As they say, ..."the best laid plans"....
Well, in OCTOBER I booked these flights and hotels through a travel agent here in VZ (my current home that I afffectionately call OZ). This morning, I woke up at my hotel in Caracas at 5AM, and rushed to the airport to catch my 9 AM flight. I had a moment of "oh no, what if my flight was canceled or is at a different time"...but told myself I was just being jaded about OZ and plus that wouldn't happen because someone from the travel agency would have contacted me. When I entered the international terminal it was very empty. Each sky cap who asked me where I was going, frowned and said "tonight?" when I told them I was headed to Argentina. I walked end to end in the termincal and found no check in for my airline-TAM. Plus, the "departures" board did not have a single flight leaving to anywhere in Brazil between 6 AM and 3 PM today. OK, NOW I was worried.
Thankfully, in the airport there is an office of the travel agency that I used to book my flights. I went in and they told me that my flight was changed to 8:30 PM (which coincidentally is the time my connection to Salvador leaves from Sao Paulo). I really wanted to cry when they told me I would arrive in Sao Paulo at 4:30 AM and my "new" flight to Salvador would be at 8:30 PM-tomorrow. I did point out that I have had these tickets since OCTOBER and the travel agent has my email, phone number, and is in close contact with my school...and no one bothered to tell me of these changes. After 2 hours in the office and a change on EVERY ONE of my flights-I fly all night tonight and get to Salvador at 10 tomorrow AM. And, I have to leave Salvador at 7 AM Friday instead of 7 PM (I lose a day). The real kicker is that I only have 90 minutes to connect to my flight back to my "home" here in OZ when I get in on Friday night. I can tell right now that the adventure is NOT EVEN CLOSE to over!
So, I am "back" at my hotel until check out at 12. Then I will lurk around the lobby and the restaurant until 5:30 when I head back to the airport-exactly 12 hours after my first trip to the airport today.....I have 25 hours until I arrive in Salvador at this point. WHEW.... So, aren't you glad you are along for this adventure. I sure know how to do it up right!! =) (yikes!)
3 comments:
Stinky! Can't you at least beg the hotel to extend your checkout time... you might be able to get a couple more hours in your room. Hopefully, this will all be worth it when you reach Brazil!
Oooooh, it's to be expected!!! (Sooo frustrating though.) I've spent a few hours lurking around airports and restaurants, too... but it'll all still be worth it! Can't wait to hear more, Argentina is quickly moving up my list of places to get to soon. Hope you brought along a good, long book!
Terry-the restaurant and lobby were pretty comfy after check out at noon. Kati-Read 78% of Gone with the Wind these past two days to finish it. Thank goodness for Kindles...=)
Post a Comment