May 23 (On the Way) - Air Travel is NO FUN!
I am now on my way to Texas...but have officially come to the conclusion that airlines (and Air Canada in particular) have made flying a whole lotta hassle and stress.
Problem #1
My flight was originally scheduled to fly out of Medicine Hat. It turned out that Heather had a doctor's appointment in Calgary on the 22nd, which we both wanted to be at....and so I drove her up to Calgary.
She has another test on the 23rd, and we decided that our best course of action was to stay overnight in Calgary, I would leave from here, and she would take the truck back to Medicine Hat after her test in the morning.
I called Air Canada and said that I was simply going to catch the plane in Calgary and would not be on the Medicine Hat leg of the flight. No big deal, I was not looking for a refund of any portion of the ticket, I just wanted to pick up the journey from Calgary. The A.C. agent informed me that this was not possible. If I missed the flight in M.H., they would cancel the rest of the ticket and I would be out of luck. Further, the nice agent said that in order to do this, it was a really flight change, and that this would cost me $150 plus taxes.
I pointed out that this made no sense! I was still "paying" the same ticket price, and in fact this gave them the opportunity to possibly re-sell an "already paid for seat on the airplane from M.H. to Calgary". They said no that was not how it worked, and that I owed them the $150. I tried to talk to a supervisor, tried to get them to at least credit the $150 towards a future flight...all to no avail.
The second bit of good news was that since I was now using the Calgary airport, there was a $25 plus taxes per passenger airport fee. I was not happy, and now approx. $190 poorer, but it made no sense to try and get back to M.H. on the 22nd so that I could turn around and catch a 5am flight on the 23rd????
Problem #2
I went to web check in last night, and my reservation/ticket could not be found! Somehow Air Canada had charged me $150 and then not even processed the change correctly. After 45 minutes on hold and in conversation with Air Canada, they said the operator of the flight (from Calgary onward) was United Airlines and that I needed to speak with them.
I tried to web check in with them...no luck. I called them.....another 30 minutes listening to hold music and they informed me they needed Air Canada to fix the ticket. They called A.C. (but I had to stay on hold) to get everything worked out.
They finally got everything fixed up, and said to try web check in later on that evening. She said it might not work (it didn't of course) and if that was the case, to check in at the counter the next morning.
Problem #3
With all the issues with my ticket, I was worried that I would also have problems at the United Ticket Counter (I did of course) and so felt I should get to the airport quite early. Fortunately my Dad still agreed to take me to the airport, and we left the house at 5:30am....to catch an 8am flight!
I could not use the self check in kiosks, and had to go to an agent. She had quite a bit of trouble issuing my ticket and I was at the ticket counter for about 25 minutes (with all the other airline passenger's shooting me dirty looks - like it was my issue and that I was stupid and unnecessarily tying up a ticket wicket and delaying their trip.)
Problem #4
She finally got everything straightened up, and then asked me if I paid for my bag? This is a new one on me, and so another $30 plus tax to pay for my ONE luggage bag. (I said that I changed my mind and that my 38 pound large luggage bag was my man purse and that I was going to carry it on...she did not laugh.)
For a change, security and customs went smoothly!!!! (which for me is a bit of an anomaly)....since some would claim I "look" like a terrorist...and as such I always seem to get some form of "special treatment".
Anyway...so here I sit at the gate.....and will be getting on the plane in a few minutes!
Next report will be from the great state of Texas!
Well, landed safe and sound in Austin
...I am staying at the Howard Johnson - Austin North (yikes!!!!!). I am planning on leaving first thing in the morning assuming the bed bugs don't eat me
The good news is that the car that I rented is really quite nice...but the bad news is that I did not take the GPS option. This saved me $13 per day...but unfortunatley I burned about $39 in gas money trying to find the hotel in Austin.....which is not the "little city" I pictured...it is fricken big!
