Missed Flights.
Well, we were going to be flying out of Bangkok this morning, but I misread the times on the booking print-out. In actual fact, we were there in plenty of time, but we went for a coffee with the members of the family who went to see us off. We then walked two or three hundred yards back to where they told us we had to check in. However, we had to walk the same distance back the other way once through passport control to get to very roughly where we had to be in the Departure Lounge.
Last minute dash
I checked the departures monitor and knew instantly that something was wrong. Our flight was in red – Last Call.
Gate E7 was five to six hundred yards away and I can’t run anymore. Anyway, a man with a walkie-talkie approached my wife and made a call. He had been looking for us. I heard a last call for Owen and Pranom Jones over the Tannoy.
We hurried along and the man kept talking into his portable.
Missed Flights
A hundred yards from the final desk, we were told that the flight had gone, but that we could get on the same flight the next day for an extra £200
Completely cheesed off (with myself), I jumped at the offer. The same man led us back through emigration and reversed the cancellation of my visa etc, etc. He also took us back to check-in, where two men were waiting to take us to our bags. We decided to leave them in Left Luggage and the accompanied us there.
I was very pleased with the service we received. However, now, two hours later, sitting in a bar, it seems that it all went off too pat. I suppose they have to deal with this sort of situation every day, but what is nagging at me, is the fact that that guy was on his walkie-talkie when they gave us the first ‘last call’. He was also there for the second one, so why didn’t they wait for us or why didn’t they tell us we were too late?
Good Service
After all, they had to retrieve our baggage from the plane, or would they not have loaded it until we were on board?
When do stand-by seats become available? Were there already people sitting in our seats as we were hurrying towards the Departure Gate?
I had to pay a surcharge of 25% to fly out the next day, and it would not have surprised me to have to pay the full fare again, but…
It’s that security guy with the walkie-talkie that bothers me. If he worked for the airline, how come he had so much influence with the Thai Immigration Police, and if he was working for the police, how did he know so much about the airline’s seating arrangements for the next day?
Does any of this make any sense to anyone reading this? If so, please enlighten me.
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All the best,
Podcast: Missed Flights
