isn't a guest? Goodwill and a positive brand impression, two precious commodities in the travel industry. Hilton Suggests uses a platform called Lithium LSW Experts to funnel questions to one of its local concierges. And with a friendly tip from a knowledgeable local, where do you think travelers like Liberatore will make their next hotel reservation?

The growth of these services that help travelers in real time suggests that travel companies are starting to appreciate the importance of good timing. Only a few years ago, companies routinely made you wait in long phone queues, even longer lines or tested your patience with form emails sent to you weeks after a personal note asking for help.

The most forward-looking hotels, airlines and roadside-assistance companies know that's so old school. And now, so do you.

Don't wait – there's an app for that

• Where's the closest bus stop? Moovit (moovitapp.com) is a crowdsourced mobile transit app that helps you find nearby train and bus stations and determines the quickest route to your destination. It'll also help when you board the wrong train (which I've done a time or two). It covers 600 cities worldwide.

• I need a good mechanic. That's the idea behind Openbay (openbay.com), an app that bills itself as an online marketplace for car repair and maintenance. You post the problem; it gathers real quotes from local mechanics. And it has a cool, new feature: the ability to diagnose your mechanical problem remotely, in real time.

• How do I find a good travel agent? You can find a travel agent through the American Society of Travel Agents' site (asta.org/travelagent.cfm). A new app called Native (nativeapp.com) will also connect you with a live travel agent to help book, manage and, if necessary, troubleshoot your trip.

Christopher Elliott is a consumer advocate and editor at large for National Geographic Traveler. Contact him at chris@elliott.org or visit elliott.org.