What a Christmas already and it is only 1:45 p.m. This
morning Megan and I got up, had breakfast together, and I checked out of the
hotel at 10:00 with no incident. In fact, we were talking at breakfast about
how everything from has run so smoothly from point A to Z…stupid us! The
shuttle left on time and I arrived at the airport with plenty of extra lounging
time. I went through security without incident and waited for my flight to be
displayed on the check-in screens. About an hour before check-in, I noticed
that my check-in counter was deserted, but I knew everything was on time
because I had received an email that everything was fine and my flight
displayed on the monitor as “on time.” So I talked up to the counter and asked
about my flight. They said it was not ready yet, but they asked me to hold on a
minute while they checked on something. The supervisor came out, which is never
a good sign when you are traveling, and told me the flight was canceled. He
displayed a paper with my name on it.
I asked, “Where are the other
passengers?”
He said, “They have all been
notified, but we knew you were coming to the airport, so my supervisor gave me
this paper this morning.”
So, I inquired, “What should I do?”
He said, “Come with me to my
office.”
When I accompanied him to his office, we began the fun
process of calling Air Uganda to rebook my flight.
I asked, “Why was the flight
canceled?”
He said, “Sometimes the company cancels flights when
they are not fully booked. Since it is Christmas, I think people did not show
up to work.”
I said, “Are you freaking kidding
me?”
He laughed and said, “yes, it’s
East Africa.”
“So, how am I getting to Entebbe? I
have a flight tomorrow to Dubai and I have paid for accommodations tonight.
Plus, I have a bag to pick up that I left at the airport.” I asked.
“Well, the only person that can
approve you for a new flight is Air Uganda. They have two flights a day and the
next one is tomorrow at 12:15.” He replied.
“But that would not get me back to
Uganda in time to catch my Dubai flight or pick up my bag. I also will have to
pay double accommodations and I don’t want to do that.” I whined.
“We have a flight going to Nairobi
and then Entebbe, but it is with Kenya Airlines and you would need to book and
pay for it yourself,” he stated.
“Could we continue trying to call
Air Uganda and your supervisors until we reach someone?” I pleaded.
“Sure. But I can tell you no it is
difficult because it is Christmas and most people are not working today,” he
stated.
We began the process of calling multiple numbers on multiple phones to no avail. We called the
offices in Dar Es Salaam, Kampala, and Entebbe. We also visit the office at the
airport and they were completely closed. So, I came back to the office and
decided to go up to Kenya Airlines to book a flight. I went up and talked with
the agent and he said a new flight would be $335, cash only. Of course I didn’t
have $335 cash on me. I had a bit of cash, a few Tanzanian and Uganda
shillings. That did me no good. He told me that it was too close to book
online.
Then he had an idea, “Why don’t you
book it for three or four days later and then I will change the flight today
free of charge?”
“Okay, sounds good.”
So I began the process of rebooking my flight, but the Internet
kept crashing. We switched computers and tried again. Finally, it worked. I was
able to book a flight and the agent switched the date for me.
I went back downstairs to retrieve my luggage from the
office and headed to the check-in counter. I checked, went through immigration
and boarded the flight. They were actually boarding when I went through
security. So, now I am sitting on the flight enjoying all of the extra room and
fabulous music. Kenya Airlines is really quite nice. I was very surprised at the
cleanliness of the plane, TV screens and services. Too bad this is just an hour
flight to Nairobi and then one hour to Entebbe. Hopefully, everything will go
smoothly.
