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Published: April 20th 2015
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Air Force One Taking Off from Charlotte...
after President Obama couldn't help me with my messed up bookings. I was originally going to title this blog as “The best laid plans of mice and men – Part 3” as the first two blogs of with that title,
The best laid plans of mice and men - arrival in Shanghai and
Best Laid Plans - Part II, dealt with plans gone airy. However, those blogs dealt with making connections with family at our final destination who were arriving on different flights from different places. Furthermore, I cannot state that my plans for this trip were “best laid” as my itinerary involved multiple transfers from Colorado Springs to Dallas Fort Worth to Charlotte to London Heathrow with bus transfer to London Gatwick and finally to Dubrovnik. The return flights also involved five transfers. The more transfers the more probability of something going wrong; e.g., missed connections, missing luggage, etc. Such is the downside of using frequent flyer miles.
The more apropos title would have to be the one chosen, although a twist
Did I jinx American Airlines?, as both involved American Airline, but in this case with them messing me up in return for me having possibly jinxed them.
April 15, 2015 Wednesday. The problems started the moment I checked in for the first flight. I was informed by the ticketing agent that they had
To get to Customs and Immigration in Helsinki...
one must pass through (not by) the duty free shop...pick an aisle! been trying to reach me to tell me that the British Airways flight from Gatwick to Dubrovnik had been discontinued The agent told me that this notification had been sent to me email address @aaol.com, whereas my email is @aol.com. Apparently, American Airlines personnel are used to typing aa automatically and thus using an incorrect address. Anyway, the agent spent about 45 minutes arranging an alternate route, from London Heathrow to Helsinki, Finland where I would overnight and catch an early flight to Dubrovnik. Thus I would have to spend $175 extra for a hotel room at the Helsinki airport (and still pay for the nonrefundable room in Dubrovnik) and arrive 18 hours later. This really limited my time in Dubrovnik. I’m hoping that American Airlines will reimburse me for the hotel rooms, or at least give me a lot of frequent flyer miles. We’ll see.
So I caught the flight to Dallas and barely made the connection there to Charlotte. There I got only line to reserve a room in Helsinki and advise the accommodations and rental car company in Dubrovnik that I would arrive a day later. President Obama flew into Charlotte, I thought to
Helsinki Airport Hilton...
where I am staying way too often! help out but he left without solving my problems. I guess the rainy day messed up his golfing plans.
The flight to Heathrow and then to Helsinki were uneventful. However, I was physically and mentally exhausted, having not slept the night before leaving or the night on the plan. I checked into the Helsinki Airport Hilton, ready to crash. However, there was another glitch. They had no record of me having made a reservation while I was at the Charlotte airport. They did have rooms so gave me one. Before going to the room I checked my email again and found the reservation in my spam file. I triumphantly showed it to the desk clerk, who then pointed out that the reservation, was for July 16, 2015…not April 16, 2015. Lesson #2846: never make decisions when you are exhausted. I immediately email Travelocity to cancel those reservations which were non-refundable, explaining the circumstances. We’ll see again.
So I was in bed by 6 pm…which with a 9 time zone difference was 9 am at home. So with jet lag I woke up at 8:30 pm, and pretty much stayed awake the rest of the night…three nights in a row without much sleep. I went down for their 6 am breakfast which had everything, and then walked to the airport to buy sleeping pills and antihistamines. Lesson #2847: always bring every conceivable medication with you.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Major drama!
What an eventful couple of days, and you've not even reached your destination! You've clearly paid your dues, so hopefully the rest of your journey will pass smoothly. Best wishes!