“Patil Ashok ….you cannot fly today”. This was what told to me by the Thai Airways manager at Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea. And this freaked me out and made me fear of loosing 450$ for a return ticket on my way back to India from South Korea.
After a long gap from my previous trip I had to go to Korea on an onsite duty for one month. One month at onsite was hectic but satisfying, as I got to learn many new things. The ways things worked earlier had changed and liked the stay this time. May be because I knew from the beginning that this was to be a short trip of one month. When my return date arrived work was cool and when it was 3 more days to return we got news that the Bangkok airport was under siege by some protestors. It was a protest by a group against the running government. As my Thai flight was to go via Bangkok we had to make sure that we do some alternate arrangements....if the same situation was to continue. On 28th Nov, a day before my journey, it was confirmed that Bangkok airport will be still closed. We arranged for a different flight through our travel desk. Now the airlines were changed to Malaysian airlines from the earlier Thai. Malaysian air route was Seoul-Hong Kong-Kualalampur-Bangalore….touching 4 countries South Korea-China-Malaysia-India. We got the e-tickets and we packed up and got ready for the return journey.
Two of my friends were flying with me. On the day of journey it was raining heavily when we started from our room...but some how we reached the bus stand and got into the airport bus. All was going smooth until we reached the check-in counters in the airport. As a frequent traveler to Korea on Thai airways we by mistake went to Thai counter. Later realizing that it is Malaysian air this time we moved to Malaysian Counter....which was very far from Thai. Then we stood in a long queue to check-in our baggage. I was the first to go for check-in, but the officials did not find my ticket details in their entry. They told me that you have cancelled the Thai ticket and booked Malaysian ...but Thai has not yet released your ticket. I thought that this would have happened with all three of us. But other guy had a check-in weight problem and he got busy into paying for extra weight. I thought, rather than waiting for others I’ll check with Thai and release the ticket.
I ran from Malaysian counter to Thai…..which may be half a kilometer away. When I enquired at Thai counter, they said they still have my ticket and can help me arrange an alternate flight to Bangalore in Cathay Pacific (CP). I asked them to confirm and they said yes. So I ran back to Malaysian counter to inform my friends about this and collect my baggage. But when I went there I came to know from my friend that they too did not have their entry in Malaysian airways. So the other friend had come to Thai counter to check the situation. I told my friend that Thai people have booked me ticket in CP so I will be there ....if you people too don’t find any option come back to Thai counter.
I went back to Thai counter and finished the formalities of arranging for a ticket on CP. But the flight was at 3:30PM....4:30 hrs late compared to Malaysian air flight. I thought something is better than nothing and started waiting till the CP check-in counter opens. But then I realized that I had left one baggage with my other two friends. I asked one Indian who also was in same situation to look after my baggage and went to Malaysian counter. On my way I met my friend who was coming to find me. He said that now Malaysian air has received the released ticket and we can check-in our baggage. I did not know what to do now....I was tired running around and sat on the floor to calm down and think. Now there was hardly 10 mins for the Malaysian air to take-off.
If I choose Malaysian I should run back to Thai counter ...cancel the CP tickets that Thai people arranged and come back with my baggage to Malaysian counter....check-in and go through immigration. Then I had to take a subway to the terminal where my flight was. All this would at least need 30-35 mins and flights usually don’t wait for such a long time for 1 passenger. Malaysian officer asked me one question as I sat on the floor. CP or Malaysian? I was tired, hungry (forgot to have breakfast) in all this hurry. I said CP with a thumbs up and wished my friends happy journey and returned with my left over bag to Thai counter.
I thought CP would be a different experience and above that I will get a transit time of 3 hrs in Hong Kong (HK) airport. This is the world’s best airport and shopping was good here as I heard from some of my friends. We had to wait till 12:30 for checking in our baggage with CP. When the time arrived we went to check-in our baggage. Boarding pass from Seoul to HK was issued....but for our bad luck tickets from HK to Bangalore was not available. CP people asked us to wait as they cannot do anything and the tickets were booked on behalf of Thai. Thai people were called in and they tried to book the HK-Bangalore tickets.
They tried for a long time and by this time many more people had joined with the same situation. 3:30pm was take-off time. Now it was already 2:00 PM and still no signs of our tickets getting confirmed. Now I started arguing that on what basis they confirmed my CP tickets without even checking with CP people. There was no answer and we came to know that it was a mistake of some trainees at Thai counter. I was now repenting my decision of opting for CP and thought I would have gone via Malaysian some how. I had no other option of waiting. The Thai manager took up the issue and took around 12 peoples name in a list including me to confirm the tickets. After 30 mins he returned with a positive looking face and said the problem is solved. Everyone cheered upon hearing this.
