2005-07-30 - 2:18 p.m.

..holiday complications...

This morning I called the airline to ticket my flight to England for our holiday in August, only to learn that the booking had been cancelled! I nearly broke into tears.

I was put through to a supervisor and we reconstructed what had happened. The agent I spoke with said that I must booke before "the 14th." Since I was flying on the 14th of August, I assumed that award travel must be booked before the flight. I would swear they said that it would stay in the computer until the date that I flew. When I called, the agents said, that they had actually meant 14th of JULY. Of course, it is now the 30th of July, and the flight is just plain GONE. Well, without any compunction I pleaded with the supervisor. And after more than 30 minutes of iterations and changes we managed to secure a booking that was acceptable. Of course, I've lost my daytime travel for a redeye flight, which I hate. But at least my holiday is still there.

I said that I needed to check with my travel companions to make sure that the arrangements were reasonable. But when I called the airline back, they told me that they were instituting a $50 booking fee because the flight is being booked less than 30 days before the flight! So now I am being expected to pay $50 for something that was not my fault, and an extra $50 that was not explained to me during my conversation this morning.

I asked to speak with the original supervisor, and the agent told me that she would call me back. That was three hours ago, and I am still waiting for her call. I am trying to decide if I should call back another time...or if I should continue sitting here by the telephone waiting for a supervisor to call me back..

ugh. I find this very tedious.

On the good side, while I was on hold, I found an excellent hotel where K and I can spend our first night in Wales. A beautiful hotel on a cliffside overlooking the north coast. Now I just have to GET there...