Travel Crisis Countdown!

It's 5 AM and Chris and I are both wide awake. I've already organized all our luggage and started a load of laundry. I'm actually kind of enjoying the jetlag! I guess that's what happens when you travel for 63 hours. :)

Our 63 hour trip was interesting, to say the least. Usually, the word "interesting" suggests frustration, exhaustion, grouchiness…but we were somehow able to stay positive! In the words of Monk, "Here's what happened."

Crisis #1 – We woke up Monday morning to a wonderful breakfast cooked by my mommy, then started getting packed up. An hour before we were supposed to leave, my sister got a text saying I had left my glasses in Indianola…and I wear my glasses all the time, so this was bad news. My WONDERFUL brother-in-law Matt was willing (after he woke up a bit!) to meet my sister half way, so instead of leaving the country for 6 months without my glasses, we left home an hour late with the glasses. Crisis #1 averted!

Supporting Information - Mom, Amy, Matthew, Chris and I got up to Minneapolis after enjoying a last American Arby’s meal. We exchanged tearful goodbyes, entered the airport with Matthew, and used his cell phone to call Jet Airways (we flew to Delhi on American Airlines, but had to connect to Jet Airways to get to Hong Kong). Our connection was really short, so we wanted to know what the penalty for rebooking would be. They said it would be rp. 4000 each…not horrible (about $80 each), but definitely more than we wanted to pay. We said good-bye to Matthew (maybe for a whole year!), and headed off to find our gate.

Crisis #2 – As we’re waiting for our flight to Chicago, the desk attendant gets on the intercom to let us know that the plane is having brake problems, and will be leaving 5 minutes late….then 10 minutes late…then 20 minutes…and now it’s cancelled. WHAT?! There was a mad rush to rebook, and Chris found himself at the end of a very long and agitated line. He channeled his inner “Amazing Racer” and found a separate desk attendant to help him. Note: he was the ONLY one she helped! People lined up after him, and she told them to go back to the original line because she couldn’t help them there. Impressive, no? Not 10 minutes later that whole flight was booked and people were being put up in hotels and booked on flights 24 hours later. Crisis #2 averted!

Crisis #3 – Because we got onto a later flight, we had only 20 minutes to make our connection to Delhi. We talked with the stewardess about the situation and got bumped to Business Class for the last 20 minutes...got to experience how the other side lives! We ran the whole way, realized how out of shape we are, and were nearly the last to board. Crisis #3 averted!

Supporting Information – When we made our flight reservation to Hong Kong there was only an hour between our landing in Delhi and our take off for Hong Kong, so we knew there was a possibility that we’d miss it. At the time it seemed like an acceptable risk…as adrenaline was rushing through our bodies in anticipation, it seemed like the STUPIDEST idea ever! The plane to Delhi actually left 45 minutes late due to air traffic issues. There was also a medical situation on board that had to be taken care of before anyone could leave the plane, so we were VERY late getting into Delhi. Oh jeez….

Crisis #4 – The plane got into Delhi at 10:10 PM, and our next flight left at 10:45 PM. Since we were switching airlines we couldn’t have our baggage routed straight through, so we had to go through customs, collect our baggage, then check in again. AHH! We told the stewardesses our situation and they actually let us slip out between medical personnel so we could try to make our flight. We were REALLY optimistic…ran the whole way, got through customs in less than a minute, got directions from baggage to check-in…and then waited. And waited…and waited…and waited. The baggage took 30 minutes and we missed the flight. Bummer. Crisis #4 NOT averted.

Crisis #5 – As we looked for Jet Airways to rebook, we mentally resigned to the fact that we’d just have to pay extra and fly out the next day. But when we asked to change the tickets, they informed us that they only had Business and First Class tickets available…and the CHEAPEST we could get another ticket for was $400 a person! NOT going to happen…we saved quite diligently to be able to go on this trip in the first place, and definitely didn’t have $800 lying around to pay for a ticket we’d ALREADY PAID FOR! They suggested we go talk with American Airlines and see if they could help us out, since their plane was late.
We thought it was a long shot, but decided to try. After all, what else would we do in the Delhi Airport at midnight with no lodging and no contacts waiting for us? We finally found the American Airlines office (after 30 minutes and 10 flights of stairs with our baggage), explained our situation, and were asked to wait. An hour later we were told they were going to book us on another flight. Two hours later they told us the options they had for us, and three hours later we were booked on the same Jet Airways flight that would have cost us $800…for FREE! They also put us up in a hotel and paid for a taxi. WHAT A BLESSING! Crisis #5 averted!

Supporting Information – It was the most enjoyable business experience we’ve ever had. We only explained ourselves once, they brought us coffee, and we had great conversation with them. We even exchanged contact information with the main girl that helped us, and got invited to a Punjabi wedding close to where we live! In America we observed some really negative interactions between American airport workers and customers, and it just felt very redeeming to have such a positive experience in India…made the transition back to this crazy world a little easier. :)
It was a clean hotel with a complimentary breakfast, and they let us stay way past the noon check-out time until 7:30 PM, when we had to leave to catch out next flight. We hung at the airport for a couple of hours, then got on the plane! Hong Kong here we come…right?

Crisis #6 – We got on the plane, se settled in, and started watching a movie. Pretty soon that movie was done so we started watching another movie. And pretty soon, THAT movie was done. We were grounded for 4 hours because of fog! I think we were actually one of the only planes that even got off the ground…by some lucky coincidence, all the other airplanes unloaded their passengers, so by the time our pilot wanted to do the same, the entire airport was packed full and all hotels had been doled out to frustrated customers. So, we were stuck. I think our pilot felt the unrest and decided to just go for it. When your pilot says, “okay, we’re gonna go for it. Please pray that we’ll be able to get off the ground”, you tend to feel uneasy for a while! We eventually did get into the air though, and ended up getting to Hong Kong 5 hours later than expected. Jason, Christine and Josiah had gotten to the airport at our original time, so they were quite exhausted…it was SO good to see them, SO good to finally be where we wanted to be, and SO good to sleep! Crisis #6 OVER!

Supporting Information - When we got to Hong Kong Christine told us that we actually couldn’t get our Mainland China visas in Hong Kong anymore as that they had just changed the policy. We had planned to send it in when were in the U.S., but didn’t do it right away and then decided it might just be easier to do it there. SO, no mainland China for us! Totally okay, though…we’re going to SERIOUSLY explore Hong Kong and the islands around it, maybe look for a cheap ticket to a surrounding country that doesn’t require a visa, AND we know where we’ll be going for our next big trip!

In conclusion - We’re here, we’re safe, we’re happy, and we’re with people we love. Really, what more could you ask for. :)