This is something that happened to me this past summer. It was a great lesson learned, a gr,eat motivator for me. I hope it can be for someone else, too.
A warning, this is kinda long...Apologies upfront.
The Vacation
This all started earlier this year, around May-ish. We were a few months into our new business, things were going well. I had some vacation time at my slowlane job i needed to use up and the summer, our businesses slow season, was fast approaching. We thought "Hey! The summer would be a great time to take a vacation!" So, it was decided! Use up that vacay time, would close the business during the week (Sun-Thurs, our slow days) and have a nice vacation, hopefully some where "exotic."
Personally, this would be my first real vacation out of state in years. My wife already had a trip planned to go to New York City with some family. A place she's always wanted to go and her family wanted to go as well. So I figured I'd use this time for a Daddy, Daughter Vacation. Luckily, I have a connection that has a time share that has places all around the world. After much deliberating, we decided on Cancun Mexico in a nice 5-star All-Inclusive hotel! The beach! The Sun! The Drinks!
We buy the plane tickets, book the room and are all set! Super excited to go! A week of relaxation, swimming and good times. Nothing could stop us now!
The first bump
The night before the trip, I went to do the usual pre-check-in. Got online, flight was there and on time. Started entering all of our info and getting our seats, the usual name, reservation number, passport info...
That's when I found out...My daughters passport had expired a mere DAYS earlier! A HUGE over site on my part! (A mistake I will NEVER make again by the way.) Had to think fast, was there any other way?
Then I remembered! My daughter was born over seas and is a dual citizen, she has ANOTHER passport. It is for a different country, but would serve the purpose of getting her in and out of the country (or out then in, in this case).
I had to be sure it would be okay though, so I gave the airline a call and explained my situation. The name in my daughters other passport is her native name in that country, which is different from her American/English name. I explained all this to the airline. The rep said we could use her other passport, but since it's under a different name we would have to cancel her first ticket and re-book it under her other name. BUT! Since it's last minute, we would have to pay the difference in the cost of the plane ticket, an extra $200!
A costly mistake, but one I was GLADLY willing to pay for to save our vacation. Crisis averted. We should be all clear now!
Bump number 2
Our flight was a VERY early one on a Sunday. Had to be up at 4am to make our plane on time. Set my alarm and wake up early.
Huh, that's strange. Got an email from the airline. Maybe they're just letting me know my flight's on-time and we're good to go, a confirmation email.
Or. That our flight has been delayed a few hours. Well that's not too bad, I get to sleep in a few more hours! Be extra rested for the Sun and drinks!
I didn't want to take any kind of chance though. I did some research online, checked the airline's web site, google flight tracker and a few other flight trackers too, just to be sure. Turns out they all say something different. One agreed with the email, a few hours late. One said it's still on time. Another that it'll just be delayed by one hour. And yet another that said it was canceled.
Thoroughly confused, I thought better be safe than sorry, I'll call them directly. So, I called them and spoke with a rep. She said that, Yes, the email was correct and the flight was delayed by a few hours. Still a little concerned about the cancellation I saw, I figured I'd ask. "No, sir. Your flight is not canceled and is only delayed. You will be able to leave today." Cool, Thank you airline rep!
Go back to sleep for a few hours, get up, get ready and head out! We're finally going!
Bumps 3 and 4 (a twofer!)
We finally arrive at the airport! We get all of our luggage out and head inside, feeling the excitement. Airports always make me feel excited.
Checked the flight status, Delayed as expected. Also, the auto check in wasn't working for me, as expected with all the changes I made.
Get in the long line and wait about 20 minutes before we get to the counter. Once we finally get there, the rep promptly says, "Oh, You're flight has been canceled. You'll have to go down stairs and get it rescheduled." Wait, What?
But the flight status...Now says canceled....Okay. Let's head down stairs and see what they say. Maybe there's one for later in the day.
Surprise! There's not one for later in the day. After 20 minutes at the first counter, This line was a lot longer. We spent about 45 minutes waiting to talk to a rescheduling rep. During the time, I had to call the resort to make sure we could check in late, which they said was no problem and they wouldn't even charge us for any days we missed if any.
Once I was able to talk to a rep, they said there was nothing available later that day on any airline to our destination. I even had them check the near by airports, something they're not supposed to do but they were willing to do anyway. Still nothing. The earliest they had wasn't until Tuesday. The day after tomorrow.
To say the least, I was NOT a happy camper. I got a manager involved and explained my situation. All the talks on the phone with different reps, the up-charge the night before. The passport situation.
That's when they stopped me. They had me go over the passport thing again. Took a look at her passport, both American and other. And then informed me, even if the plane was going to leave on time, the passport situation was NOT okay and would NOT have let my daughter on the plane.
She said I needed to get her American passport reinstated. The agency could be open that same day (it wasn't) but could at least go the next day and get one. She assured me I could get one the same day.
So I took the first available flight on Tuesday and headed out. Looks like I get to go to Detroit tomorrow.