Then out of no where I heard my name announced "Patil Ashok". The Thai manager was calling me and when I went he said you were given a chance to fly on Malaysian air but you did not go... so today we have less seats left on CP so you cannot fly today you make some other arrangement. I was shocked upon hearing this and embarrassed. I can’t ask our travel desk to arrange for another ticket as my friends had flew and I did not. They will ask me why? Also there was no mistake from my side and I did what seemed obvious to me. I thought I might have to pay for ticket for another flight from my pocket which was around 450$. I was helpless now and started thinking of further plans. Then I tried to request the Thai manager to some how find another seat....but he was adamant and refused to even listen to my request. I was totally drained with the tension I was going through.
Then thought of calling my manager in Korea and explain the situation. But did not know how to contact him.....Calling Indian travel desk would not yield any immediate solution and above that it was Saturday. Then finally I thought of giving a last try to request the Thai manager again. I just went near him and said SIR.....I donno whether my voice was like of helpless man or something else....he looked at me in his busy schedule and asked what ? I said you are the only person who can help me now. He gave a hard look for few seconds and said give me your passport and made a call to someone and talking in Korean he was looking positive to me. He hung up the phone and gave my passport to the ticket booking officer and turned to me and said ok we are booking the tickets for you. It was the happiest moment for me that day and I thanked him a lot.
We were 12 Indians totally who were in this situation, but mine was worst. He asked us to make up a team and all travel together till India as we all had no individual ticket except a printed paper with all our names and flight information. By this time it was 3:00 PM....just 30 more minutes for CP flight to take-off. We all 12 made a team and started our journey on schedule. The journey was pleasant and got to see HK airport for 2 hrs. I reached India at 3 AM ....almost 4 hours later than the Malaysian air.
I don’t know who was to blame for this situation. Everything seemed to be ok but I went through this torture for almost 5 hours. But finally I made it. A really bad experience that brought out my mental limits to test. I guess I passed it by keeping calm even though I was nervous and tensed initially. Ufff what an experience. I made a couple of friends in the team of 12 ...and I think we were ready to take up cricket match against anyone with an extra player included :-)
After a long gap from my previous trip I had to go to Korea on an onsite duty for one month. One month at onsite was hectic but satisfying, as I got to learn many new things. The ways things worked earlier had changed and liked the stay this time. May be because I knew from the beginning that this was to be a short trip of one month. When my return date arrived work was cool and when it was 3 more days to return we got news that the Bangkok airport was under siege by some protestors. It was a protest by a group against the running government. As my Thai flight was to go via Bangkok we had to make sure that we do some alternate arrangements....if the same situation was to continue. On 28th Nov, a day before my journey, it was confirmed that Bangkok airport will be still closed. We arranged for a different flight through our travel desk. Now the airlines were changed to Malaysian airlines from the earlier Thai. Malaysian air route was Seoul-Hong Kong-Kualalampur-Bangalore….touching 4 countries South Korea-China-Malaysia-India. We got the e-tickets and we packed up and got ready for the return journey.
Two of my friends were flying with me. On the day of journey it was raining heavily when we started from our room...but some how we reached the bus stand and got into the airport bus. All was going smooth until we reached the check-in counters in the airport. As a frequent traveler to Korea on Thai airways we by mistake went to Thai counter. Later realizing that it is Malaysian air this time we moved to Malaysian Counter....which was very far from Thai. Then we stood in a long queue to check-in our baggage. I was the first to go for check-in, but the officials did not find my ticket details in their entry. They told me that you have cancelled the Thai ticket and booked Malaysian ...but Thai has not yet released your ticket. I thought that this would have happened with all three of us. But other guy had a check-in weight problem and he got busy into paying for extra weight. I thought, rather than waiting for others I’ll check with Thai and release the ticket.
I ran from Malaysian counter to Thai…..which may be half a kilometer away. When I enquired at Thai counter, they said they still have my ticket and can help me arrange an alternate flight to Bangalore in Cathay Pacific (CP). I asked them to confirm and they said yes. So I ran back to Malaysian counter to inform my friends about this and collect my baggage. But when I went there I came to know from my friend that they too did not have their entry in Malaysian airways. So the other friend had come to Thai counter to check the situation. I told my friend that Thai people have booked me ticket in CP so I will be there ....if you people too don’t find any option come back to Thai counter.
I went back to Thai counter and finished the formalities of arranging for a ticket on CP. But the flight was at 3:30PM....4:30 hrs late compared to Malaysian air flight. I thought something is better than nothing and started waiting till the CP check-in counter opens. But then I realized that I had left one baggage with my other two friends. I asked one Indian who also was in same situation to look after my baggage and went to Malaysian counter. On my way I met my friend who was coming to find me. He said that now Malaysian air has received the released ticket and we can check-in our baggage. I did not know what to do now....I was tired running around and sat on the floor to calm down and think. Now there was hardly 10 mins for the Malaysian air to take-off.
If I choose Malaysian I should run back to Thai counter ...cancel the CP tickets that Thai people arranged and come back with my baggage to Malaysian counter....check-in and go through immigration. Then I had to take a subway to the terminal where my flight was. All this would at least need 30-35 mins and flights usually don’t wait for such a long time for 1 passenger. Malaysian officer asked me one question as I sat on the floor. CP or Malaysian? I was tired, hungry (forgot to have breakfast) in all this hurry. I said CP with a thumbs up and wished my friends happy journey and returned with my left over bag to Thai counter.
