I should be on a flight to Charles de Gaulle right now, but I'm sitting at Starbucks in HK instead. I'm supposed to meet P in Barcelona tonight. My flight to Paris was at 10:20 am this morning. Until 10 am this morning, HK was under T8 warning (typhoon 8), which means that all public transportation is mandatorily halted and people are warned not to go outside (work and school are cancelled by law during this time). For a large part of the night, we were under T10 which indicates hurricane force winds. I woke up this morning at 6 am and religiously watched the weather alerts and looked for updates from Air France. I called Air France repeatedly and couldn't get a human on the phone. Their website gave no updates and for 2 hours this morning had a notice that the system was down and that they would get it up as soon as possible. Every other airline on HK airport's website had cancelled or delayed their flights, so I assumed Air France also delayed theirs. Especially since there was no public transportation running and we were under T8 until 10 am.
As soon as there was a lull in the torrential downpour, at around 9:10 am (T8 was still in effect), I took my roller suitcase and WALKED all the way to the airport express station in the rain because there was not a single bus or taxi in sight. I got to the airport at 9:55. There was ONE Air France counter open and 3 parties in front of me (and about 4 parties behind me). From what I could hear and understand, the airplane was still there, but they weren't taking any more passengers. I asked one family ahead of me what the service person had said and they said that if they paid HK$20K for an upgrade to business, they could get on, but otherwise they could not get on. Well, I had a business class ticket, so I thought I should still be able to get on based on what they said. But for some unknown reason, the service person left her desk and walked away for about 5 minutes. She took her sweet old time strolling back. By the time she got back to the desk, it was 10:15 am and there were still two parties in front of me. Finally, I spoke up and apologized to the two parties in front and asked the service person if the plane was still here, because I have a business class ticket and need to get on the plane.
She looked at me and said "sorry, check-in closed at 9:45, cannot get on plane now." I asked her if the plane was still at the gate. She said yes, but that I could not get on. The flight schedule board noted that the flight was now departing at 11:15 am. So I noted to her that it was 10:15 am, and there was still an hour until takeoff. She gave me a blank look. I asked to talk to her manager. She said he was busy. I asked her when the next available seat on a flight was and she told me JULY 26 - TWO days from now. She looked at my ticket and said that since I booked through Delta, I needed to go to the Delta desk and she couldn't help me.
I went to the Delta desk and they made me pay US$150 to re-route the ticket because it was apparently my fault that I missed the flight. Which by the way, I didn't miss, because the goddamn plane was still at the gate and still had an hour before departure. I went back to the Air France desk and noted that the plane was still at the gate and not departing until 11:15 am, so why couldn't I get on it? The totally useless service person just repeated: "gate closed, impossible." When I asked for her manager she repeatedly said "he's busy." Finally I asked for her name and the name of the manager, and that's when she started to look a wee bit nervous and talked to some other service guy. They conferred for about 5 minutes then said they'd ask for the manager. After which they came back and said he's busy and that he had told them it was impossible for me to get on the flight (another passenger was also as irate as I was and waiting with me).
Since it's completely useless arguing with HK service people when they are being useless, I accepted my fate and left the airport since my re-routed flight isn't for another 12 hours. The actual Air France flight didn't take off until 12:07, a full TWO HOURS AND TWELVE MINUTES after I got to the airport. In HK, you just need to be there 1 hour in advance. In fact, if you are on business most airlines will hold the flight for you up to 20 minutes before takeoff. I've had experiences with both Korean Air and Cathay Pacific where I got to the airport 20 minutes before scheduled departure and the service people were totally helpful and got me on the plane - once the Cathay Pacific manager WALKED me and El Hombre to our gate to make sure the plane would not leave without us, all the while talking on her walkie talkie to make them hold the plane (and we were not even on business then, just two economy travelers on a super discounted flight). That's what sets apart GOOD service from bad.
My experience with the Air France counter person was so inane - the airplane was still at the gate, I only had a carry-on, I had a business class ticket and the flight was not scheduled to depart for another hour, yet she wouldn't let me on the freaking plane. She blamed me for not arriving before 9:45 am, but we had a freaking HURRICANE last night and the T8 warning was not lifted until 10 am. How the F was I supposed to get to the airport when there was no public transportation running? Her inanity, and her "sorry, it's impossible" answer reminded me of when I lived in Tokyo - the frustration I felt on a daily basis when people are stupid and useless and inane and tell you things are impossible when they are in fact, possible. BLAH!
At the end of the day, I'm not really missing that much time in Barcelona. I was supposed to get there Tuesday night but will get there Wednesday morning instead. But I had to pay $150 to change my ticket, which I don't think I should have to because it was not POSSIBLE (or at least not practical) to get to the airport during a T8 typhoon, AND if a flight is delayed, the airline should extend the check-in time to a later time that corresponds to the new departure time. I'm so annoyed.
***
Typhoon Vicente was the worst storm we've experienced while living in HK. The gusts were so bad that our building was swaying in the wind! And the rain was so persistent that our windowpanes started leaking. From about 5 pm last night to 9 am this morning, the rain poured non-stop and the winds blew mercilessly. As I was walking from our flat to the airport express station, I passed tree branches, garbage cans, lawn chairs, air conditioners and other debris strewn over the streets of HK. Crazy! But the crazier thing was that by 9:45 am, people were out and about on the streets, getting to work and opening shops. Just another day in HK!
As soon as there was a lull in the torrential downpour, at around 9:10 am (T8 was still in effect), I took my roller suitcase and WALKED all the way to the airport express station in the rain because there was not a single bus or taxi in sight. I got to the airport at 9:55. There was ONE Air France counter open and 3 parties in front of me (and about 4 parties behind me). From what I could hear and understand, the airplane was still there, but they weren't taking any more passengers. I asked one family ahead of me what the service person had said and they said that if they paid HK$20K for an upgrade to business, they could get on, but otherwise they could not get on. Well, I had a business class ticket, so I thought I should still be able to get on based on what they said. But for some unknown reason, the service person left her desk and walked away for about 5 minutes. She took her sweet old time strolling back. By the time she got back to the desk, it was 10:15 am and there were still two parties in front of me. Finally, I spoke up and apologized to the two parties in front and asked the service person if the plane was still here, because I have a business class ticket and need to get on the plane.
She looked at me and said "sorry, check-in closed at 9:45, cannot get on plane now." I asked her if the plane was still at the gate. She said yes, but that I could not get on. The flight schedule board noted that the flight was now departing at 11:15 am. So I noted to her that it was 10:15 am, and there was still an hour until takeoff. She gave me a blank look. I asked to talk to her manager. She said he was busy. I asked her when the next available seat on a flight was and she told me JULY 26 - TWO days from now. She looked at my ticket and said that since I booked through Delta, I needed to go to the Delta desk and she couldn't help me.
I went to the Delta desk and they made me pay US$150 to re-route the ticket because it was apparently my fault that I missed the flight. Which by the way, I didn't miss, because the goddamn plane was still at the gate and still had an hour before departure. I went back to the Air France desk and noted that the plane was still at the gate and not departing until 11:15 am, so why couldn't I get on it? The totally useless service person just repeated: "gate closed, impossible." When I asked for her manager she repeatedly said "he's busy." Finally I asked for her name and the name of the manager, and that's when she started to look a wee bit nervous and talked to some other service guy. They conferred for about 5 minutes then said they'd ask for the manager. After which they came back and said he's busy and that he had told them it was impossible for me to get on the flight (another passenger was also as irate as I was and waiting with me).
Since it's completely useless arguing with HK service people when they are being useless, I accepted my fate and left the airport since my re-routed flight isn't for another 12 hours. The actual Air France flight didn't take off until 12:07, a full TWO HOURS AND TWELVE MINUTES after I got to the airport. In HK, you just need to be there 1 hour in advance. In fact, if you are on business most airlines will hold the flight for you up to 20 minutes before takeoff. I've had experiences with both Korean Air and Cathay Pacific where I got to the airport 20 minutes before scheduled departure and the service people were totally helpful and got me on the plane - once the Cathay Pacific manager WALKED me and El Hombre to our gate to make sure the plane would not leave without us, all the while talking on her walkie talkie to make them hold the plane (and we were not even on business then, just two economy travelers on a super discounted flight). That's what sets apart GOOD service from bad.
My experience with the Air France counter person was so inane - the airplane was still at the gate, I only had a carry-on, I had a business class ticket and the flight was not scheduled to depart for another hour, yet she wouldn't let me on the freaking plane. She blamed me for not arriving before 9:45 am, but we had a freaking HURRICANE last night and the T8 warning was not lifted until 10 am. How the F was I supposed to get to the airport when there was no public transportation running? Her inanity, and her "sorry, it's impossible" answer reminded me of when I lived in Tokyo - the frustration I felt on a daily basis when people are stupid and useless and inane and tell you things are impossible when they are in fact, possible. BLAH!
At the end of the day, I'm not really missing that much time in Barcelona. I was supposed to get there Tuesday night but will get there Wednesday morning instead. But I had to pay $150 to change my ticket, which I don't think I should have to because it was not POSSIBLE (or at least not practical) to get to the airport during a T8 typhoon, AND if a flight is delayed, the airline should extend the check-in time to a later time that corresponds to the new departure time. I'm so annoyed.
***
Typhoon Vicente was the worst storm we've experienced while living in HK. The gusts were so bad that our building was swaying in the wind! And the rain was so persistent that our windowpanes started leaking. From about 5 pm last night to 9 am this morning, the rain poured non-stop and the winds blew mercilessly. As I was walking from our flat to the airport express station, I passed tree branches, garbage cans, lawn chairs, air conditioners and other debris strewn over the streets of HK. Crazy! But the crazier thing was that by 9:45 am, people were out and about on the streets, getting to work and opening shops. Just another day in HK!
3 comments:
omg i would've gotten so pissed off! and i can't believe you walked in the rain haha! --g
haha, my love for Barcelona won't be thwarted by some typhoon rains! -D
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