New Zealand / Thailand planning is done!

So after many months of researching homes, flights, tours, transportation, etc. we’re finally ready to move on to the pre-packing stage. Seems like this process takes forever but once its done, the weight of the world is lifted off our shoulders and the sun shines again!  Thought I’d note a few of the (unfortunately) usual issues with travel. Probably none of these will be a surprise but they are worth listing.

Top of the “Lets make it harder than it needs to be” list is, as always …….United Airlines.  I know, I know, how could I possibly complain about an airline, least of all United. So warm, caring and always looking out for their customers. Well, don’t choke on that bullshit!

In August we booked our flights on United using our Chase Sapphire points. August may seem like a long time before our trip in March the following year but it will become obvious why we started this early as we go along. So, used our 160,000 points for two seats from Denver to Auckland via San Francisco. At that time, because it will be 14+hrs flying to Auckland, we decided to upgrade our outbound seats and pay ~$350.00 for two Premium Economy seats. Little (very little) more room and there are just the two seats, no third seat for someone to crawl over us while we’re sleeping.

First change- somewhere around October, I decided to check the United website just for kicks and see if everything was good. Low and behold, united had made a change to our flight and never notified us. They have had our email and my cell number for years so I don’t know why they didn’t contact us. So be it, I reviewed the change and wouldn’t you know it, they changed our plane. The seats we had purchased were no longer there, the two seat special in Premium Economy were in another row, not the ones we paid for. Called United (twice) and finally got our seats reassigned and after complaining, a refund. WOW!  We actually won!  Not so fast…………

Now it’s late November and I decided to check the United website again and yep, another change that we were not notified of. This time they changed the flight from Denver that originally arrived 2hrs before our New Zealand leg to one that arrives 3hrs before the next flight. Not all that bad except with no notification we could have missed our flight from Denver. This time no call was necessary, just check the acceptance box and all is well.  Sort of.

December comes with yet another change (no notice, yeah getting a little old) to our flight from Denver. Now were back to the 2hrs prior to the flight to NZ. Seats have stayed the same and all I had to do was check the box so once again, print a new itinerary. But wait, there’s more…..

January 2017 and yes another change to our United flights but this time I received a call, at 9:30pm. The next day I had a good breakfast, some coffee, read for about an hour and calmed myself so that the upcoming duel wouldn’t upset me too much. First call- reached a young lady who had a difficult time with English. She informed me that the return flight from New Zealand had been cancelled, not rescheduled, cancelled! Calmly, I ask if she had options for us and that I’d be willing to wait until she researched these thoroughly. 23 minutes later, no exaggeration, she came back with a plan. Unfortunately because we used miles for our seats, they only had one seat on each plane available. I could fly on one and my wife on another. You see, United stopped flying from New Zealand and gave the business to their partner, Air New Zealand who reserves 2 seats (not really sure but it seemed like 2 seats) on their planes for United mileage customers.  Of course her solution was unacceptable so I decided to call another agent, one that actually could speak English.

Second call, spoke or should I say he spoke to me. I didn’t have a chance to explain my previous call because “Tim” wouldn’t stop talking. Finally I explained what had happened and “Tim” put me on hold. 17 minutes later, “Tim” and I were disconnected. Time for a glass of water or vodka and to take a walk!

Third call, nicest young man you would ever want to talk to, “Vin”. So pleasant and so wanted to help. I actually thought this was real, he was going to make this problem that United made for me go away. That was at the beginning of our 1hr 16 minute conversation, excuse me 1hr of that was waiting time. Vin explained that he was going to do everything possible to correct this problem (that they caused) and he was sure we would be happy. First Vin repeated the same offer the first lady made, separate seates on different flights, not happening so off to talk with his supervisor.  Back in a flash (OK, 20 minutes) and he had resolved this problem, we were going to be very happy (his words). He found two seats on a flight direct from Auckland to San Francisco, we can sit together on the same plane. OK, sounded good, that’s what we usually do. The only thing was Vin needed us to stay in Auckland 4 more days to catch this flight. Instead of leaving on 10 May, now we would be leaving on 14 May 2017! And before you ask, no United will not pay for the extended stay.  Well, if I must say it, that was bullshit and not going to happen. Vin was very understanding, next came, “hold please”.

Before you knew it Vin was back on line, actually another 28 minutes had past but it went by sooooo fast, this time he asked if we could fly out of Sydney, as in Australia. Well, probably but we would need a flight from Auckland to Sydney that gave us sufficient time to connect. Not his problem, he can get us on a flight from Sydney on the 10th, we just need to get there.  Enough, I found a flight on Qantas for $216.00USD, gets us there in time. BUT, Vin was going to do something for our inconvenience. I wanted two Premium Economy seats, free. Almost 30 minutes later, it was done. Vin gave us two seats in Premium Economy on the flight from Sydney. Now, would you like to take a brief survey at the end of our conversation??????

Stay tuned, probably going to sue United in small claims court for the $216.00 once we get back.

What other issues????

The usual, homes with rental rates and vacancies that magically change when you inquire about them. My standard inquiry always includes a question about any possible discounts that may be available. Most are quick to offer 10% or a free night but there are a few that try the old bait and switch tactic. They come back with a rate that is increased and then offer to discount it back to the original price due to some school holiday or “peak” rental period. And, now that Expedia owns HomeAway and VRBO there is a “processing fee” added to rentals that owners want to pass on to the renters.  Again, just wade through it and find the ones that are genuinely willing to offer something. Just adds time to the laborious process of looking for a rental.

So that’s how you fill up 6 months of planning for a 2.5 month adventure. Simple. Even after doing this for years, the challenges never cease to amaze me and the never seem to end. I’m sure this thing with United isn’t over so until then………………

Cheers.