I'll break this up a bit. Give you (and me) a break and post the rest either later tonight or tomorrow!
A warning, this is kinda long...Apologies upfront.
The Vacation
This all started earlier this year, around May-ish. We were a few months into our new business, things were going well. I had some vacation time at my slowlane job i needed to use up and the summer, our businesses slow season, was fast approaching. We thought "Hey! The summer would be a great time to take a vacation!" So, it was decided! Use up that vacay time, would close the business during the week (Sun-Thurs, our slow days) and have a nice vacation, hopefully some where "exotic."
Personally, this would be my first real vacation out of state in years. My wife already had a trip planned to go to New York City with some family. A place she's always wanted to go and her family wanted to go as well. So I figured I'd use this time for a Daddy, Daughter Vacation. Luckily, I have a connection that has a time share that has places all around the world. After much deliberating, we decided on Cancun Mexico in a nice 5-star All-Inclusive hotel! The beach! The Sun! The Drinks!
We buy the plane tickets, book the room and are all set! Super excited to go! A week of relaxation, swimming and good times. Nothing could stop us now!
The first bump
The night before the trip, I went to do the usual pre-check-in. Got online, flight was there and on time. Started entering all of our info and getting our seats, the usual name, reservation number, passport info...
That's when I found out...My daughters passport had expired a mere DAYS earlier! A HUGE over site on my part! (A mistake I will NEVER make again by the way.) Had to think fast, was there any other way?
Then I remembered! My daughter was born over seas and is a dual citizen, she has ANOTHER passport. It is for a different country, but would serve the purpose of getting her in and out of the country (or out then in, in this case).
I had to be sure it would be okay though, so I gave the airline a call and explained my situation. The name in my daughters other passport is her native name in that country, which is different from her American/English name. I explained all this to the airline. The rep said we could use her other passport, but since it's under a different name we would have to cancel her first ticket and re-book it under her other name. BUT! Since it's last minute, we would have to pay the difference in the cost of the plane ticket, an extra $200!
A costly mistake, but one I was GLADLY willing to pay for to save our vacation. Crisis averted. We should be all clear now!
Bump number 2
Our flight was a VERY early one on a Sunday. Had to be up at 4am to make our plane on time. Set my alarm and wake up early.
Huh, that's strange. Got an email from the airline. Maybe they're just letting me know my flight's on-time and we're good to go, a confirmation email.
Or. That our flight has been delayed a few hours. Well that's not too bad, I get to sleep in a few more hours! Be extra rested for the Sun and drinks!
I didn't want to take any kind of chance though. I did some research online, checked the airline's web site, google flight tracker and a few other flight trackers too, just to be sure. Turns out they all say something different. One agreed with the email, a few hours late. One said it's still on time. Another that it'll just be delayed by one hour. And yet another that said it was canceled.
Thoroughly confused, I thought better be safe than sorry, I'll call them directly. So, I called them and spoke with a rep. She said that, Yes, the email was correct and the flight was delayed by a few hours. Still a little concerned about the cancellation I saw, I figured I'd ask. "No, sir. Your flight is not canceled and is only delayed. You will be able to leave today." Cool, Thank you airline rep!
Go back to sleep for a few hours, get up, get ready and head out! We're finally going!
Bumps 3 and 4 (a twofer!)
We finally arrive at the airport! We get all of our luggage out and head inside, feeling the excitement. Airports always make me feel excited.
Checked the flight status, Delayed as expected. Also, the auto check in wasn't working for me, as expected with all the changes I made.
Get in the long line and wait about 20 minutes before we get to the counter. Once we finally get there, the rep promptly says, "Oh, You're flight has been canceled. You'll have to go down stairs and get it rescheduled." Wait, What?
But the flight status...Now says canceled....Okay. Let's head down stairs and see what they say. Maybe there's one for later in the day.
Surprise! There's not one for later in the day. After 20 minutes at the first counter, This line was a lot longer. We spent about 45 minutes waiting to talk to a rescheduling rep. During the time, I had to call the resort to make sure we could check in late, which they said was no problem and they wouldn't even charge us for any days we missed if any.
Once I was able to talk to a rep, they said there was nothing available later that day on any airline to our destination. I even had them check the near by airports, something they're not supposed to do but they were willing to do anyway. Still nothing. The earliest they had wasn't until Tuesday. The day after tomorrow.
To say the least, I was NOT a happy camper. I got a manager involved and explained my situation. All the talks on the phone with different reps, the up-charge the night before. The passport situation.
That's when they stopped me. They had me go over the passport thing again. Took a look at her passport, both American and other. And then informed me, even if the plane was going to leave on time, the passport situation was NOT okay and would NOT have let my daughter on the plane.
She said I needed to get her American passport reinstated. The agency could be open that same day (it wasn't) but could at least go the next day and get one. She assured me I could get one the same day.
So I took the first available flight on Tuesday and headed out. Looks like I get to go to Detroit tomorrow.
I'll break this up a bit. Give you (and me) a break and post the rest either later tonight or tomorrow!
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