Back In The Air Ticketing Traffic Jam
Thursday, November 20th, 2008I’m not quite sure how that whole Spirit Air situation will shake down. I did cancel the reservation that apparently hung up on going through my bank for the second time, so I’m out of the ticket, but an email showed up that seemed to be saying I would be charged anyway for the insurance I had bought to protect the flight investment??? It was apparently non-refundable upon purchase and they must not care that there is now no ticket to protect. I had said yes to a $25 insurance coverage charge (the first time); and when that ticket wasn’t available, and the cost went up, I agreed to an increase of $5 to cover the more expensive ticket. So, that was a $30 insurance charge. What is going to show up on my bank statement? This is a very strange ride. My online statement doesn’t show it, so maybe, contrary to their email warning, they have taken pity on me.
However, it’s becoming obvious to me that I need to do a lot more research even to make a final decision on my entry and exit airports. Do I really want to saddle myself with getting all the way back to Lima to fly home, or should I arrange to fly home from Brazil? Can I possibly go in on a one-way ticket…even taking my chances on the ethereal Spirit Air…and then, in the Spring, buy a one-way ticket home from wherever I might be at the time? That might be the smartest route, now that I think of the contortions and the $700 that I went through to get myself to Athens for a pre-arranged flight to Cairo, Egypt, when a flight from Istanbul would have made so much more sense. It’s one thing to look serenely at a map of the world from the comfort of home while ordering up your future flights…and it’s entirely another to be standing on the ground over there, wondering how you’re ever going to cross those mountains in time for your nonrefundable flight’s departure. The possibilities present a confusing smorgasbord, not all of which are appetizing or affordable.
I had fun at my public talk at the Dunedin Library last night. As usual, there were so many questions that we went overtime and hardly had a chance to sell and autograph my books. I’m not accustomed to having that marketing possibility and I sometimes waste it in the fun of talking about the travel itself. I went “in costume,” wearing my Macabi skirt (macabiskirt.com) so that I could show how it converted to pants and skirt. Always a popular fashion show & tell.
Well, hopefully, I’ll have the ticketing arranged in the smartest budget way and can tick that off my list. I have my new Typhoid shot in my arm now and the soreness (not much to speak of) has disappeared, so there is progress going on towards a takeoff anyway.
lindajbrown