I am now on my way to Texas...but have officially come to the conclusion that airlines (and Air Canada in particular) have made flying a whole lotta hassle and stress.
Problem #1
My flight was originally scheduled to fly out of Medicine Hat. It turned out that Heather had a doctor's appointment in Calgary on the 22nd, which we both wanted to be at....and so I drove her up to Calgary.
She has another test on the 23rd, and we decided that our best course of action was to stay overnight in Calgary, I would leave from here, and she would take the truck back to Medicine Hat after her test in the morning.
I called Air Canada and said that I was simply going to catch the plane in Calgary and would not be on the Medicine Hat leg of the flight. No big deal, I was not looking for a refund of any portion of the ticket, I just wanted to pick up the journey from Calgary. The A.C. agent informed me that this was not possible. If I missed the flight in M.H., they would cancel the rest of the ticket and I would be out of luck. Further, the nice agent said that in order to do this, it was a really flight change, and that this would cost me $150 plus taxes.
I pointed out that this made no sense! I was still "paying" the same ticket price, and in fact this gave them the opportunity to possibly re-sell an "already paid for seat on the airplane from M.H. to Calgary". They said no that was not how it worked, and that I owed them the $150. I tried to talk to a supervisor, tried to get them to at least credit the $150 towards a future flight...all to no avail.
The second bit of good news was that since I was now using the Calgary airport, there was a $25 plus taxes per passenger airport fee. I was not happy, and now approx. $190 poorer, but it made no sense to try and get back to M.H. on the 22nd so that I could turn around and catch a 5am flight on the 23rd????
Problem #2
I went to web check in last night, and my reservation/ticket could not be found! Somehow Air Canada had charged me $150 and then not even processed the change correctly. After 45 minutes on hold and in conversation with Air Canada, they said the operator of the flight (from Calgary onward) was United Airlines and that I needed to speak with them.
I tried to web check in with them...no luck. I called them.....another 30 minutes listening to hold music and they informed me they needed Air Canada to fix the ticket. They called A.C. (but I had to stay on hold) to get everything worked out.
They finally got everything fixed up, and said to try web check in later on that evening. She said it might not work (it didn't of course) and if that was the case, to check in at the counter the next morning.
Problem #3
With all the issues with my ticket, I was worried that I would also have problems at the United Ticket Counter (I did of course) and so felt I should get to the airport quite early. Fortunately my Dad still agreed to take me to the airport, and we left the house at 5:30am....to catch an 8am flight!
I could not use the self check in kiosks, and had to go to an agent. She had quite a bit of trouble issuing my ticket and I was at the ticket counter for about 25 minutes (with all the other airline passenger's shooting me dirty looks - like it was my issue and that I was stupid and unnecessarily tying up a ticket wicket and delaying their trip.)
Problem #4
She finally got everything straightened up, and then asked me if I paid for my bag? This is a new one on me, and so another $30 plus tax to pay for my ONE luggage bag. (I said that I changed my mind and that my 38 pound large luggage bag was my man purse and that I was going to carry it on...she did not laugh.)
For a change, security and customs went smoothly!!!! (which for me is a bit of an anomaly)....since some would claim I "look" like a terrorist...and as such I always seem to get some form of "special treatment".
Anyway...so here I sit at the gate.....and will be getting on the plane in a few minutes!
Next report will be from the great state of Texas!
Well, landed safe and sound in Austin
Austin Airport |
...I am staying at the Howard Johnson - Austin North (yikes!!!!!). I am planning on leaving first thing in the morning assuming the bed bugs don't eat me
No, this was NOT the Taj Mahal...but this was a priceline $65 booking |
The good news is that the car that I rented is really quite nice...but the bad news is that I did not take the GPS option. This saved me $13 per day...but unfortunatley I burned about $39 in gas money trying to find the hotel in Austin.....which is not the "little city" I pictured...it is fricken big!
Normally not a Dodge fan...but the car is quite nice |
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