I thought CP would be a different experience and above that I will get a transit time of 3 hrs in Hong Kong (HK) airport. This is the world’s best airport and shopping was good here as I heard from some of my friends. We had to wait till 12:30 for checking in our baggage with CP. When the time arrived we went to check-in our baggage. Boarding pass from Seoul to HK was issued....but for our bad luck tickets from HK to Bangalore was not available. CP people asked us to wait as they cannot do anything and the tickets were booked on behalf of Thai. Thai people were called in and they tried to book the HK-Bangalore tickets.
They tried for a long time and by this time many more people had joined with the same situation. 3:30pm was take-off time. Now it was already 2:00 PM and still no signs of our tickets getting confirmed. Now I started arguing that on what basis they confirmed my CP tickets without even checking with CP people. There was no answer and we came to know that it was a mistake of some trainees at Thai counter. I was now repenting my decision of opting for CP and thought I would have gone via Malaysian some how. I had no other option of waiting. The Thai manager took up the issue and took around 12 peoples name in a list including me to confirm the tickets. After 30 mins he returned with a positive looking face and said the problem is solved. Everyone cheered upon hearing this.
Then out of no where I heard my name announced "Patil Ashok". The Thai manager was calling me and when I went he said you were given a chance to fly on Malaysian air but you did not go... so today we have less seats left on CP so you cannot fly today you make some other arrangement. I was shocked upon hearing this and embarrassed. I can’t ask our travel desk to arrange for another ticket as my friends had flew and I did not. They will ask me why? Also there was no mistake from my side and I did what seemed obvious to me. I thought I might have to pay for ticket for another flight from my pocket which was around 450$. I was helpless now and started thinking of further plans. Then I tried to request the Thai manager to some how find another seat....but he was adamant and refused to even listen to my request. I was totally drained with the tension I was going through.
Then thought of calling my manager in Korea and explain the situation. But did not know how to contact him.....Calling Indian travel desk would not yield any immediate solution and above that it was Saturday. Then finally I thought of giving a last try to request the Thai manager again. I just went near him and said SIR.....I donno whether my voice was like of helpless man or something else....he looked at me in his busy schedule and asked what ? I said you are the only person who can help me now. He gave a hard look for few seconds and said give me your passport and made a call to someone and talking in Korean he was looking positive to me. He hung up the phone and gave my passport to the ticket booking officer and turned to me and said ok we are booking the tickets for you. It was the happiest moment for me that day and I thanked him a lot.
We were 12 Indians totally who were in this situation, but mine was worst. He asked us to make up a team and all travel together till India as we all had no individual ticket except a printed paper with all our names and flight information. By this time it was 3:00 PM....just 30 more minutes for CP flight to take-off. We all 12 made a team and started our journey on schedule. The journey was pleasant and got to see HK airport for 2 hrs. I reached India at 3 AM ....almost 4 hours later than the Malaysian air.
I don’t know who was to blame for this situation. Everything seemed to be ok but I went through this torture for almost 5 hours. But finally I made it. A really bad experience that brought out my mental limits to test. I guess I passed it by keeping calm even though I was nervous and tensed initially. Ufff what an experience. I made a couple of friends in the team of 12 ...and I think we were ready to take up cricket match against anyone with an extra player included :-)
3 comments:
Ashok, ಏನಿದು, "Cathay Pacific" ಬದಲು "ಪ್ಯಾಸಿಫಿಕ್ ಕಥೆ" ಆಗಿದೆ. ಬೆಳಿಗ್ಗೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ Message ನೋಡಿದಾಗಲೆ ಅನ್ನಿಸಿತ್ತು, ಇವತ್ತು ನಿಮ್ಮ blog ನಲ್ಲಿ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಅನುಭವದ ಲೇಖನ ಬರುತ್ತೆ ಅಂತ.
ಒಬ್ಬೊಬ್ಬರೆ ಇದ್ದರೆ ಕಷ್ಟ. ನಮ್ಮವರಿಗೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ class ತಗೊಬೇಕು ನೋಡಿ. ನಮಗೂ "Cathay Pacific" book ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಆದರೆ Thai Office ಗೆ ಹೋಗೊಕ್ಕೆ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದಾರೆ, ticket collect ಮಾಡೊಕ್ಕೆ.
ಹೌದು ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಅನುಭವ ......ನಮ್ಮಿಗು ಹೇಳಿದ್ರಂತೆ Thai counter ಹೋಗೋಕೆ, ಆದ್ರೆ ಈ-ಮೇಲ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲೂ ಕಾಣಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಹೋಗ್ಲಿ ಬಿಡಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಸುಖಕರ ವಾಗಲಿ ಅಂಥ ಆಶಿಸುವೆ
ketta anubhava olle lekhana ;-) but u got some friends thats the good thing
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