When thing go wrong .....

Ai - when things go wrong from beginning it really goes wrong all the way through. Like my recent travel experience.......

I arrive at 6am to check in for the 8:30am flight from Cabinda to Luanda in order to make my connecting 14:10 flight to Johannesburg. I am then told I am only booked for the afternoon 12:45 flight. Now I have had experience with our travel guy at the office and he now always sends me my booking confirmation by email .... SO ....I retrieve my laptop switch it on to show the lady my booking confirmation and she in turns shows me her monitor that I am only booked for 12:45 flight. I tried explaining to her that they must have captured it wrong but she insist I can only fly on flight as I am booked.

Then it dawns on me - ITS GOING TO BE A LONG DAY.

Her manager / supervisor arrives and after explaining to him he presses a few buttons on the keyboard and less than a minute later I am re-booked and a ticket is issued manually.

Flight from Luanda to Johannesburg depart 30 minutes late and arrives 20 minute after scheduled landing in Johannesburg - which means I only have 40 minuted to make connecting flight to Frankfurt (thank goodness for online checkin).

I rush off the arriving plane to be met by some SAA dude - he take my ticket and passport and we start running (you all know how fit and athletic I am) after about 10 minute I tell him 'its okay - go on without me i dont mind missing the flight" he tells me they are boarding I must run - once again under my huffs and puffs - I DONT CARE ANYMORE. We get to the loading gate only to be greeted by a long queue of passengers still waiting to board. But I'm "mos" STAR ALLIANCE GOLD member so I can bypass the queues. When onboard I ask / tell flight attendant that I have just landed from Luanda and whether my luggage will make the connecting flight "Dont worry sir if its SAA to SAA flights it will make it.

So I make the flight - only to find out there is no Moslem meals ordered for me (hear me sigh).

I get to Frankfurt only to be told I have missed my connecting flight to Paris "but dont worry Mr Kleinsmidt we have re-booked you". So I am on standby for the 8:45 on LH but confirmed for 10:35 with AF. I go to Lufthansa (LH) customer service desk and they advise I must go to AF at the other terminal as it doesnt look good for making standby flight.

So - I make my way to Terminal 2 to find Air France (AF), having Burger King for breakfast, clearing immigration (so i've officially to / in Germany) on the way.

Finally make it to AF and get told by some woman I must use the self-service kiosk. The self-service kiosk cant confirm my booking and this same lady (still trying not to swear) says I must go to counter. The same bloody counter I wanted to go to a few minutes earlier - only this time an entire Japanese tourist group is in front of me - alot of old people. Can you now understand why I felt like swearing this lady.

So - I get to front of queue - guess what - they tell me I have to go back to SAA counter at Terminal 1 because SAA must issue my ticket first.

Okay so - I go back to SAA at TERMINAL 1 - luckly there is no queue and this lady was expecting me only to tell me I have just missed the flight I was on standby for (i can hear some reader swearing). Okay, she issues my ticket and before I head back to TERMINAL 2 I ask her where my luggage is and she confirms its in the luggage storage hold (thinking back now - she did not say which one) and I just have to show AF my luggage ticket and they will put it on the necessary flight.

Okay - so I head back to TERMINAL 2 go to AF get my boarding pass and show the my luggage tag in order for my luggage to be loaded. I go thru immigrations, do the security thing and even get a pat down.

Okay we are ready to board and they announce to that all Business Class and Priority Members can board first. Remember I told you Im mos Star Alliance Gold Member - so I see the letters "VIP" on my ticket and also go to board. Well apparently Star Alliance Gold Member and the words VIP means nothing to them and I am told I must waiting before I can board.

And guess what - it the same bloody lady that told me to use the kiosk at AF.

Okay so I get to Paris - wait for my luggage, wait for my luggage, wait for my luggage and wait for my luggage and NO F*&# luggage.

I head over to the AF luggage service desk and there is a moerse queue - wonder why.

Get to the service consultant - I must say he was very helpful. He checks on computer and confirms there is a note in the system that my luggage is in Johannesburg as the connection time was too short - now I wonder why THE HELL these other people could not tell me this.

Damn this is a long story.

Finally get to my hotel after 32 hours of traveling with no luggage. I first head off to shop to get a few essentials before i settle.

I get my luggage two days later after it first being delivered to wrong hotel - so hoping and praying that my return trip goes alot smoother.