The Travel Demons Are Onto Me — Again.
Not once, but twice, my homeward-bound trip from New Zealand has been severely interrupted.
Last year, it took me 63 hours to get home from Sydney, Australia. My Auckland to Vancouver flight was diverted to San Francisco as Vancouver had an unexpected dump of white stuff. It was the first time anything significant had happened to me travel-wise and I was hopeful it would be the last.
Nope!
I’ve been diverted, again.
Actually, my Chicago-bound plane turned around mid-Pacific and headed back to Auckland!
Picture this scenario:
I was delighted to have scored a sky couch on Air New Zealand’s One Up bidding system. The wonderful news came via email as I was enjoying a last flat white with two dear girlfriends in Queenstown, just a couple of hours before my long trek home.
I had looked at the small icon on the seat screen before hunkering down for the balance of the flight. It displayed 11 hours and 9 minutes remaining before arriving in Chicago.
When I woke, I was thrilled to see that icon now said 3 hours and 4 minutes. Wow!! I’d slept most of the way. Yippee!
Then the captain came over the address system; at first I thought he was joking:
Good morning folks. As many of you know, we have turned around and are heading back to Auckland…
WHAT THE %$#*!
I turned to speak to my friendly Irish travellers behind me. They had noticed the about turn on the screen two hours earlier. They had a longer trek to Dublin than I and had only been in the country for a week.
I felt bad for them.
The next three hours were painful
My mind was spinning between trying to contemplate making this revolting trip all over again and understanding why the Captain would choose to return to New Zealand when the plane was at the halfway point to the USA.
I can’t be certain, but I can only surmise that the cost of using American technicians to fix the alleged electrical generator problem far outweighed pissing off 300+ passengers and catering to flight disruption requirements.
Same scenario; different airport
Again, I found myself lining up to clear customs as using the usual electronic means would screw up the system since we weren’t meant to be back in New Zealand.
Yet again, I joined a long queue to receive meal vouchers and a day room. My flight had already been rebooked by the time I landed; they had six hours to figure out what they would do with all of us.
There were some passengers in a tizzy and many queue-jumping or calling travel agents and loved ones. It was a déjà vue I could have done without today.
What now?
As I write, I’m sitting on the 13th floor of the Mövenpick Hotel in downtown Auckland. I thought Mövenpick was an ice cream, not a hotel chain. It’s rather swish; I googled the price of an overnight room and it’s around $450. Certainly more upmarket than any place I’ve stayed while here and more than I can usually afford.
Why downtown Auckland when the airport is a 45-minute drive away — and with several hotels on-site? The agent’s response was that they were the only one with an early check-in.
Seriously?
What a waste of money. My taxi cost Air New Zealand $100 TO the hotel. There was no traffic. It will be the same cost back — if not worse, as there will be traffic. At least I had a lovely driver — and a smooth ride in a Tesla — and he is going to come back and pick me up at 330 p.m.
I was given a $90 meal voucher. I thought they were being generous, but that went really fast after ordering salmon, rice, a salad and dessert. It wasn’t even anything to write home about.
My $6 Jimmy’s pie tasted better.
Fingers and toes crossed
Let's hope my New York-bound flight doesn’t have any glitches. It’s the longest direct flight that Air NZ operates and has had its share of woes.
Of course, I can’t have my sky couch but I’ve demanded a refund. The thought of doing a 16-hour flight upright is nauseating.
They can’t operate the flight with a full load of passengers because of the fuel requirements, so at the very least, I hope I have no one beside me and room to loll as I know I will be delirious by the end of this trek.
Please, no more drama tonight! 🙏
Wish me luck!