2 a.m....all my luggage is packed up. I said my last tearful goodbyes and got in the cab headed for Alexandria airport. My itinerary: Alexandria , Egypt to Athens, Greece via Olympic Airlines. Then Delta Airlines to Atlanta, Georgia and on to Cleveland.
I got there and show the guards my itinerary. They squinched up their faces and then one of them said to me, "No Olympic Air this airport." What??!! Crap! I have heard of people being diverted to another aitrport about an hour away. I begin to panic. "How do I get there?"
"Cairo." They guy says.
"Cairo?" You have got to be kidding!!! Nooooooo!
I began to make some calls...but they KICKED me out of the airport! I was soooooo unbelievably pissed! They escorted me right out. I grabbed my bags and sat down in the parking lot trying to figure out what to do.
No you have to understand that Alexandria Airport is the smallest, crappiest airport on earth. There was NO ONE that would have been able to help me anyway.
Luckily I had a fully charged net book computer. Most importantly, I had a USB satellite internet so I was able to sit in the parking lot and get online. I called my parents and started to cry and let them know I wasn't coming home. Next step was to call Olympic Airlines and find out what the hell was going on. No luck! They don't have 24hr. customer service! Ugh.
Ok. Next step, I went to their website- not seeing any flights for that night. Ok....next I got on Expedia to find a way - ANY way to get to Athens before noon to make my connecting flight. Nothing!!!
Last ditch effort: call Delta Airlines. I got a hold of their customer service and told them my dilemma. Long story short: they were able to re-route me out of Cairo the next night with no fees. Yay! Thank you Delta.
What now? Again. Very lucky. I just HAPPENED to make a spare apartment key for myself just that very afternoon. Thank God. So I was able to call a cab, go home and SLEEP!
Next night. 11 pm. More tearful goodbyes. Now a cab comes to pick me up to drive me 3 hours to Cairo. So far so good. We arrive 2 hours ahead and thank God we did!
I went to the counter, checked my VERY overweight bag (no extra charge) when I was informed: You need to call Delta because we do not have your ticket number. Ok fine. I went to a semi-quiet corner and got on Skype. I could not hear worth a crap! I finally got a ticket number and gave it to the guy at the counter. Still no good.
They made me talk to some lady behind the counter (at least there was someone to talk to this time.) They kept insisting that I had the wrong ticket number. I said (actually I yelled), "I just talked to the guy! This is the number he gave me! I WILL be on that plane! I have spent a year in this stupid country and DO NOT want to be here another day!!" The clock was ticking. Only 40 minutes now until take off. "YOU have the problem with Delta! YOU call them!"
Oooohhh.they HATE it when you make a scene. The lady called Delta and straightened out the ticket problem. It seems that Delta gave me the old ticket number and hadn't reissued a new one.
20 minutes before take-off and off I went. The Gods of Egypt have finally set me free!!!!
I got there and show the guards my itinerary. They squinched up their faces and then one of them said to me, "No Olympic Air this airport." What??!! Crap! I have heard of people being diverted to another aitrport about an hour away. I begin to panic. "How do I get there?"
"Cairo." They guy says.
"Cairo?" You have got to be kidding!!! Nooooooo!
I began to make some calls...but they KICKED me out of the airport! I was soooooo unbelievably pissed! They escorted me right out. I grabbed my bags and sat down in the parking lot trying to figure out what to do.
No you have to understand that Alexandria Airport is the smallest, crappiest airport on earth. There was NO ONE that would have been able to help me anyway.
Luckily I had a fully charged net book computer. Most importantly, I had a USB satellite internet so I was able to sit in the parking lot and get online. I called my parents and started to cry and let them know I wasn't coming home. Next step was to call Olympic Airlines and find out what the hell was going on. No luck! They don't have 24hr. customer service! Ugh.
Ok. Next step, I went to their website- not seeing any flights for that night. Ok....next I got on Expedia to find a way - ANY way to get to Athens before noon to make my connecting flight. Nothing!!!
Last ditch effort: call Delta Airlines. I got a hold of their customer service and told them my dilemma. Long story short: they were able to re-route me out of Cairo the next night with no fees. Yay! Thank you Delta.
What now? Again. Very lucky. I just HAPPENED to make a spare apartment key for myself just that very afternoon. Thank God. So I was able to call a cab, go home and SLEEP!
Next night. 11 pm. More tearful goodbyes. Now a cab comes to pick me up to drive me 3 hours to Cairo. So far so good. We arrive 2 hours ahead and thank God we did!
I went to the counter, checked my VERY overweight bag (no extra charge) when I was informed: You need to call Delta because we do not have your ticket number. Ok fine. I went to a semi-quiet corner and got on Skype. I could not hear worth a crap! I finally got a ticket number and gave it to the guy at the counter. Still no good.
They made me talk to some lady behind the counter (at least there was someone to talk to this time.) They kept insisting that I had the wrong ticket number. I said (actually I yelled), "I just talked to the guy! This is the number he gave me! I WILL be on that plane! I have spent a year in this stupid country and DO NOT want to be here another day!!" The clock was ticking. Only 40 minutes now until take off. "YOU have the problem with Delta! YOU call them!"
Oooohhh.they HATE it when you make a scene. The lady called Delta and straightened out the ticket problem. It seems that Delta gave me the old ticket number and hadn't reissued a new one.
20 minutes before take-off and off I went. The Gods of Egypt have finally set me free!!!!
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