Saturday, July 18, 2009

Problem Encountered..


This is how our day went which started typical of any traveler(s) making sure we have everything for our trip - We do errands to pick up last minute shopping items to bring home; lunch at Aparicio's (wife's current brunch favorite) and back home to finish packing up and wait till we head to the airport. We decide to have dinner at around 7PM so we can be at the airport no later than 8:45. Our itenerary had us scheduled for our first leg tonight from Dallas to San Francisco through American Airlines and connect via Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and Manila.

First problem: During check-in at the American Airlines counter, the agent first asked me when we were due back to which I stated we were flying back Aug. 12th. He then asked about visas because we were going to be out for 22 days, not 21 days which was the max to not have one. I looked at Kelly and saw the dismay and disappointment for our missing an important requirement.

Second problem: All this time while we were talking to the agent, he looked at his computer and said aloud, "what just happened?" He said that our tickets suddenly changed status to 'No-Go'. We asked what that meant and he explained that the reservations would not allow him to issue us our boarding passes. He said he cannot explain what caused the status change and he cannot fix it because it was a Cathay Pacific ticket. He dials the Cathay Pacific 1-800 number a couple of times to no avail. He calls the Los Angeles ticket counter with the same result. He apologized in the end about his inability to correct the problem. He added that if the tickets were issued by American and not Cathay, he would been able to do something - but at this point is powerless to do anything.

He then suggested we continue contacting Cathay Pacific through the weekend and tell them about our situation. He added that since we'll be delayed a day or so, if we keep our return dates, that certainly fixes the '21-day problem'.

I called my parents to inform them of our delay. Both were understanding and said for me to relax and make calls (ask and push for upgrades for the inconvenience and delay caused) but not to worry since they will be there when we get there.
- So we wait and keep calling Cathay... 'hello? anybody there?'...

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