The reality of war - of all kinds
Guard my heart
Originally written on SEPTEMBER 20th, 2024, sometime in the morning.
I was meant to fly in 2 days for a very important meeting with Japanese parliamentarians. I wrote about it in the following Substack.
It turns out, the overlords really didn’t want me there. At least not on those flights. Perhaps it was the universe protecting me. Perhaps it was… just ‘how it is’. Whatever it was, there sure wasn’t protection on my pocketbook. I have been going through the fight of my life to maintain a course to Japan (and back) for the past two weeks after booking a flight ticket over 2 months ago to ensure a reduced price and availability. I like to pick my seats. I like to save money when I can.
I had 4 flight legs with my original booking - 2 outbound, 2 inbound - that were originally with airline A booked through airline B (sister carriers) through city C. I chose this path because I liked the planes involved, and the layover times were good: just over 4 hours - which these days with delayed flights, is the right amount of time to give yourself to ensure that you will not have to run to catch a connecting flight. I am very picky about my plane choice, seat choice, and airline choice. It all matters a lot to me, and at this point in my life, I cannot do the 14-hour legs in a bad seat with ~1 hour connections. What I am trying to say is, I do a lot of research and take a lot of time picking out my flights and commit only when I am sure I made the best choice. And can afford it. I made this booking on July 14, 2024.
A month passed.
On August 14, the first cancellation notice arrived in my email inbox. It was the first outbound flight. Airline B offered me an alternative a flight that left the day before my original departure date that would leave me stranded overnight for 16 hours in an airport in order to catch my connecting flight. This ‘layover’ at night, alone in the airport, was longer than a direct flight would have taken. And oh yeah, no hotel option available. I immediately called the airline’s customer service, and it all pretty much went downhill from there.
Before I continue, I don’t blame the customer service people for the cancellations - of course not. I know they’re just working their jobs trying to avert rage-outs from paying customers. And for the most part, they were lovely and cheerful. But, I do hold them accountable for not being more capable in terms of helping me - especially considering what these airlines charge for flights these days. I expect open lines of communication while on the phone to await newly-issued e-tickets (because often times, they do not), I expect not to be strong-armed into paying 6 times the amount I actually agreed upon for a seat (phone call recorded) in order to actually get any seat at all, and I expect to get what I paid for in the first place. Customer service representatives can help with these things.
I was somewhat left on my own whilst on the phone with the first customer service representative to re-research an alternative flight path that I could live with, and that remotely mimicked the flights that I had originally selected and paid for.
It all seems like false-advertising to me when an airline sells you flight, takes your money, and then makes the flight not exist only to offer you something that you never would have selected or paid for in the first place. Seems a bit sketchy - if not false advertising - to say the least.
I discovered a flight path that was with airline B (as opposed to airline A) that was effectively the same, and suggested it as a change to the representative. I was quite relieved that this alternative was available and that I was able to be rebooked on it at no extra charge. No harm, no foul. *This was due to the fact that I spent hundreds of dollars more for a FLEX ticket that enables changes and cancellations without incurring penalties, and a full refund in case of ‘emergency’.
In theory.
A month passed.
On September 12, the second cancellation notice arrived in my email inbox. It was the second inbound flight. Along with the notification of ‘changes to my itinerary’ arrived a ‘suggestion’ for an alternative flight - like the 16 hour overnight/leaving a day early flight option I was offered in the previous email. This time I was offered a flight that left 6 hours before I would have arrived to catch the connecting flight. Good suggestion there, byes. I called the customer service center again. As was the case in the previous call, I had to inform the representative of the ‘impossible’ flight first (that seemed like a bit of a set-up for me to ‘click on’ that suggestion and get locked in), and then try to find an alternative flight. I was told by the representative that the only option was to reroute and convert my inbound flight into the infamous 3-leg marathon of short connections and panic. Let’s call it the marathon-short-connecting-time-tri-idiocy (mashocotti) route for short. So I agreed to it. What could I do?
