Misreading a reservation - that's a first!

I am supposed to be in Bogota, Colombia. But, for the first time ever, I misread my ticket reservation! Yes, it said Friday July 25. And I showed up at the airport more than three hours ahead of departure at 1.55 am. I’d printed out the boarding pass a couple of days earlier, thinking this airline, Avianca, gives a lot of time to do so! When I got to Security the officer couldn’t read the QR Code. She was puzzled and called a colleague. Then it dawned. The ticket was the correct time, just the previous day! How could this have happened? I really can’t explain it except that since the departure was at 1.55 am I associated it with July 25 – as in arriving at the airport for that overnight flight. Rather than arriving at the airport on July 24 for the 1.55 departure on July 25. Get it? A cluster mind f--- admittedly. Then again, I’ve never left at such an ungodly hour. I immediately walked over to the Avianca (Colombia’s national airline) desk. Chuckling, the clerk couldn’t believe it either. But he eventually offered me a free one-way replacement ticket. That was generous. But as tonight’s other flight was full, he could only offer it for the next night’s flight. I started to walk away then turned and asked, “what about the return ticket?” He seemed to suggest I should “deal with that with the airline” as in phoning the call center. Mind you, I had just driven four hours from Windsor to Toronto and now had to drive all the way home, after two massive Hwy. 401 traffic snarls, arriving 4 am. I got four hours sleep. Waking, I wondered if it was still worth making the trip to Colombia since it would mean having to drive back to Toronto, a grueling task at the best of times. Then I thought: what the hell am I going to do the next five days at home – time I’d booked off anyway. So, I phoned the Avianca call center to try to claim the full ticket. After more than a half hour the agent said she couldn’t do it, saying the airport had made a mistake, and to return to the airport for the ticket. I got in the car and drove up the 401 once again. I parked, took the airport shuttle, arriving 8 pm, four hours before departure. Only to discover a massive line waiting for the desk to open. (Do all Colombians travel with checked baggage?) After more than an hour my turn came, I walked to the desk, explained my situation. The same dude who’d given me the free ticket the night before – the “supervisor” – was there and the desk clerk spoke to him. But they said the agent at the call center was wrong and a free return ticket couldn't be issued under any circumstances. But I could purchase one - for $791! That was more expensive than my original two way ticket - $785. I declined and walked away; I didn't want to go to Colombia that badly. Later it occurred to me that that “free” first ticket was nothing more than a coupon. The airline pretended it was being generous only to try to hook me into buying a needed return ticket. In other words, a way for the airline to make more money. 

Park 'N Fly: I tried Park 'N Fly for the first time. It’s a massive airport shuttle service from several neighboring Pearson airport lots. But when waiting for it at the terminal, the bus pulled up but the driver didn’t open the door. I waited and waited while he fiddled with his cell phone. What was he waiting for! After 10 minutes I finally caught his eye. I raised my voice and asked why he hadn’t opened the door? “Oh, you should have knocked on it,” he said, because some people mistake his bus for another shuttle and just walk on. He later apologized. But at least the gate attendant didn’t charge me for the five days I’d pre-booked. A small mercy.

- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller