Pain In The Ash

This is how I look when I'm not happy
(on the slopes of Mt. Apo, an active volcano)

A week since that volcano in Iceland stopped many travelers in their tracks, things are moving slowly on the path to normalcy. Planes are flying again but then, there's a long, long, backlog of passengers waiting on those flights. My own travel plans to Eastern Europe have been derailed with no definite dates as to when I can fly. Why? It's the issue of capacity control. My ticket booked on Finnair is non-revenue, having earned them through my Cathay Pacific frequent flier miles. When things go wrong and planes are grounded, priority is always given to passengers who paid for their tickets to fly on the next available flight. Customers who merely redeemed them, sad to say, are at the back of the passenger manifest. This includes me.

What made it more difficult for passengers was calling the airline. As you can just imagine, everyone else had the same idea to call the affected airlines. In my case, I had to call Cathay Pacific since it was through them that I got the Finnair tickets. On the day my Helsinki-bound flight was canceled, I knew it was hopeless going into the Finnair desk and asking them about dates so I went straight home from JFK and called the Marco Polo Club number. As always, my call was routed to Hong Kong which, with the current 12-hour time difference between New York & Hong Kong, meant it was 6:30 AM over there. A 'quiet' time to call, I thought.

I feel like blowing off steam
(Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica)

Under normal circumstances, my calls to the Marco Polo Club had been answered expeditiously. This time, I got a busy line. It took several calls before the usual recorded message offered me a plethora of menu to choose from. And then it took almost 30 minutes before someone could answer.

me: I'm booked on AY 006 but the flight's canceled.

agent: Are you still at the airport?
me: No, I'm at home now. Can you look for availability next week?
agent: Uhhmmm . . . (click) (click) . . . sorry, nothing for next week.
me: Too bad! I really need to be in Estonia.
agent: (click) (click) Sorry. I checked for you the week after. Nothing.
me: What about first or second week of May then?
agent: (click) (click) No, nothing.

This went on and on, with me asking week to week, month to month; absolutely nothing was available for the whole summer up until fall - and this just for the outbound trip to Helsinki! It was as if a whole cloud of ash fall came all over me from Iceland, blanketing me heavily on my shoulders. What to do now? It appears the only available dates would be just around winter - which I certainly don't fancy going. Winter in Eastern Europe is much colder than in Eastern United States. With an agent almost ready to give up on me, I told her I'll call the next day.

I feel like erupting
(National Geographic, May 2010 issue)

Friday, the next day, the waiting time got worse. It must be the most stressful time for airline call center workers, I tell you. I waited more than an hour just to talk to someone! When an agent finally spoke, he talked with a hurried tone. I merely repeated my previous requests, none of which were available. Suddenly, I got the idea of asking the agent to just cancel the reservations and have my 45,000 miles returned to me and use those miles elsewhere.

agent: That will be a penalty of $120.

me: Why? It's not my fault.
agent: This is airline policy.
me: How can Cathay Pacific do that to loyal customers?
agent: I'm sorry there's nothing I can do about that.
me: I don't know what to do with this ticket. You don't have
the dates I prefer.
agent: Your ticket is valid for one year. Maybe you can travel early next year?
me: No. I need to cancel it but not without being penalized.
agent: That's not possible. Sorry. Why not call again, maybe the dates you want will open next week?

Duh! It wasn't going anywhere and my ears hurt from the phone's handset. I have a year to use the ticket and a year to decide if I really still want to use the ticket. Or pay $120 to get my miles back. In exasperation, I told the agent I'll call again. Calling again is certainly going to be another exercise for my fingers - this week or next or even the week after next. Why, oh why did that volcano have to erupt last week? Next time I plan for a trip, I'll listen to the ground for rumbling volcanoes on my flight path.