A few, moments, laytare…
Following this call, and after a bit more research, I noticed that there was a ‘sister’ flight with airline B (as opposed to airline A) much like the outbound flight situation - same times, same durations, same leg numbers just routed through a different city. It seemed great! It must have been my lucky day. Again, since I bought a FLEX ticket, I was technically allowed to make changes without incurring extra cost. So I called back. I also wanted to know from a representative’s mouth why this hadn’t been offered to me as an alternative, and if I was stuck with the mashocotti route.
This became a series of 5 additional separate phone calls. The gist of these calls was that I was told I would have to pay 1500 USD to rebook the flight with airline B that resembled what I had paid for originally for airline A, even though the entire reason I had to rebook was because of a cancellation on airline B’s end. I spat out my coffee and said something akin to: “Hell no”. I felt forced to stick with the mashocotti route, lest I be forced into paying another 1500 USD. Notice, after paying for a FLEX ticket, the double use of the word ‘force’. I found this very strange since the only reasonable justification for any difference in cost was the ‘fancy’ stand-alone set which according to the website was 250 USD more, not 1500 USD.
A half a day passed, and I couldn’t live with the nonsensical-ness of it. Why would they suggest that I would have to pay 1500 USD more? I called again and demanded to know why I couldn’t get a seat on the inbound route that I wanted to be on with airline B. This particular representative that I got ahold of had new information. “Ok”: I thought. Let’s hear her out. She told me I would only have to commit to paying 333.40 USD to rebook (I imagine this calculation was based on 250 USD + some fees) which was the cost of the “necessary” fancy seat upgrade. My first thought was: “Why aren’t they comping this additional charge? They cancelled my flight from their end.” Then, because I was being given the bum’s rush, I thought to myself: “Screw it.” A nice seat once in a life time, no mashocotti route. So I approved this transaction, gave her my cc deets for the fancy seat (against my better judgement - she even dropped the call and had to call me back - very sketch), and awaited payment processing and the reissue of my new e-ticket. At this point, I thought everything should have been copacetic.
A few, hours, (x 13) laytare…
39 hours later, still no e-ticket. So another few calls later after being serially placated with banalities from 3 additional separate representatives saying things like “Everything’s ok, it’s in processing”, I insisted that someone find out what was going on. I called again. This time, the lady representative left me on hold and came back with news. Apparently, the other lady representative has misled me: the cost they were “enforcing” was 1500 USD and they were ‘waiting for my approval’ afterhaving taken my cc deets. At this point, I got angry.
I said in my most matronly, scolding tone: “I did not approve that!” And to this she says: “Yes. This is why the payment is pending and no ticket was issued.” So I was left - no phone call, no notification, a week before flying, without an e-ticket and without anyone bothering to tell me what was going on in the meantime. Without a ticket! No one at airline B was going to call me and tell me? Really? So I was ‘forced’ to revert to the mashocotti route - but only after this lady representative ‘had to check to see if there was availability left’ since almost 2 days had passed pending processing that never would have pended. By the way, the only reason 2 days passed was because I was told specifically by a number of different customer service representatives that “Everything was fine”.
At least I had flights. Right?
Yesterday, Thursday September 19, 2024, late in the afternoon - once all the customer service representatives had all gone home - the third cancellation notice arrived in my email inbox. It was the first outbound flight. Again. In this case however, no alternative routes - however nonsensical - were suggested. I knew what this meant. No flights. I had to wait until the customer service representatives were back at work in order to resolve this, of course. So I waited until this morning. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until this morning that I realized: it’s the weekend here! And nobody works on the weekends.
What this effectively meant was that I didn’t have outbound flights tickets as of the 20th + I was meant to fly on Monday the 23rd, (leave Sunday night - the 22nd) + no one would be available until Sunday the 22nd to help me rebook or cancel to ensure refund.
I needed international dialing ability, right away. I can’t make international calls without being charged insane prices from my tablet (my tablet poses as a very large and awkward phone). So, I asked a couple friends if they had international calling capabilities, and one did, but he wasn’t anywhere near where I live at the time. What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks was I going to do?
Oh yeah, one more thing. I found out that a scheduled power outage ONLY ON MY STREET was planned for Sunday the 22nd from 8 am to 5 pm. Yes. You read that right. That meant: no internet. I found that out yesterday when the power company slapped a sticker on the gate of the building where I live without explanation. So this was going to make it more difficult to ‘take action’ to cancel the inbound tickets that the airline had kept active and meanwhile, I had still paid full price for this ticket.
