Why Do It Yourself If Others Can Do It For You

We’d been talking about a vacation, a real vacation, for years. So far, when we took time off work, we stayed home because we have four cats and we have nobody to look after them. But after a particularly violent illness, I decided we should take a vacation and as far as the cats were concerned, I would make a plan.

Leaving them in the care of our vet was out of the question because a cat sitting in a case might be fine for a day or two, but not for two weeks. This would be way too stressful for them. Asking friends or neighbors to take care of them wasn’t an option either, because I wouldn’t be 100% sure that the gang would be looked after properly. Thus, the only remaining option was, a professional pet sitter. Cheap it was not, but my cats are worth every penny.

Now it was time to look for accommodation. A rather simple task as I contacted the hotel where I’d stayed before and asked if they had a room available. They did and I immediately secured it. Now that this was arranged it was time to book a flight.

Once I had decided on a specific airline, I filled out their booking form and thought that was the end of it. No, it wasn’t. Did I want to book specific seats? Absolutely, I don’t want to sit right behind the baby section where kids would scream their heads off during the flight. Neither did I want to sit in the middle of a row, I wanted an aisle or window seat.

I was presented with the layout of the plane and picked the very last two seats. This ensured me that I would have nobody sitting next to me who might want to talk, or if he/she slept would snore, or that a child would kick the back of my seat.

This preferred seating came with a price though. Fine, I would pay for preferred seating. Was this the end of it? No, now I also had to pay for luggage. This was new to me. I’ve flown several times and never ever was i charged for my suitcase. Oh well, if I had to, I had to. So, I paid for that as well.

I closed the website safe in the knowledge that my flight was booked, my seat was secured, and the stowing of my luggage was paid for. Shortly afterward I received a confirmation email.

I thought that I was done, but that was not the case. When I checked my credit card bill, I noticed that I wasn’t billed for the flight. That was strange. I called the bank and they couldn’t make heads or tails of it either. They advised me to get in touch with the airline and query what was going on.

When I called the airline I heard ‘Thank you for your call, a representative will be right with you.’

Five minutes later … ‘Your call is important to us, we will be right with you’. When my hand was cramping up from holding the phone, I put the phone on speaker and placed it next to me on the chair. Several times I heard the message, ‘Your call is important to us, please hold, a representative will be right with you.’

After 45 minutes I considered hanging up. My call was obviously not that important to them and they were either short on representative or the call operators were taking a nap.

Just as I was about to end the call, a voice came on the line. I explained that I had booked a flight but was not billed for it. The woman checked her computer and couldn’t find any booking info. Would I like to book a flight now? Okay, yes, please.

We went through the whole process again only to be told that my credit card was declined. WHAT! That was impossible. Would I like to try again? Yes, please. The women tried the card again, but again it was declined.

The representative advised me to get in touch with my bank and call back when things were sorted. Oh hell no, I had just been on hold for over 45 minutes, I wasn’t going through that again. Would she hold while I called my bank from another phone? Yes, she would.

By now my nerves were frayed. When I called my bank I was told that any suspicious activity on my credit card would be stopped via a new security alert. If I tried to spend over $1,000 the transaction would automatically be blocked.

Fine, I explained about the flight and my account was unblocked. I got back on the line with the airline representative and now everything went smoothly.

Next time I decide to fly, I’m going to a travel agent. This do-it-yourself is not for me. Far better for my nerves if I let others take care of business.