Lines are fabulous. I’ve lived in India and I’ve lived in Sudan so I have all the more appreciation for lines. Standing on one and making that slow progress, step by step, gives me a feeling of accomplishment. But what is the line threshold for one 24 hour period??!!??
I had 5 hours layover in Paris. I stopped at the Air France counter as soon as I disembarked and verified my connecting reservation. I was told that I have an eticket so simply go to my boarding gate, where a boarding pass would be given to me. I took a slow and scenic route through the airport, eventually making my way through security to the correct gate 3 hours before boarding. I kept enquiring about seeing a Turkish Airlines ticket agent and was continuously reassured that one would soon appear. Eventually, she did about 1.5 hours before boarding. She got on her computer and couldn’t find a reservation for me. She got a colleague to assist and he told me that Lufthansa had canceled my ticket and I had to go to Lufthansa ticketing to resolve the problem. I found my limit for lines and incompetence!! Apparently, 11 lines is the most that I can handle in 24 hours before turning into a line hating, no patience, distraught alter personality.
I found a security person who told me where to go to LH. I didn’t realize how far this office was. I still expected to make my Turkish Airlines flight. I latched on to another security person so that I wouldn’t have to wait on the long disorderly passport control lines. He was a kind man who got me through passport control within minutes.
Did I mention that I couldn’t handle any more lines? I wasn’t kidding. I’d become a lane-runner, one of those people who I despise while driving. I went straight to an agent and said that I would wait until she was finished with the current passenger but not a second longer as my flight was about to leave without me and it was Lufthansa’s fault for canceling my ticket. Bless this lady’s heart, because she obviously saw that I was close to hysterical and served me in a calm and competent way. She got me rerouted through Qatar Airways on a flight that would leave 4 hours later. I balked at the idea of a 7 hour layover in Doha but she said this was my best chance. She gave me a dinner voucher and I went to a restaurant downstairs and had a three course dinner dinner of poached eggs, grilled tilapia and creme brulee.
I had enough time to calm down that spending one hour on the Qatar Airways line didn’t faze me. I was physically exhausted but looking forward to continuing my trip. I inquired of Qatar Airways what would happen with my trip. They told me that they could try to find it and I would have to pay over 1800 euros for my 63 lbs excess baggage (2 extra pieces). She gave me a discount of over 50% but there was no way that I was going to pay a penny more for my luggage, especially since noone knew where it was and no one could tell me when I would receive it. All Qatar Airways was promising to do for that price was to look for it and bring it to Khartoum. The way I figured it, I’d already paid for that to be done so I marched back to Lufthansa ticketing.
This time, the manager had to get involved. She spoke to Air France and to Qatar Airways managers. They all confirmed that all this rerouting was a mess and no one knew where my luggage was. Qatar Airways agreed to take the baggage payment coupons that I had paid for Turkish Airlines to bring my luggage if they were endorsed by Air France. Then the manage noticed how many pieces I had and that two were overweight and wouldn’t let me on the flight unless someone paid for the luggage!! By then, the manager of LH had abandoned me, assuming that all was resolved. I marched back to Lufthansa ticketing.
I did not wait on any line. The manager was still at the counter so I went up to her and told her that Lufthansa had to resolve the problem. To make a long passionate story short, she eventually agreed to Lufthansa would be responsible for getting my luggage to me. Thankfully, Qatar Airways accepted the note from her that said that and I made it on the flight.
I am now sitting at Doha airport. I have a few more hours to go. It’s morning here but I want to sleep. My Macbook battery is about to die so unless I find a place to plug it in, my book will be my only companion until I get to Khartoum. I’m getting closer to ?home?, step by step. It’s 36 hours since I got to Boston airport for my flight. It’ll be close to 48 hours by the time I get to Khartoum. I’m beginning to hate air travel.
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