By the way, if you’re wondering why I didn’t just follow the procedure for cancelling online, it’s because I believe I would have been trapped in a non-reversible algorithmic disaster that would have ensured that I would have only been able to get half my money back due to a so-called ‘cancellation on my end’. Even though the flight ticket was useless to me because they cancelled my outbound flights, if I didn’t physically speak to a customer service representative and explain what happened (and demand a full refund), it never would have been possible to get a full refund. If I had engaged in their cancellation system - even with my FLEX ticket, it would have been bye-bye birdie money. I believe. I base this reasoning on THIS experience. I should also note that I received at least 5 “You’ll receive an email confirmation” promises for which I actually received none. And this included for receipts. I got them eventually.
Another thing I learned alone the way of this terrible experience was that if you book a flight less than 7 days from departure, all 24-hour window cancellation options are waived. They don’t tell you that upfront. This is another reason I book months ahead of time. It seems no matter how frugal or efficient I tried to be, it wasn’t going to matter.
Enter: A guardian angel named Lyrico (and her hubby).
Because of the horrors of flying these days (at least for me), the organizer of the ICS conference and others are aware of my situation. I have kept them updated. My guardian angel friend is based in city D and I had been in touch with her about staying with her if I didn’t make my return connecting flight on the mashocotti route. Because I am considerate, I apprised her of the situation this morning: no flight, no visit. So she jumped to help. Like: jumped. She is in Japan for the conference now, and her husband is in Europe, so they had the ability to get this airline’s customer service representatives on the phone in these respective places where the weekend hadn’t started already.
The first attempt my dear friend and I made to cancel the inbound flights and to get my full refund was made possible by a 3-way Whatsapp call with a customer service representative in Japan. The Japanese representative was great, by the way. But, following this call, airline B claimed they would only reimburse me the cost of the ticket, but not the tax, which amounted to hundreds of US dollars.
So upon a second call from my dear friend to the representative in Japan, she managed to get them to instruct me to send an email with my original receipts and deets (along with a disclaimer that the email and all its data were not encrypted?!), to make a claim for the full amount. It seems, following yet another phone call made by her husband to the representative in Europe, that I should receive a full refund. But, I have a feeling there’s ‘going to be an issue with returning the money to my original purchase card’, and I will be offered some crappy voucher.
Let it be known: I DO NOT WANT A VOUCHER. I WANT MY MONEY BACK FOR SERVICES UNRENDERED.
This is a story of airline B’s non-delivery of my purchased flights, paid in full at booking. It has been an experience that has made me want to swear off flying forever.
Wait now, isn’t this the WEF plan?
I have a hotel booked. I have meetings booked. I have information that nobody knows that I need to impart to parliamentarians.
And I have no flight.
I am livid. And indignant, as a consumer.
I am giving this airline a chance to get my money back to me, as promised. They claimed 7 days. For my own protection, I have chosen not to name them. Although going public would likely be an excellent way to ensure that they do give me my money back, I don’t want to risk losing it either.
Update (written October 1, 2024): I did get a full refund back to original card of purchase.
This reminds me of our old school photos. It really was like that.
This brainstorming closed-door session was excellent (took place right before this photo was taken) and all of those smiles are genuine. I assure you.
A massive thank you to Lilly (+ Tony!), Rob, the Japanese organizers who made this event happen, and Lyrico for ensuring that I not only got to Japan, but also got my money back from the original flights, and ended up feeling very cared-for when I was there. Lyrico even waited up for me when I first arrived in the arse-crack of the night due to flights, and despite the fact that I actually smelled like road kill, she gave me the biggest hug.
She also gave a performance to us on the last night as a concert violinist. Not kidding. I truly love you Lyrico. You and your family are kindred spirits. She’s sitting to my left in this photo.
My next article on ICS6 (with photos) is coming. I have many, many stories to tell of the past 5 days in Japan, and of the virtual 4 days it took to get there and back. Stay tuned!
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