this is no way to plan a vacation...

[lagilman]

So, yesterday. Had a lovely breakfast with G, then tried my very best to Get Work Done. Alas, my brain seemed to have already left for vacation. This is unfortunate, as there's still shitload to be done.

However, had back-and-forth emails with Patrick S., mine editor/publisher for DRAGON VIRUS, and paid a lot of bills, and invoiced freelance work done for September, and discussed/tweaked the press release for WEIGHT OF STONE with Erica Madame Publicist, and found all my assorted chargers and cables and put them aside, and bought/downloaded WOLF HALL to read while I'm away, and sorted my euros and pounds to take with me, and reassured the cats, and ordered my pill refill, and made sure that the litter boxes were cleaned and sorted for the arrival of The PetSitter (AKA Gordon). and did my yoga, and made dinner (lemon-ginger chicken w/ sauteed red cabbage), then uploaded DragonCon photos, and then settled in to watch Inglourious Basterds, which was as brilliant, violent and disturbing as expected.

So that was a good and full day, right? Even if there was no writing?


This morning? Wake to try and check in on-line, only to discover that my flight tonight has been canceled.

Yes, canceled. No word on why or what we are to do.

So I did what any woman of experience will do -- I got on the phone and called OnePass passenger services and asked OMGWTHLLLAMABBQ?

And they said OMGWEDONTKNOW! and booked me on the 6:15 flight that it not, at this point, canceled. Although if I will actually have a seat [considering the # of people who would have to be rebooked] is... unknown.

This could get entertaining. What the hell, I bought trip insurance for my train ticket to Lille, knowing the strike was coming, so if I get booted and rebooked, this too shall be dealt with. The small joys of being a writer -- not only can I work anywhere, but it's all grist for the goddamned mill...

Now where's my goddamned coffee?

Comments

[barbhendee.livejournal.com]

Oh, daaaaaaaling, be sure to bring a back up book for Wolf Hall. That writer's copy editor was either away from her desk or taking drugs. The opening is not bad at all--which is why I bought it. But the "comprehension factor" goes downhill pretty fast from there.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sorry! Ick. What a way to start a trip and you haven't even started yet. I hope it gets better from here.

[lagilman]

oh, drat. Knew I should have waited to borrow G's copy. But still, I read I hope...

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

'LLLAMA'?

(Pending more info, I'm willing to suspend judgement on the advisability of the BBQ for now, though I'd have thought that barbecuing a llama was a little extreme. Braising in some red wine, perhaps.)

[lagilman]

the Drama Llama made a brief appearance. When in doubt "But I HAVE to be on that flight, schedules depend on it!" works quite well. Until, of course, I decide to take the travel voucher.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Our trip down under was initially overshadowed by a potential strike at LHR (and the other BAA airports). Happily the two sides got back to talking and settled the dispute without any industrial action.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

What airline/travel service were you using? I'm flying tonight too, out of JFK, and now I have double-checked my tickets, just in case.

I'm really glad that you were able to rebook and did not find out about the lack of flight at the airport.

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

Are you sure you need coffee at this point?

[lagilman]

It's less the airline and more the destination, I suspect -- the French unions have called a one-day strike (un grève) which I knew would mess with the trains but apparently is impacting the airports, too.

Le joy le fun le sigh.


[worst case scenario I end up arriving a day after I planned. Which is not good (we're on a set schedule) but that's how it goes...]

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

This reminds me strongly of akawil's story about arriving in France some years ago and knowing enough French to ask where the bus stop was, but not enough to understand the answer, which is that the buses were all on strike.

Lots of good luck getting to your destination!

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

At least the airline let you know it had cancelled the flight. When I was coming back from France earlier this year, I was flying Air France out of Nice, connecting to Delta in Amsterdam. Checked in at Nice -- no problem, bags all checked thru to JFK. Arrived at Amsterdam, looking for my connection ... no Delta flight to JFK. The 5:15 pm Delta flight from JFK had ceased to exist months prior. Neither Air France, Delta, nor Expedia (through whom the flights had been booked) had thought it necessary to inform me of that teensy detail. Apparently the flight didn't exist back when I booked it ... yet it was still in Delta's system for some reason.

Eventually I got sent back to Paris and caught a flight back to JFK and my bags followed a few days later ... but OY. (And no, I haven't used Expedia since, nor will I ever again...)

Wishing you luck and godspeed and that the travel gods smile upon you!

[lagilman]

oh, they didn't tell me -- I discovered it when I went to check in. But oh man, and here I thought Air France was the good airline!

(I would not use expedia or other services if you paid me. I've heard too many horror stories.)

[lagilman]

ohyes.

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

But at least they didn't let you check in and then get the bad news when you arrived the airport, too late to do anything about it. I was checked in to a phantom flight.

My mom just got back from an 11-day tour taking her through France, Switzerland and Bavaria. She lost the first day of the trip due to an Air France strike issue when she landed in Paris. Fun fun fun!!

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

If the flight was there according to the info that Delta supplies to the rest of the world, I'd expect both Air France and Expedia to take their word for it. How are either of them to know that a flight doesn't exist if Delta says it does.

It's only going to be when actual passengers or luggage arrive turn up that the actual lack of the flight becomes apparent ...

(Though I'd have expected the Departures board to also list it, but that may come through a different interface. One that does know the flight doesn't exist.)

[lagilman]

But at least they didn't let you check in and then get the bad news when you arrived the airport, too late to do anything about i

No, you def. had the worse of it. But if I weren't the type to do on-line check-in, or I'd checked in the night before, when the flight was still scheduled to depart? I'd have arrived and been stuck for 24 hours, until the next flight left. Not good customer service, no.

What got me was that nobody I spoke to seemed to know why the flight had been canceled - the code wasn't one they recognized. Which makes it all the stranger...

[jslinder.livejournal.com]

The code was probably SQ (or that airline's equivalent) which translates to Civil Unrest. It's not one most reps see very often.

It's for trips like this I love my good old brick and mortar TA. Their agency has software that monitors flight status, etc every 20 mins 48 hours prior and sends out alerts so the agent can attempt a rebook.

Also, if you will be traveling a lot, consider signing up for Tripit.com's Pro level which also monitors flights a few days in advance and can send you an SMS or email alert (assuming the airline updates data).

[lagilman]

The code was probably SQ (or that airline's equivalent) which translates to Civil Unrest. It's not one most reps see very often.

Considering how often France calls general strikes, I'd be quite surprised if nobody ad seen it before...

And, as per below, I prefer to monitor my own flights rather than relying on a third party. In these days of smartphones and roaming data, it's easy enough (and I'm already on the airline's alert notification system.

This caught me by surprise because at 1am this morning when I went to bed, the flight was still valid -- and they KNEW about the strike weeks ago, same as the rest of us. Usually when a flight is canceled, they send out the update posthaste.

[jslinder.livejournal.com]

I do both. The usual advantage is that in the event of a cancellation, the agent has me rebooked by the time I get the alert. It's just less hassle, not so much critical.

[lagilman]

The control freak advocate in me resists the idea of someone rebooking me without my approval. I've done enough travel booking that dealing with that stuff is less hassle to me than trying to find out what's already been done.

Different strokes for different personality types...

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Air France IS a good airline. The strike's making everyone jumpy. There were around 3 million people in the streets on September 7, and they are predicting more people this time.