How I learned this the hard way
Picture this. It’s the night before a trip, and you are buzzing with pre-vacation excitement. They’re the best kind of jitters. Everything is coming together: your suitcase is packed and ready, your list has been triple-checked, and now it’s time to check into your flight online and get your boarding passes. Except when you type your last name and booking number into the trusty old airline check-in…… there is no result. So, you retype it, assuming you must have made a spelling mistake…… still no result. So, you retype it again, for lack of a better idea, and…… you guessed it, no result. What’s left to do now but call the trusty old airline you chose to book with for this particular trip? And guys… you know the airline. Let’s just say their name rhymes with “fear,” as in the emotion you should probably be feeling, and “here,” as in I hope the plane is here on time, but it probably won’t be. I’ll share more–much, much more–on that another time. I have stories.
Now you’re on hold with the help and customer support line. Since this airline is always at the top of their game, connecting the call with an actual person takes mere minutes, not hours (I beg you to hear my sarcasm), and once on this phone call, you learn that your reservation does not exist because you have been scammed by the unreliable third party app through which you booked your flight to save a whopping… ten bucks!
Now, you are buzzing with a different kind of jitters. Now, you are buzzing with the “how do I call my friend and tell her that we actually have no flight booked for our trip tomorrow? How do I tell my bestie that while we can book flights, they have since doubled in price” jitters. And of course, since you are just as on top of your game as that airline, this all occurs around ten at night. The trip was originally scheduled to begin by six the next morning.
This may be common knowledge to many, but unfortunately it was not common knowledge to me at the time, way back in my baby traveling days. There is something to be said about learning things the hard way, though. I’ll certainly never do it again, and I’ll certainly make a point to spread the word to others on the off chance that I can save them from an experience like mine. Now, years later, I find that I have been through almost every single stereotypical traveling fiasco you can imagine. And at the very least, they make for a good story.