Top of the mornin’ from a chaotic and packed to the gills London Heathrow. There are few airports I dislike connecting through more than this one, but I’m not gonna let my very brief time here dim my light.
I’m off to Cairo tonight where I’ll be on assignment covering the Christening of Viking’s new river longship ship, Aton. This marks my fifth Viking cruise, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tinge bit nervous/excited about this upcoming adventure.
I had a less-than-optimal experience traveling in this part of the world many years ago, as one of my best friends very gently reminded me of when I told her why I couldn’t make it to a girl’s trip/reunion this weekend. That’s a story for another time, and even though I know this trip and experience will be different, I still tense up at the thought of that ill-fated journey.
I’m trying to put those thoughts aside for the sake of adventure and pushing your boundaries, both of which I’ve been told are good for you. Plus, when Viking comes a-callin’, you don’t say no.
Travel-wise, it’s been a wild ride this summer for a variety of reasons. I’ve had not one but two interesting tidbits and potential mishaps following airport/airline encounters that I’d like to share not for any other reason than I think these are teachable moments/takeaways that anyone can learn from on their future travel endeavors.
I’ll start with the second thing first because it just happened this morning en route to Charlotte so it’s still fresh. I arrived at the airport at Savannah airport early, like way early, and upon check-in at the American Airlines counter, asked if it would be possible to switch to an earlier flight to Charlotte so I could come and reap the benefits of this wonderfully crowded lounge. The flight was wide open, so they switched my flight and proceeded to print out all of my boarding passes including my connecting flights accordingly. All good right?
So I arrive in Charlotte and take my time walking around, seeing the sights, and stalking the newsstand magazines..as one does. Eventually, I make my way over to the Admiral’s Lounge and on a whim, asked the agent if they could just double-check that my connecting flight tickets were all good because even though I had the printed-out boarding passes in hand, I just had a hunch.
I’m glad I asked. If I had waited five minutes longer the agent told me, my flights would have been cancelled. Apparently, the agent in SVH didn’t update the system to reflect that I had switched to the earlier flight (not sure how that’s possible), and as far as AA was concerned, on their backend, I was still ticketed on my original flight — which obviously I wouldn’t/couldn’t be on because I was already in Charlotte. Had I not asked them to double-check, the whole kit and caboodle would’ve been canceled. So long pyramids. See ya King Tuts tomb and plum AF assignment.
Anyways. Hunch or no hunch, it’s always good to ask. And confirm. And reconfirm just in case. My other wild airline tale this summer happened to be a total fluke. I was connecting on my way home from Italy through Munich and I called United to see if I could switch to an earlier flight home and mere moments after confirming my new seat/flight, my original flight was cancelled. I’m telling you the timing of it all was wild.
I texted my friend and frequent flier Ramsey to let him know my good fortune, and his advice to me was to pay it forward to someone who needed it. So that’s what I did as I passed by the gate of my original flight and helped a group of frustrated passengers get every single credit, penny, and max reimbursement from the airline as possible. Document everything and follow up. And follow up again. Get what you’re owed.
The bottom line is, be bold. Make moves. Change those flights (if you can). And get those refunds if you’re owed them! What travel mishaps have you encountered this summer? HMU I’d love to hear from you!
Back on the Beaufort homefront, there’s been a few exciting developments recently! We rescued the sweetest and sassiest little black pug from Houston Pug Rescue named Foxie, not one, but two INCREDIBLE new restaurants opened in Beaufort called Local’s Only and Okàn in neighboring Bluffton that I’m super excited about, and last but not least, summer is almost over. Hooray! I’m ready for fall and I can taste that first pumpkin spice latte already.
I’ll have a few newly published stories to share and a full recap of Egypt next month when I’ll be back to regular programming.
In the meantime, wishing everyone safe travels, and a happy end to this hot and humid summer.
Cheers!
Michelle