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July 1st
We are ready to go, dropped the car to Julie and the guy at the check-in counter was nice, he waived the overweight bags, so we only had to pay for the extra bag. Way to go Air Canada guy!!!!. We stopped for one last Tim’s with the family before boarding and then we headed off to the security check-in. The custom guy was laughing at Brandi and I because it seemed as if all of our family was there (Mom, Dad, Travien, Meneka, Nirosh, Ryan, Heshan and Noky). He told me that he was gonna search me a little longer to make them nervous. What a joker. We had one last meal in Toronto Burgers and fries……mmmmm my favourite.
In Vancouver we had to clear US customs because we are stopping in Hawaii for 45 mins. This meant that we had to pick-up our luggage carry it 200 feet and put it on the conveyor belt our self….WEIRD Americans and their security procedures. Didn’t the bags get scanned and we never touched them since. Boarded the plane….man it was the old type of plane that has not been refurbished…no socket for the lap top….no Heroes marathon. BOOOOOOOO! Brandi can’t even see the screen cause it is so far away so I watched Meet the Robinsons by myself.
We have been traveling for at least 12 hours and have landed in Honolulu for refuelling, it was supposed to be a 45 min stop. We boarded the plane again and waited at least 45 mins on the tarmac. We were told that there was a light that flashing and we pulled back to the terminal. We sat in the plane at the terminal for another 2 hours while they changed a component. As we sat in Hawaii for 3 hours on the plane, you would think that Air Canada would give us something to eat and drink…….well we got a ½ cup of water…mmmmm. No wonder people think that Air Canada is a piece of crap. I can honestly say that I am disappointed with Air Canada service. We were disembarked from the plane, but are not told what will be happening afterwards.
So after 1 ½ hrs we have been informed that the flight is now cancelled and we are now waiting in the terminal, trying to figure out what we need to do. We defiantly will not make our connection and we have no clue when we will be airborne again. We will need to contact the University and let them know….we should call our parents...it is 9 am on July 2nd in Toronto and 10:50pm on the 2nd in Brisbane. But I have no clue what time it is in Honolulu. They haven’t told us. I know that I am hungry, tired and cranky.
July 2nd … I think
Air Canada herded us onto busses at 11am. Brandi and I chose not to sleep our night in Hawaii as we got to our room at 5am and we were afraid we would not wake up. Instead we chose to walk on the beach. It was beautiful; we missed the sunrise because our beach was facing the other way. I think we each have slept about 2-3 hours since we woke up on the 1st. But at least we can say that I have been in the ocean in Hawaii😊
It is now 2:10pm in Honolulu and Air Canada screwed up again…..We were supposed to board the plane but we are told that the plane is still not ready and will be delayed at least one hour. Air Canada gave us each a $10 food voucher for our hotel, the minimum meal was $8 for a bowl of oatmeal if I wanted fruit it would be $4 more and coffee was $3. We have not been fed since breakfast at 8am. We do not know what will happen in Sydney and our connection to Brisbane. I have tried to be optimistic about our situation, but I am beginning to get PISSED. Brandi is trying hard to calm me down….but after so many hours of being hungry….tired,…and spending $25 (the pay phones eat money, on the phone cards) in calling cards to call the hotel, the university I am PISSED.
4pm: Air Canada Flight 133 is cancelled. What are we supposed to do? When will we fly out? We don’t know! I called the hotel in Brisbane and they told us that if we do not arrive tomorrow they will give our room to someone else but they still charged us for the missed night! I think we should have slept last night…cause I am so tired and angry. Brandi looks exasperated and afraid that I will totally lose it and get chased down by airport security…lol.
I spoke to the customer service agent Kris, she is having a bad day. 300 passenger stranded and she doesn’t have any answers. She is waiting for her supervisor Jeff. Jeff takes the barrage of heated question from many of the passengers including me, but he doesn’t have answers either. This doesn’t help my mood. Finally we are told that the buses have been arranged for us to take us to the hotel. 99% of the passengers have left to pick up their baggage. Not me!! I need to know right away when we can go to Brisbane so we still have a place to stay. I am not going to allow us to be homeless. And all the frustration that I have felt since we arrived in Hawaii is laid onto Jeff, including our impending homelessness.
Jeff told me that his boss will be coming down to the baggage area and that he would tell him of our situation and for us to wait at the baggage claim for him. We waited and Kris took sympathy on us. She treated us so well. We were given a taxi voucher and she assured us that we would be taken care of. The GM for Air Canada in Hawaii came (Rod); he already knew of our situation and made a quick call to see what options we had. Within 2 minutes he said we would be able to fly out the next day with Air Pacific through Christmas Island and then to Fiji catch a connection straight to Brisbane. We would be arriving around 11 pm on the 4th , thus we would be able to keep our temp accommodations. Yipee!!!
We followed Rod upstairs to the Air Canada counter and they did what they needed too to get us on the flight. There is a small hitch in the plans, Air Pacific baggage limit is less than Air Canada and we would need to pay $400 US to get our bags to Brisbane. SHIT!! At this point we don’t care and we accept this. We were assured that we should be able to get the money back through Air Canada claims. I have to say that the Air Canada customer Service staff in Hawaii is amazing. They really showed that they cared, they were super friendly and they helped us out. They faxed our new flight details to QUT, so that they can send someone to pick us up. Kris was absolutely amazing and I hope that she gets the recognition that she deserves. Because of her, I would fly with Air Canada again and I swore earlier that that day I would tell everyone that it is better to pay more for a flight rather than fly with Air Canada. Thank you Kris!!
At this point we made some Aussie friends. Melissa & Dion, they are from Adelaide and spent the time at the Air Canada counter with us. They were trying to get home after having a long vacation travelling trough out BC and the States. They had finished earlier than us but chose to wait. We talked and made an instant connection. We left the airport around 6:30pm made dinner plans with them for 8 pm. They offered to house us if we should decide to visit Adelaide. I believe that Brandi and I will, she races cars and offered to take me for a ride. That sealed the deal lol.
July 3rd - 4th
After dinner we finally got some sleep. I think we were up for 30-40 hours, I really can’t remember. We left the Hotel at 8:30 am for the airport, our plane departs at 12:00 pm. Checked in our luggage cost us $360 US, Air Canada better pay us back!! Air Pacific flight was great. The food was amazing. We had a delay in Christmas Island, due to a emergency medical evacuation that was being sent to Australia via our plane, but the staff kept us hydrated and informed. The rest of the flight was a breeze. We arrived in Brisbane on July 4th around 11pm and got our pick-up from the University. Checked in and slept.
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Alicia
non-member comment
holy shit that was a long update!!! good to know u guys are ok!!!!