I'll be happy once I have the tickets
Boarded the aircraft in Hong Kong to find that there was someone in the seat next to me, but that there were a number of spare seats in the cabin. As soon as the doors closed my neighbour moved to the spare row directly behind us. Flight was uneventful, but the senior Flight Attendant must have seen my oneworld status printed on the manifest because she made a point of coming over and saying, "I know you fly very often, and I have asked my staff to take care of you, but if there is anything you need in the mean time, let me know." It was nice in a way, but I felt like a bit of a fraud - I really don't fly very often at all, and only got my top-tier status by working the system. Still, it was nice of her to make the effort.
The aircraft arrived in Colombo and we disembarked (well, I disembarked - I'm sure the Americans on board deplaned). Of course I had no idea where I was going, but I dutifully followed the signs to the transit area. By the way, all of the signs were in English only - no Sri Lankan script to be seen, which I found a bit odd. Random fact - the Coke can has mostly Sri Lankan writing with some English, but the main reason to mention it is that it had an old-fashioned ring-pull - the type where the tab comes away completely from the can. Honestly didn't think I'd ever see one of those again.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the transit area. Asked the information desk where to go and she pointed to the immigration desks. No I don't want to go there, I want to stay in transit. So she pointed towards vaguely the other way. The only other occupied desk was the Sri Lankan Airways transfer desk, so lacking other options I tried asking there. It took a while to get them to understand my story (well, it is a little odd), but eventually they phoned Cathay Pacific. While the conversation proceeded (in Sri Lankan, so I couldn't tell how it was going) I realised that a lot rested on the outcome of the call. Dealing with a third party is always a concern, because if he had said, "they don't have a ticket for you" I would be stuck. At least if you are dealing directly with the person who is meant to have the tickets you can talk alternatives with them. After what seemed like a really long time, he said "take a seat - someone will bring the ticket down in 5 or 10 minutes." So I went and sat in the small seating area in uncomfortable plastic seats amongst about 20 men - some of whom were sleeping and others who took turns to go to the Sri Lankan Airlines desk and completely fail to achieve whatever it was they were trying to achieve. I started to feel like the guy stuck in transit in Charles de Gaulle airport for the past 20 years (made famous in "The Terminal" starring Tom Hanks).
Half an hour of the 5 or 10 minutes passed, so I went back to the Sri Lankan desk. After a couple of phone calls he said that they were just bringing it down now. Sure enough, almost 15 minutes later the man from Cathay Pacific turned up with my tickets. He also brought a credit card machine (the old-fashioned manual type - not one connected to a phone line). In went the Amex card, and then I took possession of the long-awaited tickets. They've given me a window seat again, but I'm hoping for a light load so that I'm not boxed in - I think I'll spend most of the flight asleep. It's now 5:45 am Canberra time and we have a little over an hour until departure.
The aircraft arrived in Colombo and we disembarked (well, I disembarked - I'm sure the Americans on board deplaned). Of course I had no idea where I was going, but I dutifully followed the signs to the transit area. By the way, all of the signs were in English only - no Sri Lankan script to be seen, which I found a bit odd. Random fact - the Coke can has mostly Sri Lankan writing with some English, but the main reason to mention it is that it had an old-fashioned ring-pull - the type where the tab comes away completely from the can. Honestly didn't think I'd ever see one of those again.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the transit area. Asked the information desk where to go and she pointed to the immigration desks. No I don't want to go there, I want to stay in transit. So she pointed towards vaguely the other way. The only other occupied desk was the Sri Lankan Airways transfer desk, so lacking other options I tried asking there. It took a while to get them to understand my story (well, it is a little odd), but eventually they phoned Cathay Pacific. While the conversation proceeded (in Sri Lankan, so I couldn't tell how it was going) I realised that a lot rested on the outcome of the call. Dealing with a third party is always a concern, because if he had said, "they don't have a ticket for you" I would be stuck. At least if you are dealing directly with the person who is meant to have the tickets you can talk alternatives with them. After what seemed like a really long time, he said "take a seat - someone will bring the ticket down in 5 or 10 minutes." So I went and sat in the small seating area in uncomfortable plastic seats amongst about 20 men - some of whom were sleeping and others who took turns to go to the Sri Lankan Airlines desk and completely fail to achieve whatever it was they were trying to achieve. I started to feel like the guy stuck in transit in Charles de Gaulle airport for the past 20 years (made famous in "The Terminal" starring Tom Hanks).
Half an hour of the 5 or 10 minutes passed, so I went back to the Sri Lankan desk. After a couple of phone calls he said that they were just bringing it down now. Sure enough, almost 15 minutes later the man from Cathay Pacific turned up with my tickets. He also brought a credit card machine (the old-fashioned manual type - not one connected to a phone line). In went the Amex card, and then I took possession of the long-awaited tickets. They've given me a window seat again, but I'm hoping for a light load so that I'm not boxed in - I think I'll spend most of the flight asleep. It's now 5:45 am Canberra time and we have a little over an hour until departure.
posted by Alan at 1:34 AM
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