Ahh... today I learned lessons in reading the fine print, patience and teamwork. Using good judgement would be something I'd wished boarding clerks from Kenyan Airlines had learned.
About a month ago I called Kenya Airlines to get confirmed seat numbers for our two flights. Our two flights - Zanzibar to Nairobi at 8:50am (arriving at 10am) and Nairobi to Johannesburg at 12:55 (arriving at around 4pm). We then had a South African Airlines flight at 10pm arriving in Capetown at just before midnight.
When I called to get the seat numbers, the woman on the phone said "yes, your first flight is cancelled I see.....". Say what? "But it's no problem, we can book you on the next flight arriving at 12:00pm". Ok, we did it, without really having a choice. She assured me we would have plenty of time and the flight times were very reliable etc etc.
Wrong... our flight was delayed coming out of Zanzibar.... let the stress begin.
We arrived five minutes before our Joburg flight was to depart, but the pilot announced the plane would wait for the thirty or so people in our situation. We sprinted to the gate and arrived at checkin with passports and boarding passes in hand... a bitchy, automaton clerk informed us of the need for birth certificates for the kids under 18 in order to go to South Africa.
What....the....FUCK.
She was very happy to quickly refer to her thick Kenyan Airlines procedures book and sure enough it detailed the requirement.
SHIT!
Time was tight. While I argued, Beth and Alex scrambled to figure out how we could get the birth certificates. Alex found his kids' in gmail, and I suggested they get on board, but by then, they'd yanked our bags off and we were cooked. Beth soon found our kids certificates that I'd scanned and put in google drive a few years back. If we'd had more time, we would have been ok.
The worst moment was the family of five right behind us gleefully stepping forward with the (most likely helicopter) mom shoving her papers in front of me saying "we have our birth certificates". Alex heard them all (including three kids) laughing at our misfortune. Future serial killers, no doubt. Lol.
The worst case scenario I was imagining was that guy that was living in an airport for years, in diplomatic limbo. But seriously, this was a struggle. Thank god for good teamwork - I focused on getting us on the next flight to Joburg, while Alex and Kim wandered the airport in search of a South African Airlines rep. Beth, meanwhile, stayed with the cubs. A short paragraph doesn't really describe the hours of pushing, arguing, patiently standing our ground, and finally getting to the right people to take care of us. At one point, after about an hour and half of searching for an SAA rep, Alex, Kim and I bumped into the nicest woman. With a few kind words, we took a collective deep breath. Step two, check - getting our new Joburg-Capetown flight confirmed for 6am tomorrow.
What about step 1 - getting the next and last Kenyan flight to Joburg at 8:50pm.... it was touch and go. Standing at the desk with a really nice woman for hours, I heard a lot of Swahilish (she even said that Kenyan Swahili, the national language was not as pure as Tanzanian Swahili). Amongst the blur of words I heard foreboding words like "waitlist", "birth certificate", "upcharge", "change fee", "oversold".... argh.
Long story short, we were eventually in a a much more relaxed state waiting for our 8:50pm flight. We'd changed things around with our pickup in Capetown and things looked good.
One of the frustrating things after talking to the SAA rep was that she said "with theses issues, it's a judgement call... the rule is there to prevent kidnapping or illegal adoption. With some questioning and examination of passports, its not that big of a deal." I would just have to line up Beth and Abby, Robin and I, Kim and Jeff and then Alex and Matt and it would be pretty fucking obvious it was not a kidnapping scheme. D'oh. I wish I'd had her checking us in 12 hours ago.... To be continued...
About a month ago I called Kenya Airlines to get confirmed seat numbers for our two flights. Our two flights - Zanzibar to Nairobi at 8:50am (arriving at 10am) and Nairobi to Johannesburg at 12:55 (arriving at around 4pm). We then had a South African Airlines flight at 10pm arriving in Capetown at just before midnight.
When I called to get the seat numbers, the woman on the phone said "yes, your first flight is cancelled I see.....". Say what? "But it's no problem, we can book you on the next flight arriving at 12:00pm". Ok, we did it, without really having a choice. She assured me we would have plenty of time and the flight times were very reliable etc etc.
Wrong... our flight was delayed coming out of Zanzibar.... let the stress begin.
We arrived five minutes before our Joburg flight was to depart, but the pilot announced the plane would wait for the thirty or so people in our situation. We sprinted to the gate and arrived at checkin with passports and boarding passes in hand... a bitchy, automaton clerk informed us of the need for birth certificates for the kids under 18 in order to go to South Africa.
What....the....FUCK.
She was very happy to quickly refer to her thick Kenyan Airlines procedures book and sure enough it detailed the requirement.
SHIT!
Time was tight. While I argued, Beth and Alex scrambled to figure out how we could get the birth certificates. Alex found his kids' in gmail, and I suggested they get on board, but by then, they'd yanked our bags off and we were cooked. Beth soon found our kids certificates that I'd scanned and put in google drive a few years back. If we'd had more time, we would have been ok.
The worst moment was the family of five right behind us gleefully stepping forward with the (most likely helicopter) mom shoving her papers in front of me saying "we have our birth certificates". Alex heard them all (including three kids) laughing at our misfortune. Future serial killers, no doubt. Lol.
The worst case scenario I was imagining was that guy that was living in an airport for years, in diplomatic limbo. But seriously, this was a struggle. Thank god for good teamwork - I focused on getting us on the next flight to Joburg, while Alex and Kim wandered the airport in search of a South African Airlines rep. Beth, meanwhile, stayed with the cubs. A short paragraph doesn't really describe the hours of pushing, arguing, patiently standing our ground, and finally getting to the right people to take care of us. At one point, after about an hour and half of searching for an SAA rep, Alex, Kim and I bumped into the nicest woman. With a few kind words, we took a collective deep breath. Step two, check - getting our new Joburg-Capetown flight confirmed for 6am tomorrow.
What about step 1 - getting the next and last Kenyan flight to Joburg at 8:50pm.... it was touch and go. Standing at the desk with a really nice woman for hours, I heard a lot of Swahilish (she even said that Kenyan Swahili, the national language was not as pure as Tanzanian Swahili). Amongst the blur of words I heard foreboding words like "waitlist", "birth certificate", "upcharge", "change fee", "oversold".... argh.
Long story short, we were eventually in a a much more relaxed state waiting for our 8:50pm flight. We'd changed things around with our pickup in Capetown and things looked good.
One of the frustrating things after talking to the SAA rep was that she said "with theses issues, it's a judgement call... the rule is there to prevent kidnapping or illegal adoption. With some questioning and examination of passports, its not that big of a deal." I would just have to line up Beth and Abby, Robin and I, Kim and Jeff and then Alex and Matt and it would be pretty fucking obvious it was not a kidnapping scheme. D'oh. I wish I'd had her checking us in 12 hours ago.... To be continued...
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