The time of your flight has changed,
Please ring our customer team …
but just trying to get through to them
was like a lengthy-swim-upstream.
Eventually I did get through and
Then came the second blow …
Very softly-spoken with an accent:
Merging words in a side-to-side flow.
She said that one hour fifteen wasn’t
Enough time between my flights,
And I hastened to agree with her …
No ifs, buts, maybes or mights.
So she had a look at her system,
And came back with this reply:
Travel eight and a half hours earlier
And pay an extra £700 to fly.
Apparently no economy seats going
On that one hour connecting flight,
Against the rules to swap the date,
But it seemed neither fair nor right.
I asked to speak to a supervisor,
But I was told that I could not,
This was supposed to be the Australian
airline … not some low-budget lot!
At this point the call stagnated,
Bearing in mind the huge sum …
Until she said I could keep my flight
But I would have to properly run.
I said I can’t really cope with that …
It would cause me massive stress,
But if I could get airport assistance,
It might see me out of this mess.
So she said she’d request that,
And I asked for an email to confirm,
She said it would take a few minutes,
But it never showed … short or long-term.
So I kept on phoning them back,
All throughout a very long night …
Their computer system had crashed
So nobody could look at my flight.
But next morning on the way
back from a drop-off at the station,
I had a sudden brainwave which
Turned into a bit of a revelation …
I logged onto the Qantas website,
And I had a look what I could see …
I found several Qantas-owned
Jetstar flights to suit my itinerary.
Loads of seats in economy …
So I paid £70 for my ticket but I
thought I’d better ring them back ..
“Oh no … you can’t use that flight
The system can’t cope with that.”
“And you’ll have to pay to cancel the
original seat .. that’s how it works.”
“Ok … so I wont bother to cancel it …
My brain … was starting to hurt.
I must have worn her down …
She booked me a free Jetstar flight
So although I’d broken the rules
In the end it turned out all right.
Pam Ski
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